African American History
Instructor: Dr. Marko Maunula, Associate Professor of History
Office: G110-H
Phone: (678) 466-4850
Email: MarkoMaunula@clayton.edu
Web address: http://a-s.clayton.edu/mmaunula/
Individuals with disabilities who need to request accommodations should contact
the Disability Services Coordinator, Student Center 255, 678-466-5445,
disabilityservices@mail.clayton.edu.
HIST 4001: African American History, 3.0 credit hours.
This course studies African American culture and history, from their cultural roots in West Africa to the changing economic, political, social status over time to the present. The course places special emphasis on the civil rights movement, Black nationalism, and Black leadership.
Prerequisite: Any 1000 or 2000 level HIST course.
The goals of this course include learning a relatively sophisticated understanding of African American history. Additionally, we will improve our knowledge of the historiography of African American history, sharpen our research- and critical reading skills, and learn to observe American history through the eyes of non-white minorities.
Throughout American history, the African American experience has proved to be a tragic deviation from the standard American story of success and optimism. From indentured servitude to slavery, from the promise of the Civil War to the failure of the Reconstruction, African American history is a story of disappointments and setbacks. Only in the 1960s did African Americans begin to fully experience the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence.
However, it would be a mistake to view the African American past as only a struggle, or African Americans as mere hapless victims. Despite their unequal treatment, African Americans created culture and arts, formed families and communities, resisted the oppression and accommodated their lives to the political and economic realities of the day. These stories—defeats and victories—form the focus of our course.
This course is a survey of the vast African American experience. It starts by observing the roles of Africans in the emerging Atlantic World, and concludes with the discussion of the lives and roles of different groups of African Americans in these United States, Anno Domini 2010. In between these chronological boundaries, we will study the impacts of slavery and freedom, politics and economy, art and culture, family and individualism, religion and philosophy in African American lives.
The approach for the study is both chronological and topical. In our lectures and readings, we will obey the general timeline of the events, but our lectures will focus on particular aspects of African American experiences, as the syllabus indicates.
This is a hybrid course. On Mondays, I expect you to visit our GeorgiaVIEW site and participate in discussions, complete potential readings and assignments, and perform any other class-related activities. Each Monday, I will be online between 6:00-8:00 pm and reachable via GeorgiaVIEW’s chat-function or mail.
Each CSU student is required to have ready access throughout the semester to a notebook computer that meets faculty-approved hardware and software requirements for the student's academic program. Students will sign a statement attesting to such access. For further information on CSU's Official Notebook Computer Policy, please go to http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/policy.htm.
Your final grade will break down as follows:
Midterm – 25%
Final – 35%
Book Review – 20%
Participation – 20% (includes two quizzes)
The course will follow standard grading system, where A = 90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, and F=0-59.
I only allow remaking the tests with a valid, verifiable, documented excuse. In case of an accident or arrest, family tragedy or broken car on a test date, you need to give me written proof to show why you missed the test.
The mid-term grade in this course, which will be issued on or near October 1, reflects approximately 30% of the entire course grade. Based on this grade, students may choose to withdraw from the course and receive a grade of "W." Students pursuing this option must fill out an official withdrawal form, available in the Office of the Registrar, or withdraw on-line using the Swan by mid-term, which occurs on October 8. Instructions for withdrawing are provided at this link.
The last day to withdraw without academic accountability is Friday, October 8, 2010.
University Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students throughout the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students’ ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The University reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.
Articles in the syllabus and the books listed below are required for the class. Please let me know as soon as possible if you have a hard time finding the books or have any other problems with the texts.
Martha Hodes, White Women, Black Men
Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Ira Berlin, Slaves without Masters
Presenting the work of somebody else as one’s own,
unaccredited quotations, letting others do one’s work for him/herself, and other
forms of academic dishonesty are strictly forbidden. Violators will be pursued
and punished according to Clayton State University’s guidelines and regulations,
including reporting them to the Office of Student Life/Judicial Affairs.
Judicial procedures are described at:
http://adminservices.clayton.edu/judicial/.
Behavior which disrupts the teaching–learning process
during class activities will not be tolerated. While a variety of behaviors can
be disruptive in a classroom setting, more serious examples include belligerent,
abusive, profane, and/or threatening behavior. A student who fails to respond
to reasonable faculty direction regarding classroom behavior and/or behavior
while participating in classroom activities may be dismissed from class. A
student who is dismissed is entitled to due process and will be afforded such
rights as soon as possible following dismissal. If found in violation, a
student may be administratively withdrawn and may receive a grade of WF.
