As a survey course, the primary themes in this course concern the ways in which ancient African communities developed and interacted with others. After a continental overview and exploration of Africa, we consider a number of regional developments successively but not always in chronological order, beginning with early African civilizations and ending with initial European conquest. This course pays particular attention to the history and development of both Islam and Christianity throughout the continent, highlighting their economic and social impact.

As a survey course, the primary goal of this course is to address the typical images of Africa by putting the continent’s contemporary situation into historical context. That is, we try to understand how Africa’s current predicaments came about. In order to do so, this course covers major themes of African history from the end of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade through the first years of the twenty first century, following a chronological narrative. The course focuses on the colonial and post-colonial periods, with attention to themes such as colonization and European colonial rule, resistance movements throughout the continent and decolonization in the middle of the twentieth century, and contemporary issues of violence, war, genocide, poverty, resistance movements, and racial and gender inequality. By focusing on specific case studies throughout the continent, students are be able to draw on historical examples to contextualize Africa’s most intractable problems, while also gaining a theoretical grounding of these issues through a confrontation with some of the most important African writers, musicians and artists of the colonial and post-colonial eras. The course is designed to encourage student participation and input in an open and collegial environment.

This course studies the decolonization process through a transnational perspective—with emphasis on Africa and the African Diaspora—to examine the history of independence. Critically reflecting on the promises of independence and liberation, students will consider the ways in which political thinkers within Africa and the Diaspora envisioned questions of citizenship, civil society, and economic and political development. In reflecting on questions of liberation, independence, and freedom, we examine what, exactly, lies in the “afterlives” of decolonization. Students read broadly across the diaspora (Amilcar Cabral, Thomas Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Léopold Senghor, Steve Biko, C. L. R. James) as literature from this course covers various countries including Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Brazil, Trinidad, and Haiti.

Through a variety of art forms and cultural movements, this course examines the arts and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora from a historical perspective. Emphasizing cultural diversity and complexity, we examine a wide range of peoples, ideas, and perspectives including major African art traditions; the spread and development of African and diasporic musical tradition; the religious movements of the diaspora; major cultural movements; and current literary and film perspectives. In doing so, this course spans large periods of time and geographic space in order to map and more fully comprehend the various dimensions of arts and cultures in Africa and the diaspora. By providing a more thorough understanding of artistic and cultural movements of Africa and the diaspora, this course analyzes efforts by individuals and communities to foster an understanding of a Black experience capable of reaching beyond divisions of language, ethnicity, and nationality in order to create a shared global identity. Structurally, the first half of this course is dedicated to sketching a broad history of arts and cultures of Africa and the Diaspora while the second half of the course focuses on specific genres and movements. 

This senior seminar covers an in-depth exploration of Boston's pivotal yet underappreciated role in the Civil Rights Movement and African American history. Students will explore key periods, including Reconstruction, the rise of Jim Crow, the Great Migration, and the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, drawing connections between national events and Boston's local history. Students will explore how Boston's own struggles with segregation and racial inequality mirrored national trends while also contributing uniquely to the movement. Students will uncover the significant yet often unrecognized impact Boston had on the fight for racial equality in America. Throughout the course, students engage with primary sources, including speeches, letters, and archival footage, to uncover the often-overlooked stories of Boston's involvement in the fight for civil rights. By connecting the national narrative to Boston's local history, this seminar challenges students to reconsider the city's legacy and its role as a co-star in the broader struggle for racial justice in America.

● Semester 1: 4 units covering the history of civil rights in Boston

● Semester 2: Practicum/Senior Thesis -- Field Trip Opportunities

In this course students study the rise of nation states, as well as the social, economic, and political roots of the modern world. Key questions that guide the course are connected to what causes conflicts between groups and nations and when, if ever, is violence justified. The course begins with exploring an era of revolution(s), followed by a deep study of the causes and consequences of imperialism by examining case studies in Africa and Asia. Students then explore significant military and economic events of the past century including World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. Lastly, students analyze the impact and legacies of the Cold War on nations around the world up through the present day. A common thread that we will continue to return to is the global history of genocides. Studying the history of genocide(s) around the world instills a deeper study of human rights, understanding human behavior, develops a historical understanding that is justice-driven, and foster a sense of global citizenships through establishing a global perspective that transcends national borders and addresses contemporary issues. Studying genocide is not just about understanding the past—it's about shaping a more just, humane, and peaceful future. Throughout the course, students will collaborate in inclusive and respectful ways, and will develop critical thinking skills to challenge assumptions and make connections between today and the past.

Taking a theoretical and comparative historical approach to analyzing problems of development and ethnic conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, this course surveys a number of complex forces that have shaped African countries contemporary economic, political, and social realities. Through examining African society and culture, polity, and economy through an interdisciplinary perspective, this course will examine issues of nationalism, economic development, politics of aid, and ethnic politics to provide an understanding of the political and cultural contexts of development in sub-Saharan Africa. Grounded in understanding the present-day context of the African nation-state, this course primarily focuses on the 20th and 21st century, with particular emphasis on the late-colonial and post-colonial periods. In doing so, this class will utilize current events and developments like foreign aid, hip-hop, and current conflicts (DRC 2016; Northern Mali 2012; Marikana Massacre, South Africa 2012) to gather a larger understanding of development, the state, and ethnic politics. 

