AFR 247
Circa 1492: A Black Studies Perspective Fall 2024
Division II

How do we understand the 1492 moment that opened the doors to the civilization under which we live? This course considers the critiques put forth in Black studies to critically examine 1492 as not a moment of European achievement but as a world-altering moment. This moment has a prehistory and a future that is not limited to the Bristol-Guinea-Caribbean triangle of the slave trade, but also the England — Moorish North African — North America triangle that was the dominant triangle during the Age of Discovery, or the first few decades of the 1492 moment. The twin events of the 1492 moment are the expulsion of Moors and Jews from Iberia and Christopher Columbus’s initiation of the conquest of the “New World.” Taking seriously Arab-African cultures, practices, and thought, this course is grounded by the scholarship of core thinkers in Black studies including Sylvia Wynter, Cedric Robinson, RA Judy, and explores what they argue is missing from our understanding of the 1492 moment and its aftermath.