JUNIATA COLLEGE
PS 320
Topics in Law and Philosophy:
African-American Social and Political Thought
Fall, 2002 Jack Barlow
MWF 9:00 – 9:55 Good 319
Good 401 641-3651
Course Description
This course explores the political and social thought of Black Americans, with particular emphasis on the tensions that African-Americans have experienced as members of a permanent minority within a (formally) pluralistic, liberal polity. We will address such issues as the legacy of slavery, the tensions arising from the "double-consciousness" of African-Americans, and the challenges of the present climate of politics. We will also consider African-American reflections on the problem of culture itself, and whether a culture can be understood "from outside," or only "from within."
Course Objectives
The general objectives of the course are to foster critical thinking and to promote more effective oral and written communication. Substantive objectives include the analysis of significant texts in African American political thought, and understanding the historical, political, cultural, and other forces that have contributed to its distinctive form.
Required Texts
There will be a number of required readings on reserve in the library in addition to the texts listed below.
W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk. Bantam.
bell hooks, Killing Rage: Ending Racism. Holt.
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper.
Malcolm X, ed. George Breitman, Malcolm X Speaks. Grove Weidenfeld.
Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. James M. Washington, I Have a Dream. Harper Collins.
Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo. Scribner's.
Course Requirements
Participation. Students are expected to attend every class having read the assigned material and prepared to participate in class discussion. Participation counts as a portion of the final grade for this course; clearly the quality of the participation will depend on attendance and preparation.
Written Assignments. Students will write four short (2-3 page) reflective papers on various readings for the course. In addition students will be required to write a final research paper on an aspect of African-American social, political, or cultural thought to be chosen in consultation with the instructor.
Withdrawal from the course. Students may withdraw from the course at any time up to the deadline established by the Registrar's Office.
Academic Honesty. All work submitted in this course must be the student's own and prepared specifically for this course. The college's policy on academic honesty, as set forth in the "Pathfinder" and elsewhere, is the policy of this course; this policy is to be followed without exception.
Grading
Participation, 20%; 4 short papers, 10% each (40%); Final paper/activity/project (exact dimensions to be determined), 40%.
Office Hours
I will generally be available during posted office hours, and by appointment at other times. I will usually answer an e-mail ("barlow@juniata.edu") or phone mail message within a few hours.
Schedule
Week 1 – week of 8/26; no class 8/28, 8/30
Introduction; read LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), “The Myth of a Negro Literature” (on reserve); bell hooks, Killing Rage, pp. 1-50; Ice-T, selection from The Ice Opinion (on reserve).
Short Paper 1: Write a short paper (2-3 pages) comparing hooks’s account of black rage with that of Ice-T (due date: 9/2) .
Assignment 2: Think about what you want to do the last four weeks of the semester.
Week 2 – week of 9/2
Monday and Wednesday: structure of course, discuss Jones, hooks, Ice-T
Friday: begin discussing W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk
Week 3 – week of 9/9
Macedo lecture Monday, 9/9 – attendance required
W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk
recommended readings: Ella Pearson Mitchell, “DuBois’s Dilemma and African American Adaptiveness,” and C. Eric Lincoln, “The DuBoisian Dubiety and the American Dilemma: Two Levels of Lure and Loathing,” on reserve.
Short Paper 2: Write a short (2-3 page) paper on DuBois’s idea of “twoness” (due date: 9/16).
Week 4 – week of 9/16
Booker T. Washington, “Atlanta Exposition Address” (handout)
Marcus Garvey, selected writings (handout)
Week 5 – week of 9/23
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Week 6 – week of 9/30
Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have A Dream
Short Paper 3: Write a short (2-3 page) paper on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the tradition of Washington, Garvey, and DuBois: where does he fit in, in your opinion? (due date:10/7)
Week 7 – week of 10/7
Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks
Short Paper 4: Write a short (2-3 page) paper on the same subject as last week, except about Malcolm X. (due date: 10/16)
Week 8 – week of 10/14; no class Monday, 10/14
bell hooks, Killing Rage: Ending Racism
Week 9 – week of 10/21; no class 10/23 or 10/25
bell hooks, Killing Rage: Ending Racism
Week 10 – week of 10/28
Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo
Weeks 11-14
We will design the plan for these weeks together as a class. But there are a few principles that I would like to see incorporated in the design:
First, it should involve individual students in something that extends the boundaries of the course beyond what we have already read.
Second, it should present opportunities for students to help each other extend the boundaries of their knowledge of African-American social and political thought.
Third, it should offer ways of including the entire class in some, or all, of the activities/learning.