Black Studies
Overview
Black Studies at Occidental College is a transnational and interdisciplinary study of the history, scholarship, arts and culture of people of the African diaspora. As a heterogeneous and diverse discipline, Black Studies encourages rigorous critical contemplation and debate. It engages with and expands upon the vibrant intellectual tradition of critical engagement already established at the college. Students of Black Studies learn to examine the world and their local communities with an eye to black people's important and sometimes overlooked contributions, and to understand the ways the experiences of people of African descent have shaped and continue to inform campaigns for human rights.
Courses draw from faculty expertise in the fields of Politics, International Relations, English, American Studies, History, Philosophy, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and others. The program explores the conditions and experiences of race in the twenty-first century through a historical study of the enduring traditions of scholarship, activism, and community throughout the African diaspora. Students participate in intersectional analysis of black populations, paying close attention to how class, location, gender, sexuality, have shaped black identities, cultural productions and forms of political engagement both past and present.
Students who major in Black Studies will:
- Learn about the history and contemporary culture of people in African descent across the diaspora, including the development of foundational ideas and documents for our contemporary understanding of social justice and human rights;
- Engage in interdisciplinary and intersectional analysis of black communities in the U.S. and abroad, both past and present;
- Contribute to longstanding discussions about the enduring effects of slavery and colonization, the place of race in conceptions of citizenship and justice, the centrality of people of African descent to major developments (social, artistic, political, and scientific) throughout the world;
- Experience black communities outside the United States through study abroad;
- Have the opportunity to get involved in the local community through community-based partnerships in Los Angeles and surrounding communities;
- Graduate prepared for careers in law, medicine, education, entertainment, international business, and several others that involve communicating with and understanding people across difference and within specific communities.
Requirements
Major
Core Courses
BLST 101 | Introduction to Black Studies | 4 units |
BLST 490 | Black Studies Senior Seminar | 4 units |
Interdisciplinary Electives
There are three Interdisciplinary clusters: historical perspectives, expressive forms, and politics and theory. Students are expected to complete three courses (12 units) across these interdisciplinary clusters, with a minimum of one course (4 units) in each of the three interdisciplinary clusters.
Historical Perspectives
HIST 207/BLST 207 | African American History I: Black Americans and the Making of the Nation | 4 units |
BLST 208/AMST 208 | African American History II: The Great Migration and the Transformation of American Culture | 4 units |
BLST 256/AMST 256 | Race Women: African American Women's Protest Culture | 4 units |
BLST 268/AMST 268 | Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History | 4 units |
BLST 376/AMST 376 | Slavery, Freedom, and American Memory | 4 units |
Expressive Forms
BLST 230 | Black Britain | 4 units |
BLST 240 | Black Women Write Social Justice | 4 units |
BLST 268/AMST 268 | Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History | 4 units |
BLST 319 | Toni Morrison | 4 units |
BLST 329/AMST 329 | Black Queer Thought | 4 units |
BLST 346/ENGL 346 | Beautiful Democracy: 19th Century African American Literature | 4 units |
BLST 360/ENGL 360 | Toni Morrison and U.S. Imaginative Production | 4 units |
ENGL 142/BLST 142 | Joyful Noise! On Black Literature and Musicality | 4 units |
ENGL 267 | Afro-Surrealism | 4 units |
ENGL 377/BLST 377 | Afrofuturism | 4 units |
Politics and Theory
BLST 218/SOC 218 | Black Ecological Thought | 4 units |
BLST 230 | Black Britain | 4 units |
BLST 240 | Black Women Write Social Justice | 4 units |
BLST 263/SOC 263 | Du Boisian Social Theory and Analysis | 4 units |
BLST 315 | Black Feminist Movements | 4 units |
BLST 318 | Waywardness, Fugitivity, and the Anarchism of Blackness | 4 units |
BLST 329/AMST 329 | Black Queer Thought | 4 units |
BLST 343 | Black Ecology Collaboratory | 4 units |
Black Studies Seminars
Students are expected to complete two 300 level Black Studies seminars (4 units) from the following list of courses. The completion of one of these research seminars will satisfy the second-stage writing requirement.
BLST 315 | Black Feminist Movements | 4 units |
BLST 318 | Waywardness, Fugitivity, and the Anarchism of Blackness | 4 units |
BLST 360/ENGL 360 | Toni Morrison and U.S. Imaginative Production | 4 units |
BLST 343 | Black Ecology Collaboratory | 4 units |
BLST 346/ENGL 346 | Beautiful Democracy: 19th Century African American Literature | 4 units |
BLST 376/AMST 376 | Slavery, Freedom, and American Memory | 4 units |
BLST 377/ENGL 377 | Afrofuturism | 4 units |
Additional Electives
Students must take three additional electives chosen from the list of approved outside electives below, or any of the Black Studies interdisciplinary clusters.
