THEA 317
Black Migrations: African American Performance at Home and Abroad Spring 2014
Division I
Cross-listed ENGL 317 / AFR 317 / COMP 319 / AMST 317 / DANC 317
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

In this course, students will investigate, critique and define the concepts migration and diaspora with primary attention to the experiences of African Americans in the United States and Europe. Drawing on a broad definition of performance, students will explore everything from writing and painting to sports and dance to inquire how performance reflects, critiques and negotiates migratory experiences in the African diaspora. For example, how did musician Sidney Bechet’s migration from New Orleans to Chicago to London influence the early jazz era? How did Katherine Dunham’s dance performances in Germany help her shape a new black dance aesthetic? Why did writer James Baldwin go all the way to Switzerland to write his first novel on black, religious culture in Harlem? What drew actor/singer Paul Robeson to Russia, and why did the U.S. revoke his passport in response to his speeches abroad? These questions will lead students to investigate multiple migrations in the African diasporic experience and aid our exploration of the reasons for migration throughout history and geography.
The Class: Format: seminar/discussion
Limit: 15
Expected: 10
Class#: 3096
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation will be based upon class participation, one 5- to 7-page paper analyzing a performance/text, student-led class facilitation, final performance/ presentation
Prerequisites: none; open to all
Distributions: Division I
Notes: meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under AFR or AMST; meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under COMP, DANC, ENGL or THEA
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
THEA 317 Division I ENGL 317 Division I AFR 317 Division II COMP 319 Division I AMST 317 Division II DANC 317 Division I
Attributes: AMST Arts in Context Electives
AMST Comp Studies in Race, Ethnicity, Diaspora

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