Whenever attendance at African American History Month, Women’s History Month and/or other programs or trips is required, a 1 page critique should be e-mailed to the professor 7 days after the program. Grades for these assignments will be counted in the class participation category.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Participation- 20%

E-Mail

Address (Due by 2nd class meeting)

Send The Following Message:

To: listproc@list.tcnj.edu

Message: SUBSCRIBE AFAM201-L Your Name

Speakeasy Café http://www.speakeasy.wsu.edu

This is a website where you will post online writing for this class.

Step one is to submit a personal profile in the “café.” You will then read profiles from other class members and respond to AT LEAST TWO submissions.

Detailed instructions will be distributed in class.

You will answer questions at this site throughout the semester.

E-mail assignments:

1. Each student will be responsible for generating discussion questions for an upcoming class session. The questions should be based on the assigned readings, and should be submitted to the listserve 48 HOURS before the class meeting.

§ Students will answer ONE OF THE TWO QUESTIONS in the Speakeasy Café.

Students MUST read and respond to the person whose answer appears ABOVE yours

§ The answers to the questions will be graded as part of your participation grade.

§ The instructor will assign the date(s) and topics after the first class meeting.

Group Projects:

Each student will be assigned to two groups. One presentation will be during the first half of the semester; the second will be after the midterm. Grades are counted under “participation.”

Class Participation:

Students are expected to:

Attend and participate in class meetings

Read materials for class when due

Be prepared to discuss reading assignments

Adhere to college rules with regard to style, footnoting, attribution

Plagiarism = automatic F

No makeup exams / late submissions without doctor’s note

EXAMS

Midterm- 15%

The midterm will cover the materials presented during the first half of the semester.

Final 20%

The final will be cumulative.

Both exams will be a combination of both short answer and essay questions.

ASSIGNMENTS

RESEARCH PROJECT (25%)

3. REEL HISTORY

Students will work in assigned groups . Each group will select from the following list of films. Students will analyze the film, and design a website, using the criteria specified by Dr. Jim Ghallager, creator of the REEL HISTORY website.

The films from which you may select are:

Sankofa

Daughters of the Dust

A Woman Called Moses

Directions for this project can be found at:

http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/ejg/ejg-frames.html

BOOK CRITIQUES (20%)

Two 3-5 page book critiques are to be submitted by each student .

The first paper should explore the use of magic, conjuration, indigenous West African beliefs and/or the literary technique known as “magical realism” in Octavia Butler’s Science Fiction novel Wild Seed and Dr. Patrice Malidoma Somé’s autobiography Of Water and Spirit.

Wild Seed/Of Water and Spirit Due Week 5

The second critique will examine James Baldwin’s autobiographical novel Go Tell It On The Mountain .

Go Tell it On The Mountain Due Week 11

These papers should not merely be reviews of the plots/ characterizations of the works. Rather, they should provide an analysis of an element, or elements, of the work that you found to be particularly interesting/significant or disagreeable. If in doubt, Use the guidelines for writing a critique distributed in class as a guide.

GROUP PROJECTS

Groups 1, 2 and 3 will report during week 6

Group Report:

Groups 1 (Judiasm), 2 (Christianity), and 3 (Islam)

Prepare a report on the African elements of/relationship to the world religion assigned to your group. Use the websites listed as a starting point. Use links in these sites, and other web searches, to expand your resource base.

Use Powerpoint to create a 10 minute summary of your findings for your classmates.

Use the guidelines at Milton’s Web to evaluate each of the websites that you use. YOU MUST USE AT LEAST 5 SITES.

The evaluation of the websites should be mailed to the listerve for your class.

RESOURCES

Christianity

Orthodox Ethiopian Christianity

THE NEVER LOST ARK:2000 Years of Orthodox Christian Tradition in Africa

http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/redingtn/eth.html

Arts of Ethiopia

www.h-net.msu.edu/~etoc

Biblical hermaneutics: an Afrocentric perspective

http://www.unisa.ac.za/dept./press/rt/22/theol2w.html

This site studies Christianity and Christ from the Afrocentric perspective.

African influence on Christianity.

Images and Explanations/ Show Coptic/Islamic/Egyptian/Greek interplay.

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Vatican_GIFS/menu_Vatican.html

Islam

Islamicity

Searchable Q'uaran AND other info on Islam on this site. VERY GOOD/probably best resource for Islam

http://islamicity.org/

Islam: West Africa

Ahmadou Bamba and Senegalese Worship

http://www.lam.mus.ca.us/africa/tour/unit001/014.htm

Resource for Ancient Egypt and Early Islam

http://eawc.evansville.edu/index.htm

The Baobab Project Narratives: Islam and Indigenous African Culture

http://web-dubois.fas.harvard.edu/dubois/baobab/narratives/islam/islam.html

Judaism

Abayudaya Jews of Uganda

http://www.intac.com/PubService/uganda/

African Americans in Israel

www.kingdomofyah.com\

Exploring the African Presence in the Promised Land Traveling Exhibition

http://www.kingdomofyah.com/museum.htm

Ethiopian Jewery (Falasha) http://www.circus.org/nacoej.htm

The North Star 1.2/ Links to Africana Jews

http://cedar.barnard.columbia.edu/~north/volume1/v1n2link.html

Ancient Hebrews: Title Page/ Kinship

http://www.umanitoba.ca/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/hebrews/

