AFST 30219 - Race and Culture in the American South to 1865

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Africana Studies

Description:

This course traces the roots of southern American culture by exploring the centrality of the relationships between sex, manliness, and slavery in the development of the US South from 1619 to 1865. By examining how European men viewed their own sexuality and that of European women in contrast to that of African men and women, this course seeks to examine the complex racial and gendered identities at the center of southern culture. The underlying current of the class is to understand the complexity with which racial and gendered identities defined all relationships and culture in the South. Using primary and secondary sources, we will critically engage the debates about slavery, racism, gender, and class in southern culture. We will reevaluate the historiographic arguments on American racism. We will take the notion of "southern gentlemen" to task, juxtaposing their responsibility as patriarchs to the ugly underbelly of slavery, race, and sexual exploitation. Our efforts in this class will be to understand the contours of the relationships between sexual control, manliness, and racism. We will explore the daily lives of men and women who lived during the time. A variety of perspectives will constitute our sources about slavery, including those of blacks, free and enslaved, as well as planters, abolitionists, women, and yeomen.

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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