Topics in Black Studies: Black Cultures After World War II 21:014:303:01 Professor Paul M. Heideman pmheideman@gmail.

com Office Hours T, Th 1:30-2:30 Conklin 245. Course Summary This course is an examination of Black culture from 1945 until the present. African American culture has been at the center of American culture since the nation's earliest days. The slave narrative was the first new American form of literature; the spirituals were our first new music. In this class, we will look at the changes Black culture underwent in the decades following the end of World War II. This period bore witness to an incredible pace of change in both African American culture and that culture's relationship with larger American society. Instead of attempting to cover the history of all of these changes, this course will focus on five moments in Black cultural history, which we will study in roughly chronological order. Through an examination of the Black Freedom Movement, the Black experience in Vietnam, Black sexuality, Afro-futurism, and hip-hop, we will trace the different ways African Americans have understood and sought to change the conditions of their lives, and how those efforts shaped the history of the United States. Course Objectives This course has two primary objectives. The first is to introduce students to the study of culture. Not long ago, it was considered foolish for university professors to spend time teaching their students about subjects such as hip-hop or science fiction. Such 'low' forms of culture did not, it was held, merit the attention of the academy, despite the fact that far, far more people participated in such cultural forms than read Shakespeare. However, in the last two decades, this prejudice has slowly been battered down. This course seeks to acquaint students with some of the work that has been produced as a result, and ultimately equip students with the tools to produce critical analyses of popular culture. More specifically, this course aims to students the tools to understand Black culture and its role in American history. While courses in African American history or literature are now commonplace on college campuses, looking at Black culture as a whole, from poetry to funk to film, is less common. By putting all of these cultural forms side by side, this class will encourage students to look at Black culture from a holistic perspective, and to inquire into the interrelationships between seemingly different modes of culture. Ultimately, by looking at Black culture as a whole in the decades following World War II, this course aims to provide students with an understanding of the foundations of cultural production today. Course Expectations

I have a number of simple expectations for students in my classrooms. They are ranked in order of importance. 1.) Everyone has the right to feel safe in this classroom, but no one has a right to feel comfortable. The history of race in the United States is one of the most complicated and emotionally intense histories imaginable. Students as well as the instructor will inevitably have strong reactions to contributions made in the classroom. If we're all on the same page on everything, we're not doing it right. Despite the inevitable conflicts of opinion that will emerge, I expect everyone to treat each other with respect. 2.) I expect everyone to come to class fully prepared and with the reading assignments for the day in hand. We will be referencing reading assignments in class, and it is vital that students be able to see what is being discussed. Failure to be prepared for class will result in a decreased participation grade. 3.) Students are expected to come to class on time. Lateness will affect your grade adversely. 4.) Attendance is mandatory. There is no difference between excused and unexcused absences missing more than two classes will result in a lower grade. 5.) All written work should be proofread for grammatical errors and written in a formal tone. This means no incomplete sentences, proper punctuation, etc. If you have questions about my expectations on this front, ask. Course Rubric Participation: 20% Writing Assignments: 20% Final Paper: 30% Final Exam: 30% Course Assignments There are three types of writing assignments you will have to complete this semester. The first is a 750 word response paper. In these papers, I do not require you to have a thesis or anything so formal as that. Rather, you should think of these as opportunities to explore a subject you've found interesting in the course. Your goal is simply to use your 750 words to say something interesting about a topic you have found engaging. The second type of assignment is called a Fifty Word Wonder. Here, you will be asked to write one grammatical sentence of exactly fifty words. The emphasis in this assignment is less on content than on form, and figuring out how to eliminate or add words as necessary. The final type of assignment is a five page paper responding to one of several prompts I will hand out later in the semester.

