AAS 230 Beyond Black Panther: Afrofuturism in the Arts
The term ‘Afrofuturism’ was first mentioned by cultural critic Mark Dery in the 1990s. He identifies it as “speculative fiction that treats African-American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of twentieth century technoculture – and more generally, African-American signification that appropriates images of technology and a prosthetically enhanced future.” In this course we will investigate the music, poetry, literature art and film of African and African diaspora cultural traditions and their reimagining within the evolution of Afrofuturism and speculative fiction. We will have the rare privilege of focusing exclusively on Black voices and cultural customs and traditions from Africa. Artists under investigation include Pilani Bubu, George Clinton, Ryan Coogler, Kendrick Lamar, Janelle Monáe, Deji Okulotun, Sun Ra, Wole Soyinka, and Ytasha Womack. The course features guest presentations by filmmaker, dancer and Afrofuturist scholar Ytasha Womack and SAMA Award-winning South African musical folklorist Pilani Bubu.
Prerequisite
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.