The African, African American, and Diaspora Studies minor requires:

• Successful completion of 19 credit hours according to the requirements listed below
• No more than nine hours from a single discipline

Click here to view the brochure with information about courses that count towards the minor.

Click here to to view the minor catalog. 

Spring 2019 Courses

AFST 200, Introduction to Africana Studies
Section 0001 | Besi Muhonja | MW 2:30-3:45pm
Section 0002 | Beth Hinderliter | TuTh 2:00-3:15pm
Section 0003 | Beth Hinderliter | TuTh 3:30-4:45pm

An introductory survey of basic theoretical concepts to analyze the Black experience, with special focus on the general historical process common to Africa and the African Diaspora. May be used for general education credit.

ENG 408, Advanced Studies in African-Americaan Literature
Section 0001 | Mollie Godfrey | TuTh 9:30-10:45am

This course on the Pasts, Presents, and Futures of Contemporary African American Literature offers an advanced study of key theories and genres of contemporary African American literature, including neo-slave narratives, post-soul satires, and Afrofuturism. Authors include Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead, Percival Everett, Mat Johnson, Octavia Butler, and Nnedi Okorafor.

HIST 263: Africa
Section 0001 | Lamont King| TuTh 12:30-1:45pm

History 263 examines the development of African societies from their earliest beginnings to the end of the nineteenth century. It discusses major societal transformations: thespread of languages, agricultural techniques, and metallurgy; the political and economicorganization of societies; indigenous religious practices and theirintersection with Islam and Christianity; the transatlantic slave trade; and the colonization ofthe continent. In so doing, the course familiarizes students with the major events, aswell as the significant issues and debates in African history.

SOCI 336, Race and Ethnicity
Section 0001 | Bethany Bryson | Online

This course examines the social construction of race and ethnicity around the world and how they influence social processes, institutions, change and ideology. The course will include discussions concerning the intersection of race and ethnicity with other aspects of social inequality such as class, gender, sexuality and nationality in contemporary society.

Courses in the AAAD Minor Curriculum by Course Directive: 

To count these courses toward the AAAD Minor, please make an appointment with Dr. Mollie Godfrey (godfrema@jmu.edu) or Dr. Besi Muhonja (muhonjbx@jmu.edu) to complete and submit a course directive form.

EDUC 310, Teaching in a Diverse Society*
Section 0001 | Ruthie Bosch | TuTh 2:00-3:15pm
Section 0002 | Diana Meza | M 9:05-11:50am

This course will examine how personal and professional values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors affect teaching and learning. Students will develop an understanding of similar unique characteristics of Pre-K to 12 grade students and their families, including culture, race, ethnicity, heritage language and learning abilities, gender socialization and sexual orientation. This course encourages student reflection on their own development, perspective, and experiences in relation to themselves and the school environment.

ENG 302, Special Topics in Literature and Language*
Section 0003 | Mollie Godfrey | M 5:00-7:30pm

In this JMU X-Labs course, Innovating the Archives: 25 years of Furious Flower, you will build a digital archive for the Furious Flower Poetry Center alongside students majoring in graphic design, education, and literary studies. Throughout, you will develop your design, research, collaboration, and project management skills, as well as your understanding and appreciation of African American history and art. The course includes a field trip to the National Museum of African American of History and Culture. Team-taught course with Mary Beth Cancienne, Joanne Gabbin, David Hardy, and Sean McCarthy. Meets with WRTC 328, GRAPH 392, HON 300 (also eligible for AAAD credit by course directive).

ENG 433, Studies in Arabic Literature*
Section 0001 | Sofia Samatar | MW 8:40-9:55am

This course examines the representation of space in North African novels. Our selected texts address human experience in a variety of spaces, from the desert to the city to the sea. They are of particular interest because they come from a region that is sometimes considered part of Africa, and sometimes part of the Middle East: a cultural crossroads that remains contested, full of diverse and contradictory stories about itself. Reading these novels will allow us to explore a number of rich topics, including the difference between spaceand place, the role of storytelling in spatial experience, and how a particular type of storytelling—the novel—helps shape our idea of the world.

JUST 328, Race, Class, and Justice*
Section 0001 | Gianluca De Fazio | TuTh 9:30-10:45am

This course provides students with an overview of justice issues relating to class and race in a comparative perspective. It includes an introduction to case-studies, comparative research methods and cross-national comparisons of racial and class injustice. This course is divided into four sections: the first one introduces students to comparative thinking and the social construction of difference and inequality. The second and third section address the issue of race and justice in the United States and globally. The fourth and last section deals with class inequality both in the United States and abroad.

*Course requires a substitution form to be filled out by the minor coordinator to count towards the minor.