AFST 40276 - Moving New Directions: African Diaspora

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Africana Studies

Description:

Migration and the emergence of new identities have defined the formation and evolution of the African diaspora in the modern era. This course is designed to introduce students of African-American studies to the concept of African diaspora and to provide a framework for understanding how it has changed over time. What constitutes the African diaspora? How was it formed? How have people of African descent forged new identities in the Atlantic World and what are the implications of identity construction for people of African descent in the future? These questions form the basis of our historical study of the African diaspora. We examine themes of migration and cultural change through comparative case studies of black communities in the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America. The first half of the course will focus on the Atlantic slave trade, the middle passage, and slavery in the Americas. We will examine identity and culture for people of African descent in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Jamaica. The second half of the course will deal with the problem of freedom in the 19th century Atlantic World. We will direct our attention to free black populations and Creole communities in Louisiana, Brazil, and Sierra Leone, West Africa. We will also consider the impact of emancipation at the end of the 19th-century through an examination of black American emigration movements, "back to Africa" and to the U.S. West, and Afro-Brazilian identity in a post-emancipation society. This course will conclude with a discussion of the state of the African diaspora today and its implications for future transformations in African-American identity.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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