African American Studies Minor

[ courses | faculty ]

Institute of Arts and Humanities
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 1105

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice.

The Minor

The African American studies minor (AASM) at UC San Diego is an interdisciplinary field of study in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. AASM is a scholarly examination of African American life, history, and culture as it has taken shape within the United States and helped to transform the nation. In addition to taking a core course, students will complete twenty-eight total units of which at least twenty units (five courses) must be upper division. The required distribution of the five upper-division courses may be selected from among the following courses. Students may petition to receive credit for courses not listed below. 

CORE COURSES

(Choose ONE COURSE from the list below)

AAS 10. Introduction to African American Studies (4)

ETHN 3. Introduction to Ethnic Studies: Making Culture (4)  

HILD 7A. Race and Ethnicity in the United States (4)

LTEN 27. Introduction to Afro-American Literature (4)

ELECTIVE COURSES

(Choose SIX COURSES from the list below)

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

AAS/ANSC 185. #BlackLivesMatter (4)

AAS 190. Special Topics in African American Studies (4)

ANTHROPOLOGY

ANBI 131. Biology and Culture of Race (4)

ANTH 21. Race and Racisms (4)

ANTH 23. Debating Multiculturalism (4)

ANSC 110. Societies and Cultures/Caribbean (4)

ANSC/AAS 185. #BlackLivesMatter (4)

BIOLOGY

BILD 60. Exploring Issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Relation to Human Biology (4)

CRITICAL GENDER STUDIES

CGS 147/ETHN 147. Black Feminism (4)

CGS 114/ETHN 183. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4) (course previously approved and listed only under ETHN)

CGS 165/ETHN 165. Sex and Gender in African American Communities (4) (course previously approved and listed only under ETHN)

COMMUNICATION

COMM 110. Communication and the Community (4)

COMM 120M. Media Stereotypes (4)

COMM 135. Contemporary Minority Media (4)

COMM 137. Black Women Filmmakers (4)

COMM 138. Black Women, Feminism, and Media (4)

COMM 139. Black Popular Music (4)

ECONOMICS

ECON 138. Economics of Discrimination (4)

EDUCATION STUDIES

EDS 112. Urban Education in the United States (4)

ETHNIC STUDIES

ETHN 3. Introduction to Ethnic Studies: Making Culture (4)

ETHN 101. Ethnic Images in Film (4)

ETHN 102. Science and Technology: Race, Gender, and Class (4)

ETHN 103. Environmental Racism (4)

ETHN 105/USP 104. Ethnic Diversity and the City (4)

ETHN 107/USP 130. Fieldwork in Racial and Ethnic Communities (4)

ETHN 108/MUS 151. Race, Culture, and Social Change (4)

ETHN 109. Race and Social Movements (4)

ETHN 119. Race in the Americas (4)

ETHN 120. Race and Performance: The Politics of Popular Culture (4)

ETHN 128/MUS 152. Hip-Hop: Politics of Culture (4)

ETHN 140. Language and American Ethnicity (4)

ETHN 142. Medicine, Race, and Global Politics of Inequality (4)

ETHN 147. Black Feminisms, Past and Present (4)

ETHN 149/HIUS 139. African American History/Twentieth Century (4)

ETHN 151. Ethnic Politics in America (4)

ETHN 152. Law and Civil Rights (4)

ETHN 159/HIUS 183. Topics/African American History (4)

ETHN 161. Black Politics and Protest Since 1941 (4)

ETHN 164/MUS 153. African Americans and the Mass Media (4)

ETHN 165. Sex and Gender in African American Communities (4)

ETHN 172/LTEN 183. Afro-American Prose (4)

ETHN 174/LTEN 185. Themes in Afro-American Literature (4)

ETHN 175/LTEN 186. Literature of the Harlem Renaissance (4)

ETHN 176/LTEN 187/MUS 154. Black Music and Text: Communication and Cultural Expression (4)

ETHN 178/MUS 126. Blues: An Oral Tradition (4)

ETHN 179A/MUS 127A. Jazz Roots and Early Development (1900–43) (4)

ETHN 179B/MUS 127B. Jazz Since 1946: Freedom and Form (4)

ETHN 183/CGS 114. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4)

ETHN 184. Black Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century (4)

ETHN 185. Discourse, Power, and Inequality (4)

ETHN 188/USP 132. African Americans, Religion, and the City (4)

ETHN 190/USP 129. Research Methods: Studying Ethnic and Racial Communities (4)

HISTORY

HILD 7A. Race and Ethnicity in the United States (4)

