This class analyzes and examines the idea of separate 'races' of humans, as a cultural construction, having far-reaching implications and consequences. We will look at the racial paradigm and Eurocentric worldview used to develop these dominant perspectives and perceived reality.

This course is an introductory course to visual art practices that focus on the African diaspora. In addition to learning about various African descended artists and artistic movements throughout history, we will also African descended scholars who have contributed to how the analysis of visual art has and continues to shape the discipline of Art as a whole. The goal of the course is to identify and analyze the ways art has been used as a colonial project, and, conversely, how it has and continues to be used to resist colonial epistimes as well as carry culture and memory. There will be a particular focus on art projects within public space in order to analyze how these works interact with the surrounding community.

Polyamory has seen increased representation in mainstream popular culture in recent years and, despite often being left out of narratives, more and more African Americans are engaging in this love style. This class will discuss some core tenets of polyamory, present data about how African American millennials are experiencing polyamory across the country, and confront the myths and stigma surrounding polyamorous relationships.

Description goes hereThe class will focus on the historical role of Patriarchy and Race in undermining the power of the Black woman. An objective is to use an African Womanist perspective to understand the greatness of the Black woman, by highlighting her ancestral journey from ancient Africa to the present time.

This course is designed for students to refine the Afrocentric approach to the study of Afrofuturism and the Black Speculative tradition to sharpen and broaden their critical thinking and analytical faculties through a study of selected texts. In a very real way this is both an introduction to and a course whose objective is to prepare students for the questions raised by the scholar Kodwo Eshun when he notes the need to study: the conceptual framework of our cultural moment…and… What are the parameters of that moment, the edge of that framework?” As such, we will be examining more than just the works and their authors, but also the social, ethical, spiritual, political, and philosophical bases upon which the emerging field of Afrofuturism is being built.

Care and caregiving has always been a part of the African-American experience in the United States. Throughout US history Black people, girls and women in particular, served as caregivers in their families and community. Enslaved Black girls and women cared for their own children while being forced to care for white women’s children—frequently as wet nurses. Black women and girls holding dual caregiving roles continued through the Jim Crow era through present-day, with Black women working as domestic care workers, maids, nannies, and care home workers. Unpaid family caregiving continues to exist on the margins, especially when children uptake caregiving roles. There are an estimated 5.4 million youth caregivers in the US. Youth caregivers are children and teenagers who provide unpaid care, support, and assistance to disabled, ill, or injured family members, friends and romantic partners. Youth caregivers act as our country’s safety net for broken communities, social, and health care systems. This is especially true for poor or Black youth caregivers---when systems and services fail the disabled or sick adults in their life, poor and Black children step in to cover the gap by becoming caregivers. After this course, attendees will better understand the role of care and caregiving in the Black youth experience, drawing on both historical and present-day truths. This course takes a trauma-informed, liberation approach to caregiving and attendees will consider the complexity of Black generational trauma and self-care.

This class will use an Afrocentric perspective to explore the complexity of the Haitian Revolution. How did traditional African values influence the Africans of Ayiti (Haiti) in their fight for freedom? What is the legacy of the establishment of Ayiti as a sovereign African nation? Students will learn about the alliances and betrayals that contributed to the success of the Haitian Revolution. As we trace some of the pivotal moments during the Haitian Revolution, we will observe how the concepts of freedom, unity, and resistance profoundly impact the African Diaspora.

Description goes hereFemale genital cutting is more commonly called female genital mutilation by international organizations such as the World Health Organization and is noted to affect millions of girls around the world. However, an Afrocentric lens provides the analytical space to rethink the referral to the practice of mutilation and how that renders the Black globalized body as alien. Therefore, through this class, we will not only be looking at the process of female genital cutting through a multifaceted lens that humanizes the women and girls involved, but we will also be engaging with theories that provide us with the space to think about why and how the Black body has been rendered alien through an exploration of the connections between Afrofuturism and related topics.

Most Americans have heard the term "Forty Acres and a Mule," but don't know its origin, what was promised, or what promises were broken. The class will first summarize Special Field Order No. 15 (40 Acres Order), then examine government power of eminent domain, its use over time, and its disproportionate effect on the Black community. Using specific examples of the exercise of eminent domain in the US, the class will explore how it has​often been used strategically against the Black community, resulting in the displacement of thousands of Black Americans (and the loss of their homes), the loss of hundreds of thousands of acres of Black-owned land, and the loss of generational wealth.

This class will focus on critically reviewing the discourses on Bodeme or gatekeeper(s) among the Dagara people in Burkina Faso. The Bodeme is a Dagara concept that may help us better understand how indigenous African sexual and spiritual practices relate to Africans in the Americas and enlighten our understanding of different ways of practicing sexuality from an Afrocentric perspective.

This class will provide students with the opportunity to learn about the importance of digital literacy and how to create a digital identity for yourself that shapes your voice in the world and keeps you as safe as possible. Included in the course are definitions for the four types of online interactions, best practices for different platforms, how to evaluate online information and the critical digital safety tools and practices for young people.

Voting on Election Day is only one way for U.S. citizens to be civically engaged. This class will teach you how to use more tools in your civics toolbox to impact the world around you and engage in the political process.

By looking at the structure American Patriarchal Nightlife through a lens of critical analysis of white patriarchal capitalism, this lecture aims to ask all attendees: Will building a new nightlife, not rooted in patriarchal capitalism, allow space for a new spectrum of Black masculinity? This course will cover a brief history of alcohol and the Black community in the USA, 1619-1964. It will explore how a new nightlife can mean a new nightlife and identifying the un-creative forces in Patriarchal Nightlife. This class will challenge you to see how your social routines change if you applied critical analysis to the spaces you socialize in.