In this semester-long course, Students complete a Civics Action Project where they engage in issues regarding housing and work conditions, patterns of migration, family life, human rights, economy, environment, representation, equity and justice as they relate to the sustainable development goals. The civics projects equips students with the skills to raise globally significant questions, connect them to their communities, and research and analyze information with accuracy and precision in order to craft and communicate evidence-based findings and arguments about these significant issues with a proposed action plan for how to address the issue in their communities

The global dimensions of hip-hop are vast and varied. This course examines how youth within the African Diaspora use hip-hop to articulate their identities and sociopolitical realities. Historically contextualizing hip-hop within a broader global black history, this course is an exploration of hip-hop culture(s) as it takes shape in different locations around the world. Paying specific attention to the transnational, geopolitical, and popular cultural vibrancy of the network that hip-hop wields to build specific cultural communities in given national and global contexts, we will critically interrogate questions of gender, class, language, and intergenerational divides. The approach to this course is interdisciplinary, drawing upon works from Africana studies, music, history, and hip-hop studies. Additionally, this course will rely upon a mixed methods approach beyond scholarly texts to include film, video, and audio documents. We critically examine scholarly texts and put them in conversation with different hip-hop artists around the world. The main focus of this course is hip-hop’s transnational history, understanding both hip-hop’s global roots and global routes. We look at various hip-hop cultures in America, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and South America. While this is an exploration of hip-hop within the African Diaspora, we examine musical traditions such as Hiplife, Afrobeat, Bongo Flava, Rumba, Reggae, and Afro-Cuban jazz to better understand hip-hop’s transnational history. While this is organized as a semi-introductory course that will include a discussion of major historical events and contributions, some awareness and knowledge of Africana studies is recommended. 

New to concepts of anti-racism? Interested in developing a historical understanding of anti-Black racism in America? This 5-week course is designed for white folx and non-Black POC—especially those who may be new or unfamiliar with concepts of anti-racism. Through a historical and political examination of the history of slavery, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, mass incarceration, and the militarization of the police, this course will help to develop your political education to better understand how we got to this place. Black genocide is happening at the hands of white supremacy and white folx. It is our job, as those standing in solidarity with Black folx and the BLM movement, to educate and organize our own communities. What are you going to do after the protests have quelled? How will you maintain this work? Not only will you walk away from this course with a better developed and sharpened historical and political education, but you will have a larger toolkit to organize your own community. While this class is specifically geared towards white folx, it is open to anyone who is interested in developing their historical and political understanding of the U.S. 

The course is created with people who have busy schedules in mind. We will meet once a week for an hour to discuss assigned readings, podcasts, and films. The weekly meetings will be structured around one assignment (a chapter, a film, or a podcast). This course is a way for me to share what I know as a student, instructor, and researcher while alleviating Black colleagues, academics, and friends from this labor. Meetings will be combination lecture and discussion.

The primary goal of this monthly course is to continue our conversation on global anti-racism to better understand our role in the current moment. This is an iteration of the Anti-Racist Starter Pack class however previous enrollment in that course is not necessary to enroll in this class. The syllabus for this class will be structured around continuing our political development through a deeper examination of human rights (specifically the movement for trans rights), expanding our knowledge and understanding of anti-racism to move beyond concepts of anti-blackness, a deeper examination of anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist ideologies, and more while further developing our organizational tactics. 

The course is created with people who have busy schedules in mind. We will meet monthly for two hours to discuss assigned readings, podcasts, and films. The meetings will be structured around one assignment (a chapter, a film, or a podcast). This course is a way for me to share what I know as a student, instructor, and researcher while alleviating Black colleagues, academics, and friends from this labor. Meetings will be combination lecture and discussion.

This course will provide a more thorough examination of the social, political, and cultural histories of Africa through African filmmaking and video-making. Over the past fifty years, filmmakers from across the African continent have produced a large body of films and videos that, in the quality of their expression and the complexity of their themes, are on a par with the most important films produced in the rest of the world. African film has, however, been dubbed the “last cinema” due to its having been largely ignored by film financiers, distributors, and exhibitors, as well as by most Western film critics. This landscape is shifting: one of the largest media media services and production companies, Netflix, has invested significantly in African film, most notably in Nollywood (Nigerian Hollywood). Building upon African History: Colonization and Decolonization, this class will provide us with the opportunity to more thoroughly study different histories through film, exploring topics such as LGBT rights, folklore traditions, urban development, and post-Apartheid South Africa. Because the Anglophone African and Francophone African film worlds are so vast and varied, this class will primarily center on the Anglophone African film world in an effort to make the class material more manageable and focused.

The course is created with people who have busy schedules in mind. We will meet monthly for two hours to discuss films and the brief assigned readings.

This course will provide a more thorough examination of the social, political, and cultural histories of Africa through African filmmaking and video-making. Over the past fifty years, filmmakers from across the African continent have produced a large body of films and videos that, in the quality of their expression and the complexity of their themes, are on a par with the most important films produced in the rest of the world. African film has, however, been dubbed the “last cinema” due to its having been largely ignored by film financiers, distributors, and exhibitors, as well as by most Western film critics. This landscape is shifting but is built on a long tradition of film creation. Building upon African History: Colonization and Decolonization and African Cinematography, this class will provide us with the opportunity to more thoroughly study different histories through film, exploring the creative depictions and imaginations of the political social circumstances of the Francophone African Diasporic World. This class will specifically focus on Francophone African Cinematography, paying particular attention to Francophone West Africa.

The course is created with people who have busy schedules in mind. We will meet monthly for two hours to discuss films and the brief assigned readings.