Groups 4, 5, & 6 will report during week 12

Oral Reports:

Group 4:

The African Methodist Episcopal Church(AME)

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church(AMEZ)

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME)

African Americans & The United Methodist Church(UM or ME)

Group 5:

The National Baptist Convention

The Progressive Baptist Convention

The Church of God in Christ

African Americans & The Presbyterian Church

Group 6:

African Americans & The Episcopal Church

African Americans and The Roman Catholic Church

The Nation of Islam

The Hebrew Israelites

Directions:

Identify and evaluate at least 4 websites on each of your topicsyour topics.

Use the directions at the following websites as a guide.

http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.html

http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/practical.html

Prepare a written evaluation of the websites for your classmates. Prepare a PowerPoint summary of the African origins of the world religion assigned to your group. Use the Website at:

http://commerce.ubc.ca/MBAcore/tutorials/powerpoint/ppt7.html

for a review of the PowerPoint lesson conducted at the beginning of the semester.

Present a 10 minute summary of your findings regarding the origins of your assigned religion for your classmates

At least part of your group presentation must use presentation software such as PowerPoint

SCHEDULE

PART I AFRICA AND ITS PAST

Week 1

Topic: Africana Studies - An Overview

Course and Assignments Overview

Eurocentric and Afrocentric approaches to scholarships and research

African geo-economy

Defining Worldview

Reading: Mazrui, Ali. The Africans: A Triple Heritage. Chapter 7 “Africa At Prayer: New Gods”, pgs. 135-158. (Reserve)

African Culture and Aesthetics

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/aoi/resources/hg/aesthetics.html

Origins of the World

http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/98/May/18/health_and_science/DINO18.htm

Resource: The Afrocentric Debate Resource Homepage

www.he.net/~skyeagle/afro.htm

Assignment: Due at next class meeting

Using the World Wide Web/Internet- find sites that provide

examples each of:

(1) Eurocentric and Afrocentric information about the same topic

(2) The reinforcement of three common misconceptions about Egypt/Africa

Visit the PowerPoint tutorial WWW site at http://commerce.ubc.ca/MBAcore/tutorials/powerpoint/ppt7.html

Familiarize yourself with the information at this site

Week 2

Topic: Indigenous African Religions

Cosmology and Worldview

Reading: Ray, African Religions, Chapter 2, “Divinity and Man,” and

Chapter 5, “Man, Ancestors and Ethics.”

Website: “Elements...African Traditional Religion”

http://users.iol.it/cdi/atr_admire.htm

Central issues in African philosophy

http://www.augustana.ab.ca/~janzb/centiss.htm

ART AND LIFE IN AFRICA SITE: Key Moments in Life

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/chapters/KML.html

Africa's Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems

http://members.aol.com/afsci/africana.htm

Week 3

Topics: The Word- African Oral Traditions

Reading: Ray, African Religions, Chapter 1, “Myth and History.”

Websites: Homepages “An African Cosmogony, and “An African Story of The Creation of Man.”

Literary Arts / Storytelling

http://www.africaonline.com/AfricaOnline/griotstalk/writers/series.html\

Egyptian creation story

http://icvc.imago.com.au/egypt/html/the_gods.html

Assignment: Use two of the creation stories listed above. Find two more African creation stories. Compare and Contrast the values, mores, norms being espoused by each in a 2-3 page paper.

Week 4

Topics: Kemet and The Ancient Kingdoms

Dr. Cheik Anta Diop and the Nile Valley Scholars

Readings: Excerpts from The Teachings of Ptahotep & The Declarations

of Innocence (Reserve)

Websites: Africa's Ancient Empires and States

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/aoi/resources/hg/ancient.html

Egypt:Worship and Mythology

http://www.cc.emory.edu/CARLOS/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/myth.html

Kemet- http://home.att.net/%7ENumberup/Kemet.htm

The Great Temple of Abu Simbel (clickable)

http://www.ccer.ggl.ruu.nl/abu_simbel/abu_simbel1.html

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt-Religion

http://digilib.nypl.org:80/dynaweb/digs/wwm9716/@Generic__BookTocView/;uf=0#X

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook04.html#Religion

Martin Bernal and Black Athena

http://chss2.montclair.edu/sorac/SORAC/Bernal.html

Video: Closed Circuit broadcast of Black Athena

Assignment: Compare and Contrast the main theses of Professor Martin

Bernal (Black Athena) and Prof. Mary Lefkowitz (Not Out of

Africa). E-Mail your essay to dickinsg@tcnj.edu 7 days after this class

Week 5

Day One

Topic: Indigenous African Religions

Case Studies: Yoruba, Dogon, Ibo, Baganda

Reading: Equiano Biography- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p276.html

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African Chapters 1 and 2 http://planetx.bloomu.edu/~aholton/121readings_html/equiano1.html