HILA 121. History of Brazil (4)

HILA 122. History of Cuba (4)

HIUS 126. History of Race in the U.S. (4)

HIUS 128. African American Legal History (4)

HIUS 137. Slavery/Freedom/U.S. 1775–1877 (4)

HIUS 134. African American Cultural History (4)

HIUS 139/ETHN 149. African American History/Twentieth Century (4)

HIUS 144. Topics in US History* (4)

HIUS 146. Race, Riots, and Violence in the U.S. (4)

HIUS 147/USP 165. History of the American Suburb (4)

HIUS 148. American Cities in the Twentieth Century (4)

HIUS 155. Zoot Suit–Hip-Hop: Race and Popular Culture (4)

HIUS 176. Race and Sexual Politics (4)

HIUS 183/ETHN 159. Topics/African American History (4)

LITERATURE

LTAM 111. Comparative Caribbean Discourse (4)

LTEN 27. Intro to Afro-American Literature (4)

LTEN 183/ETHN 172. Afro-American Prose (4)

LTEN 185/ETHN 174. Themes in Afro-American Literature (4)

LTEN 186/ETHN 175. Literature of the Harlem Renaissance (4)

LTEN 188. Contemporary Caribbean Literature (4)

LTCS 130. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Culture (4)

LTEN 178. Comparative Ethnic Literature* (4)

LTSP 137. Caribbean Literature (4)

MUSIC

MUS 95. Ensemble Performance (2)

Section G. Gospel Choir* (Except for the two-unit performing arts courses in Music, which may be repeated for credit.)

MUS 126/ETHN 178. Blues: An Oral Tradition (4)

MUS 127A/ETHN 179A. Jazz Roots and Early Development (4)

MUS 127B/ETHN 179B. Jazz Since 1946: Freedom and Form (4)

MUS 150. Jazz and the Music of the African Diaspora (4)

MUS 151. Race, Culture, and Social Change (4)

MUS 152. The Politics of Hip-Hop (4)

MUS 153. African Americans and the Mass Media (4)

PHILOSOPHY

PHIL 170. Philosophy and Race (4)

POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLI 13. Power and Justice (4)

POLI 100H. Race and Ethnicity in American Politics (4)

POLI 100I. Participation and Inequality (4)

POLI 100J. Race in American Political Development (4)

POLI 102E/USP 107. Urban Politics (4)

POLI 102K. The Urban Underclass (4)

POLI 108. Politics of Multiculturalism (4)

RADY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MGT 18. Managing Diverse Teams (4)

SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY

SIO 114. The Science and Analysis of Environmental Justice (4)

SOCIOLOGY

SOCI 10. American Society. Social Structure and Culture/U.S. (4)

SOCI 113. Sociology of the AIDS Epidemic (4)

SOCI 127. Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity (4)

SOCI 139. Social Inequality. Class, Race, and Gender (4)

SOCI 148E. Inequality and Jobs (4)

SOCI 151. Comparative Race and Ethnic Relations (4)

SOCI 152/USP 133. Social Inequality and Public Policy (4)

SOCI 153/USP 105. Urban Sociology (4)

SOCI 187E. The Sixties (4)

THEATRE AND DANCE

TDHT 109. African American Theatre (4)

TDGE 127. The Films of Spike Lee (4)

TDMV 138. Beginning Hip-Hop (2)

TDMV 143. West African Dance (4)

URBAN STUDIES PROGRAM

USP 1. History: US Urban Communities (4)

USP 3. City and Social Theory (4)

USP 105. Urban Sociology (4)

USP 103/HIUS 148. American Cities in the Twentieth Century (4)

USP 104/ETHN 105. Ethnic Diversity and the City (4)

USP 105/SOCI 153. Urban Sociology (4)

USP 107/POLI 102E. Urban Politics (4)

USP 129/ETHN 190. Research Methods: Studying Ethnic and Racial Communities (4)

USP 130/ETHN 107. Ethnographic Fieldwork in Racial and Ethnic Communities (4)

USP 132/ETHN 107. African Americans, Religion, and the City (4)

USP 133/SOCI 152. Social Inequality and Public Policy (4)

USP 147. Case Studies in Health-Care Programs: Poor and Underserved Communities (4)

USP 165/HIUS 147. History of the American Suburb (4)

VISUAL ARTS

VIS 126DN (Now VIS 126J). African and Afro-American Art (4)

Students interested in either taking African American Studies courses or completing the minor are encouraged to contact the program coordinator in the Virtual Advising Center.