CTSJ 280 | Rastafari | 4 units |
CTSJ 295 | Topics in Critical Theory and Social Justice | 4 units |
DWA 335 | Junior Seminar: Theories of Revolution from Africa and the African Diaspora | 4 units |
EDUC 215/BLST 215 | Educating African America | 4 units |
EDUC 320/BLST 320 | Critical Race Theory in Education | 4 units |
HIST 277/BLST 277 | Women and Community Health | 4 units |
POLS 206 | Race and American Politics | 4 units |
DWA 233/BLST 233 | African Political Thought | 4 units |
DWA 234/BLST 234 | Southern African Politics | 4 units |
HIST 213 | 19th Century Black Activism for Abolition and Equality | 4 units |
HIST 309/BLST 309 | Slavery in the Antebellum South | 4 units |
HIST 312/BLST 312 | Race, Rights, and Revolution in the Atlantic World | 4 units |
MUSC 104/BLST 104 | Music of Africa and the Middle East | 4 units |
MUSC 111/BLST 111 | Topics in Jazz History | 4 units |
MUSC 116/BLST 116 | African American Music: From Slavery to the Present | 4 units |
PHIL 321 | Philosophy of James Baldwin | 4 units |
POLS 206 | Race and American Politics | 4 units |
POLS 352/BLST 352 | Black Political Thought | 4 units |
RELS 245/BLST 245 | African American Religious Traditions | 4 units |
RELS 259/BLST 259 | Black Magic | 4 units |
RELS 302/BLST 302 | Spirit Possession | 4 units |
THEA 201 | Voices in American Theater | 4 units |
Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in the "Black Popular Culture // The Black Digital Age" section of the course.
Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in the "Blackness, Gender, & Sexuality" section of the course.
Students may also apply CTSJ 395 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in the "Chattel Slavery and Its Afterlives" section of the course.
Students may also apply THEA 201 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in "The Black Arts Movement" section of the course.
Students may also apply THEA 201 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in "A Critical Exploration Into the Art, Life & Legacy of August Wilson" section of the course.
Honors in the Major
To be eligible for honors, a student must have at least a 3.25 GPA overall and a 3.5 GPA in the major. Additionally, the student will be required to enroll in the senior seminar (currently BLST 490) in their senior year and complete a 40-page paper on a topic relevant to Black Studies. The paper must earn a grade of A- or above which is to be determined by the adviser in consultation with readers and the department chair.
Minor
The Black Studies minor is a five-course, 20-unit program consisting of one required core class (BLST 101); one elective from each interdisciplinary cluster (expressive forms, historical perspectives, and politics and theory (three courses /12 units); and one additional elective chosen from the approved Black Studies courses.
Required Core Course
BLST 101 | Introduction to Black Studies | 4 units |
Historical Perspectives
One course from this category.
HIST 207/BLST 207 | African American History I: Black Americans and the Making of the Nation | 4 units |
BLST 208/AMST 208 | African American History II: The Great Migration and the Transformation of American Culture | 4 units |
BLST 256/AMST 256 | Race Women: African American Women's Protest Culture | 4 units |
BLST 268/AMST 268 | Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History | 4 units |
BLST 376/AMST 376 | Slavery, Freedom, and American Memory | 4 units |
Expressive Forms
One course from this category.
BLST 240 | Black Women Write Social Justice | 4 units |
BLST 268/AMST 268 | Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History | 4 units |
BLST 360/ENGL 360 | Toni Morrison and U.S. Imaginative Production | 4 units |
BLST 346/ENGL 346 | Beautiful Democracy: 19th Century African American Literature | 4 units |
BLST 360/ENGL 360 | Toni Morrison and U.S. Imaginative Production | 4 units |
BLST 377/ENGL 377 | Afrofuturism | 4 units |
ENGL 142/BLST 142 | Joyful Noise! On Black Literature and Musicality | 4 units |
ENGL 267 | Afro-Surrealism | 4 units |
Politics and Theory
One course from this category.
