2022-2023 Catalog

Requirements

Major

Core Courses

BLST 101Introduction to Black Studies

4 units

BLST 490Black Studies Senior Seminar

4 units

Interdisciplinary Electives

There are three Interdisciplinary clusters: expressive forms, historical perspectives, and politics and theory. Students are expected to complete six courses (24 units) across these interdisciplinary clusters, with a minimum of two courses (8 units) in each of the three interdisciplinary clusters.

Expressive Forms

BLST 302/RELS 302Spirit Possession

4 units

BLST 319Toni Morrison

4 units

CTSJ 280Rastafari

4 units

ENGL 142/BLST 142Joyful Noise! On Black Literature and Musicality

4 units

ENGL 377/BLST 377Afrofuturism

4 units

MUSC 104/BLST 104Music of Africa and the Middle East

4 units

MUSC 105Topics in American Music

4 units

MUSC 111/BLST 111Topics in Jazz History

4 units

RELS 245/BLST 245African American Religious Traditions

4 units

WRD 245/BLST 201Black Protest Rhetorics

4 units

Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the expressive forms cluster if they have enrolled in the "Black Popular Culture // The Black Digital Age" section of the course.

Students may also apply THEA 201 to the expressive forms cluster if they have enrolled in "The Black Arts Movement" section of the course.

Historical Perspectives

BLST 208/AMST 208African American History II: The Great Migration and the Transformation of American Culture

4 units

BLST 256/AMST 256Race Women: African American Women's Protest Culture

4 units

BLST 268/AMST 268Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History

4 units

BLST 376/AMST 376Slavery, Freedom, and American Memory

4 units

HIST 207/BLST 207African American History I: Black Americans and the Making of the Nation

4 units

HIST 309/BLST 309Slavery in the Antebellum South

4 units

HIST 312/BLST 312Race, Rights, and Revolution in the Atlantic World

4 units

Politics and Theory

BLST 218/SOC 218Black Ecological Thought

4 units

BLST 240Black Women Write Social Justice

4 units

BLST 263/SOC 263Du Boisian Social Theory and Analysis

4 units

BLST 315Black Feminist Movements

4 units

BLST 318Waywardness, Fugitivity, and the Anarchism of Blackness

4 units

BLST 352/POLS 352Black Political Thought

4 units

DWA 233/BLST 233African Political Thought

4 units

DWA 234/BLST 234Southern African Politics

4 units

PHIL 321Philosophy of James Baldwin

4 units

POLS 258/BLST 258Theoretical Accounts of Racism

4 units

POLS 301/UEP 301Urban Policy and Politics

4 units

Students may apply BLST 395 to the politics and theory cluster if they have enrolled in the "Black Feminist Movements" section of the course.

Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the politics and theory cluster if they have enrolled in the "Blackness, Gender, & Sexuality" section of the course.

Students may also apply CTSJ 395 to the politics and theory cluster if they have enrolled in the "Chattel Slavery and Its Afterlives" section of the course.

Additional Electives

Students must take two additional electives chosen from the list of approved electives below, or any of the interdisciplinary clusters.

DWA 335Junior Seminar: Theories of Revolution from Africa and the African Diaspora

4 units

EDUC 215/BLST 215Educating African America

4 units

EDUC 320/BLST 320Critical Race Theory in Education

4 units

ENGL 341Race, Law, and Literature

4 units

HIST 277/BLST 277Women and Community Health

4 units

POLS 206Race and American Politics

4 units

RELS 244Islamophobia

4 units

Honors in the Major

To be eligible for honors, a student must have at least a 3.25 GPA overall and a 3.5 GPA in the major. Additionally, the student will be required to enroll in the senior seminar (currently BLST 490) in their senior year and complete a 40-page paper on a topic relevant to Black Studies. The paper must earn a grade of A- or above which is to be determined by the adviser in consultation with readers and the department chair.

Minor

The Black Studies minor is a five-course, 20-unit program consisting of one required core class (BLST 101); one elective from each interdisciplinary cluster (expressive forms, historical perspectives, and politics and theory (three courses /12 units); and one additional elective chosen from the approved Black Studies courses.

Required Core Course

BLST 101Introduction to Black Studies

4 units

Expressive Forms

One course from this category.

BLST 302/RELS 302Spirit Possession

4 units

BLST 346/ENGL 346Beautiful Democracy: 19th Century African American Literature

4 units

CTSJ 280Rastafari

4 units

ENGL 142/BLST 142Joyful Noise! On Black Literature and Musicality

4 units

ENGL 377/BLST 377Afrofuturism

4 units

MUSC 104/BLST 104Music of Africa and the Middle East

4 units

MUSC 105Topics in American Music

4 units

MUSC 111/BLST 111Topics in Jazz History

4 units

RELS 245/BLST 245African American Religious Traditions

4 units

Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the expressive forms cluster if they have enrolled in the "Black Popular Culture // The Black Digital Age" section of the course.

Students may also apply THEA 201 to the expressive forms cluster if they have enrolled in "The Black Arts Movement" section of the course.

Historical Perspectives

One course from this category.

BLST 208/AMST 208African American History II: The Great Migration and the Transformation of American Culture

4 units

BLST 268/AMST 268Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History

4 units

BLST 376/AMST 376Slavery, Freedom, and American Memory

4 units

HIST 207/BLST 207African American History I: Black Americans and the Making of the Nation

4 units

HIST 309/BLST 309Slavery in the Antebellum South

4 units

Politics and Theory

One course from this category.

BLST 258/POLS 258Theoretical Accounts of Racism

4 units

BLST 352/POLS 352Black Political Thought

4 units

DWA 233/BLST 233African Political Thought

4 units

DWA 234/BLST 234Southern African Politics

4 units

PHIL 321Philosophy of James Baldwin

4 units

POLS 258/BLST 258Theoretical Accounts of Racism

4 units

Students may apply CTSJ 295 to the politics and theory cluster if they have enrolled in the "Blackness, Gender, & Sexuality" section of the course.

Students may also apply CTSJ 395 to the politics and theory cluster if they have enrolled in the "Chattel Slavery and Its Afterlives" section of the course.

Additional Electives

One course either from this category or the above categories.

DWA 335Junior Seminar: Theories of Revolution from Africa and the African Diaspora

4 units

EDUC 215/BLST 215Educating African America

4 units

EDUC 320/BLST 320Critical Race Theory in Education

4 units

ENGL 341Race, Law, and Literature

4 units

HIST 277/BLST 277Women and Community Health

4 units

POLS 206Race and American Politics

4 units

SOC 250Race and Ethnicity in American Society

4 units

RELS 244Islamophobia

4 units