Winter 2017

The Spanish discovery and conquest of this continent created Latin America and the Caribbean out of the diverse and complex realities of the pre-Columbian world. Since colonial times Latin American and Caribbean cultures have developed against a background of cultural repression, racial conflict, political domination, colonial exploitation, and gender inequality. And yet, in the midst of all this turmoil, Latin America and the Caribbean have produced an extraordinary variety and wealth of artistic creations, ranging from literature to the visual arts, from music to film. In this course we will turn to some of the works by Latin American and Caribbean artists and writers in an attempt to illuminate and explore some of the wonders of the cultural dynamics that shape the many faces of what we call Latin America and the Caribbean.

Diaz-Duhalde (2) NW; LIT

This course surveys the major issues that have shaped Caribbean society from the late 19th-century to the present, including: imperialism, urbanization, migration and globalization, struggles for national independence, the transition from plantation to tourism-based economies, and the global spread of Caribbean popular culture. Our readings and discussions will focus on the historical trajectories of Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic using historical scholarship, music, literature, film, and personal narratives.

Goldthree (12) NW; SOC/INT

What is “African American music”? What is “black music”? What does African American music reveal about race, culture, and American society? And why has African American music, perhaps more than any other music, moved with such energy, crossing boundaries of nation, race, ethnicity, and been taken up with passion and commitment by people in so many parts of the world? We address these and other core questions as they emerge from specific historic and ethnographic case studies, examining music in an interdisciplinary critical framework that attends to both its aesthetic, experiential, and political meanings. We investigate select African American musical genres in both the U.S. and in global contexts. The course is divided into four units on blues, jazz, rock and hip hop, focusing on themes of text and intertextuality, improvisation and dialogue, technology and sampling. In addition, we address these genres as they are taken up in other parts of the world. Case studies will include blues in the U.K. and Tibet, jazz in France and Japan, and hip hop in Burma and South Africa. Texts, performances, media, in-class workshops all form an integral part of this course.

Inglese (11) CI; ART

In this course, we will study black American literature that focuses the noir genre on black people themselves. We will read gritty, urban crime novels that attempt to expose inequities in black American lives and dispel the notion that a descent from whiteness results in blackness. Rather, the black people in these texts exist in darkness because they are living in alienated communities. We shall investigate how the noir genre is altered when “noirs” are the subjects and the authors. In addition to primary texts, the course will engage critical responses to these works.

Kinyon (2A) W; LIT

Available to students who wish to independently explore aspects of African and African American Studies which are not included in courses currently offered at Dartmouth. Open to qualified students with permission of the course instructor and the Chair. (Obtain Proposal Form in the program office.) No student may take more than two such courses without the approval of the Chair. Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors.

This course examines how different forms of collective identity—including class, race, ethnicity, indigeneity and gender—have shaped Latin American and Latino politics in the 20th and 21st centuries. We will focus on a range of cases in Latin America and the U.S. to address the following questions: In what ways does the state create and sustain certain categories of identity as the basis for political inclusion and exclusion? What explains changes in the political salience of certain categories of collective identity? Why do some identities become politically salient and others do not? How have forms of political representation changed over the past century? How does state policy affect the ability of groups to mobilize and press for demands? How do organized groups affect state policy? What are the possibilities and limitations of identity-based mobilization?  

Baldez (10A) W; INT

For senior African and African American Studies majors toward the culminating experience, with permission of selected instructor and the Chair. (Obtain Proposal Form in the program office.)

Two terms of senior year with selected AAAS faculty member.

The honors student will pursue the project under guidance of selected faculty member and with permission of the Chair. See "A Guide to Honors in African and African American Studies."