BLST 218/SOC 218 | Black Ecological Thought | 4 units |
BLST 240 | Black Women Write Social Justice | 4 units |
BLST 263/SOC 263 | Du Boisian Social Theory and Analysis | 4 units |
BLST 315 | Black Feminist Movements | 4 units |
BLST 318 | Waywardness, Fugitivity, and the Anarchism of Blackness | 4 units |
BLST 343 | Black Ecology Collaboratory | 4 units |
Additional Electives
One course either from one of the above categories or from this list of approved outside electives.
CTSJ 280 | Rastafari | 4 units |
CTSJ 295 | Topics in Critical Theory and Social Justice | 4 units |
EDUC 215/BLST 215 | Educating African America | 4 units |
EDUC 320/BLST 320 | Critical Race Theory in Education | 4 units |
DWA 233/BLST 233 | African Political Thought | 4 units |
DWA 335 | Junior Seminar: Theories of Revolution from Africa and the African Diaspora | 4 units |
HIST 213 | 19th Century Black Activism for Abolition and Equality | 4 units |
HIST 277/BLST 277 | Women and Community Health | 4 units |
HIST 309/BLST 309 | Slavery in the Antebellum South | 4 units |
HIST 312/BLST 312 | Race, Rights, and Revolution in the Atlantic World | 4 units |
MUSC 104/BLST 104 | Music of Africa and the Middle East | 4 units |
MUSC 111/BLST 111 | Topics in Jazz History | 4 units |
MUSC 116/BLST 116 | African American Music: From Slavery to the Present | 4 units |
PHIL 321 | Philosophy of James Baldwin | 4 units |
POLS 206 | Race and American Politics | 4 units |
POLS 352/BLST 352 | Black Political Thought | 4 units |
RELS 245/BLST 245 | African American Religious Traditions | 4 units |
RELS 259/BLST 259 | Black Magic | 4 units |
RELS 302/BLST 302 | Spirit Possession | 4 units |
THEA 201 | Voices in American Theater | 4 units |
Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in the "Black Popular Culture // The Black Digital Age" section of the course.
Students may also apply CTSJ 295 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in the "Blackness, Gender, & Sexuality" section of the course.
Students may also apply CTSJ 395 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in the "Chattel Slavery and Its Afterlives" section of the course.
Students may also apply THEA 201 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in "The Black Arts Movement" section of the course.
Students may also apply THEA 201 to the additional electives cluster if they have enrolled in "A Critical Exploration Into the Art, Life & Legacy of August Wilson" section of the course.
Second-Stage Writing
The Second-Stage Writing Requirement may be fulfilled in one of two ways:
Option 1
A student may complete the Second-Stage Writing Requirement in Black Studies by taking one of the following courses and receiving a grade of B- or better, determined by the instructor of record, on a 15-page final paper focusing on a topic relevant to Black Studies.
BLST 329/AMST 329 | Black Queer Thought | 4 units |
BLST 352/POLS 352 | Black Political Thought | 4 units |
BLST 355/POLS 355 | Critical Fanonism | 4 units |
BLST 360/ENGL 360 | Toni Morrison and U.S. Imaginative Production | 4 units |
BLST 376/AMST 376 | Slavery, Freedom, and American Memory | 4 units |
Option 2
A student may complete the Second-Stage Writing Requirement in Black Studies by submitting to the chair a portfolio consisting of fifteen pages of writing submitted as a final assignment in a 300-level Black Studies designated course or a course approved by the adviser in which the student has composed a final assignment addressed specifically to the topic of Black Studies. The portfolio may include more than one essay if a single essay is less than fifteen pages in length. The portfolio will be assessed by the adviser in consultation with the chair.
In order to successfully pass the Second-Stage Writing Requirement, submitted essays must exhibit evidence of the following:
- Correct use of the conventions of American academic prose including grammar, punctuation, syntax, and vocabulary
- Proper citation formatting in MLA or Chicago Manual Style, preferably
- Construction of a compelling and clear thesis or argument
- Persuasive use of evidence (secondary sources, data, etc.) to support the thesis and related claims
- Organization of the essay as a whole into a logical sequence with smooth transitions
Essays submitted as part of a portfolio will be assessed against these criteria and graded Acceptable/Unacceptable.
The course or portfolio must be completed by the end of the spring semester during the student's junior year.
Should a student not successfully complete the writing requirement by the end of their Junior year Spring semester, they will be required to submit a revised essay/portfolio to the adviser no later than the fourth week of their senior year fall semester.
Comprehensive Requirement
Students are expected to enroll in the senior seminar (BLST 490) in their senior year in order to develop the work for their comprehensive project. Students will complete their comprehensive requirement by submitting a 25-page paper on a topic relevant to Black Studies.