Required Texts Chang, Jeff. Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation Terry, Wallace. Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans. Course Schedule Week 1: Intro and Foundations of Black Culture in the United States T, 1/17 Course Introduction. Th, 1/19 Foundations of Black Culture in the United States. Week 2: The Freedom Movement T, 1/24 Jacqueline Dowd Hall, 'The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past' [blackboard]; Richard Wright, 'The Ethics of Living Jim Crow' [blackboard]. Th, 1/26 750 word response paper due. Michael Honey, 'Black Workers Remember' [blackboard] Week 3: The Freedom Movement T, 1/31 James Baldwin, 'The Dangerous Road Before Martin Luther King' [blackboard], Barbara Ransby, 'The Preacher and the Organizer' [blackboard] Th, 2/2 Gwendolyn Brooks, 'Malcolm X' [blackboard]; Robert Hayden, 'El-Hajj Malik El-Shabbaz' [blackboard]; Etheridge Knight, 'For Malcolm, A Year After' [blackboard]; Ossie Davis, 'Why I Eulogized Malcolm X' [blackboard]. Week 4: The Freedom Movement T, 2/7 William Van Deburg, New Day in Babylon, Chapter Five, 'Black Power in Afro-American Culture: Folk Expressions' [blackboard] Th, 2/9 Fifty word wonder due. Week 5: Vietnam T, 2/14 Wallace Terry, Bloods, 'Introduction,' 'Reginald Malik Edwards,' 'Archie Joe Biggers,' 'Stephen A. Howard'; Yusef Komunyakaa 'The Dead at Quang Tri' [blackboard]. Th, 2/16 Bloods 'Richard J. Ford,' 'Dwyte A. Brown'; Komunyakaa, 'Hanoi Hannah,' Fragging' 'Report from the Skull's Diorama' [blackboard].

Week 6: Vietnam T, 2/21 Bloods, 'William S. Norman,' 'Haywood T. The Kid Kirkland,' 'Edgar A. Huff'; Komunyakaa 'Re-creating the Scene' 'Tu Do Street' [blackboard]. Th, 2/23 750 word response paper due. Bloods, 'Robert A. Holcomb,' 'Emmanuel J. Holloman'; Komunyakaa, 'The One-Legged Stool,' 'Facing It' [blackboard]; Marvin Gaye, What's Going On [blackboard]. Week 7: Black Sexualities T, 2/28 Amiri Baraka, 'Black Woman' [blackboard]; Frances Beal, 'Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female' [blackboard]. Th, 3/1 James Baldwin, 'Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood' [blackboard]; Eldridge Cleaver, excerpt from Soul on Ice [blackboard]. Week 8: Black Sexualities T, 3/6 Matthew Henry, 'He Is a "Bad Mother*$%@!#": "Shaft" and Contemporary Black Masculinity' [blackboard] Th, 3/8 Fifty word wonder due. bell hooks 'Selling Hot Pussy' [blackboard] SPRING BREAK Week 9: Afro-Futurism T, 3/20 Samuel Delany, 'The Star Pit' and 'Racism in Science Fiction' [blackboard]. Octavia Butler 'Positive Obsession' [blackboard]. Th, 3/21 Watch Star Trek, Episode 67, 'Plato's Stepchildren' (1968). [blackboard] Week 10: Afro-Futurism T, 3/27 Mark Derry, 'Black to the Future: Interviews with Samuel R. Delaney, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose' [blackboard]. Watch 'Cosmic Slop: Space Traders' in class. Th, 3/29 750 word response paper due. George Clinton, Sun-Ra, Outkast. Final Paper prompts handed out. Week 11: Hip-Hop T, 4/3 Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop, pp. 1-85 Th, 4/5 CSWS, pp. 89-139.

Week 12: Hip-Hop T, 4/10 Final paper outlines due. CSWS, 141-211. Th, 4/12 Fifty word wonder due. CSWS, 215-297. Week 13: Hip-Hop T, 4/17 CSWS, 299-379. Th, 419 CSWS, 381-465. Week 14: Wrap-Up T, 4/24 Final papers due. Th, 4/26 -