Subject: AFST

Term: Spring 2026

AFST 202: Race and Ethnic Minorities in The United States (100/9789)

TR 01:00-02:15 PM Jan 12-Apr 27

Claytor, C

This course explores interactions between racial and ethnic majority and minority groups in the United States. We examine the historical origins and formation of racial/ethnic hierarchies, the institutional and normative processes for reproducing these hierarchies, and the social and economic significance of stratified racial and ethnic group identities. The course is taught from a macro perspective that examines larger structural forces (e.g., colonization, slavery, and immigration) to explain inter-group relations, and a constructionist perspective to understand the way that power fashions the social meaning of identities (e.g., symbolic violence and hegemonic discourse), social categories (e.g., panethnic Asian and Hispanic groups), and everyday interactions (e.g., stereotypes and white racial frame). Specific topics include the formation and significance of white and black identities, reactive ethnicity, the racial privilege of whiteness, the politics of immigration, and the intersectionality of class, race and gender. Offered as AFST 202 and SOCI 202.

AFST 216: Hip Hop History, Culture, Music (100/10253)

TR 04:00-05:15 PM Jan 12-Apr 27

Yuknas, M

This course surveys the history of hip hop. The relationship of hip hop to important currents in American life and culture will be examined, with a particular focus on how race, class, and gender shaped the evolution of the form. The origins of various styles of hip hop in the cultures of different ethnic and national groups will be discussed, along with the subsequent diffusion and transformation of such music through mass mediation. The characteristics and meanings of music, lyrics and images will be discussed, with the aid of sound recordings, music videos and films. Offered as AFST 216 and MUHI 216.

AFST 233: The Life and Science of Ernest Everett Just (100/7177)

TR 10:00-11:15 AM Jan 12-Apr 27

Haynesworth, S

Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941) was one of the most important developmental biologists of the first half of the twentieth century. He made important observations, discoveries, and contributions to the scientific debate regarding the mechanisms of fertilization and early embryonic development. E.E. Just authored over 70 scientific papers and two books during his relatively short life; he died at age 57. E. E. Just was also a Black man who was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina during the post-reconstruction white redemption; a period characterized by restrictive Jim Crow laws and Klu Klux Klan violence against Black people in the South. This course will explore the life of E. E. Just in the context of his contributions to science, his life as a Black man growing up in the Jim Crow South, and as a Black scientist during a period in American history when racially discriminatory laws and customs at multiple levels prohibited or severely limited the ability of Blacks to participate in the field of scientific research. In so doing, this interdisciplinary course will connect scientific and humanistic disciplines by bringing together students interested in biology, American history, African American history, and the history of science to explore and critically analyze aspects of Just's life and science from these various perspectives. Offered as AFST 233 and BIOL 233 and HSTY 233.

AFST 260: U.S. Slavery and Emancipation (100/9847)

MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 12-Apr 27

Voltz, N

Begins with the African encounter with Europeans during the emergence of the modern slave trade. Students are introduced to the documents and secondary literature on the creation and maintenance of slavery, first in colonial America, and then in the United States. The course concludes with the destruction of slavery. Offered as AFST 260, ETHS 260 and HSTY 260.

AFST 389: Race, Immigration and American Political Developme (100/7027)

MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 12-Apr 27

Parris, G

Specific topic will vary but will consist of an in-depth investigation of a particular policy area or political phenomenon. Topics will involve policy controversies of some current interest. Offered as AFST 389, POSC 389, and POSC 489.