A more detailed description of examples of disruptive behavior and appeal
procedures is provided at: http://a-s.clayton.edu/DisruptiveClassroomBehavior.htm
Writing Assistance
The Writers’ Studio 224 is located in the A&S building, room 224. There
you can talk with trained writing tutors about your writing projects. They are
available to work with you at any stage of your paper, from generating ideas to
organizing your paper to understanding how to format it correctly.
The service is free; you may drop in and wait for a
tutor or sign up for a regular appointment. But remember: you, not your tutor,
are ultimately responsible for the quality and content of the papers you
submit. Find out more at:
http://a-s.clayton.edu/english/Writers'%20Studio/index.html
Do not be late! We all know Atlanta traffic, so I understand if you run late once or twice. However, habitual tardiness will not be tolerated. Having people popping into the class at all hours disrupts the lectures and your fellow students’ concentration.
Eating and drinking in class is okay, but avoid “loud” foods.
Turn your cell phones off or on silent when you come to the class. NO TEXTING!
You can use laptops only to take notes or do some other class-related work. No playing games, surfing the web, or chatting with friends, either online or in person. This disrupts your classmates’ work as well as your own.
Clayton State University rules strictly forbid bringing children to the classroom or parking them in the hallway for the duration of the class. If you have temporary child care problems, please contact me.
Check your Clayton State email account daily. This will be a major avenue of communication for this class.
Hand in your papers and other possible assignments in on time. I will NOT accept late and/or e-mailed papers, only printed and STAPLED hard copies. NO EXCEPTIONS! REALLY! I MEAN IT!
Section I: Slavery
Introduction
Visit our GeorgiaVIEW site on Monday evening, familiarize yourself with its content and structure. I will be online to answer your questions and assist you with any possible problems between 6:00-8:00 p.m.
What exactly is “Black”?
Africa before exploration. Africans in the Early Atlantic World. Read Ira Berlin, “From Creole to African: Atlantic Creoles and the Origins of African-American Society in Mainland North America,” The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, Volume 53, No. 2 (April, 1996), 251-288.
Societies with slaves and slave societies. The gradual emergence of American slavery.
African Americans and the American Revolution.
Crossing the lines: Race, Sex, and Class in the Old South. Read Martha Hodes, White Women, Black Men.
LABOR DAY HOLIDAY.
Black church, black strength. African Americans and the antebellum Christianity.
Sweet Chariot: slave community in work and play.
MIDTERM! PLEASE BRING A BLUE BOOK AND A SCANTRON!
Section II: Between the Wars. From Civil War to WWII
African Americans in the Civil War.
Emancipation and Its Aftermath
Reconstruction
The Rule of Terror: Lynching in the New South
The Strange Birth of Jim Crow.
W.E.B. DuBois v. Booker T. Washington: Fight Over Black America.
Northbound Train: Black Mobility in the Early 20th Century. REMEMBER: OCTOBER 8 IS THE LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW WITH A “W.”
The New Negro and the Rise of Harlem Renaissance.
African Americans in the Great Depression and the New Deal
Double-V Campaign: World War II and the African American community.
MIDTERM! PLEASE BRING A BLUE BOOK AND A SCANTRON.
Section III: From Civil Rights to the Rise of Black Middle Class
Postwar Society: To Redeem the Promise of the America?
Beginning to Overcome: World War II Generation and the New Civil Rights Movement.
Dance Clubs, Jook Joints and Chitlin Circuit: African American Entertainment in the 1930s-1950s.
SCLC, Talented Tenth, and the rise of Black patriarchy.
The Youth Shall be Served. The Rise of SNCC. Read Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi.
Cold War, White House and the Civil Rights Movement
The Center Cannot Hold: Black Power, Nation of Islam, and the Rise of Extremism.
Soul Brother: The New Black Male Identity.
African Americans in Reagan’s America. YOUR BOOK REVIEW IS DUE TODAY!
THANKSGIVING BREAK, NO CLASS TODAY. ENJOY YOUR TURKEY.
Brother, Where Art Thou? Election of Barack Obama and race in 21st century America.
Last day of the course. Round table discussion: race in America today.
Final exam: Wednesday, December 8, at 7:15 p.m.