AIH276 - African American History From Slavery to Black Lives Matter
Unit details
| Year: | 2020 unit information |
|---|---|
| Important Update: | Classes and seminars in Trimester 2/Semester 2, 2020 will be online. Physical distancing for coronavirus (COVID-19) will affect delivery of other learning experiences in this unit. Please check your unit sites for announcements and updates one week prior to the start of your trimester or semester. Last updated: 2 June 2020 |
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 1: Clare Corbould |
| Prerequisite: | Nil |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. |
| Scheduled learning activities - campus: | 1 x 1-hour class per week, 1 x 1-hour seminar per week |
| Scheduled learning activities - cloud: | 1 x 1-hour class (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week |
Content
Students in this unit will learn about the history and culture of African Americans, a significant minority group in the world’s superpower.
Throughout the unit, we will address two related questions:
1. how is it that in a nation based on the world’s first and most expansive assertion of democracy and rights there is such glaring inequality based on race?
2. How have African Americans shaped their own experiences given these circumstances?
Topics will include:
- the Atlantic slave trade and the experience of slave transportation
- labour, religion, family, and community from the colonial era to the “antebellum” period
- the role of free black people and slaves in the American Civil War
- the meanings of freedom and the early roots of the civil rights movement
- mobility and violence during the era of Jim Crow segregation
- leadership and grassroots organising in the Civil Rights movement
- Black Power and Black Feminism and
- “post-racial” America up to Black Lives Matter.
The primary and secondary materials, including in assessments, will enable students to follow interests in black culture, eg music and fiction, and/or politics including issues such as mass incarceration and police brutality.
| These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | ||
| ULO1 | Describe the history of African Americans in colonial America and the United States, right up to the very recent past, and identify key historical events and ideas that contribute to continuing racial inequalities today | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO2 | Identify the kinds of data and evidence one can use to determine event and ideas, past and present in African American history | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO3: Digital literacy GLO4: Critical thinking GLO8: Global citizenship |
| ULO3 | Analyse and explain in oral and written form the tensions between myths about United States exceptionalism and the persistence of racism and inequality | GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking |
| ULO4 | Analyse and explain in oral and written form the forms of resistance and/or accommodation individuals and groups use in response to oppression | GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO5 | Identify, analyse and evaluate the legacies, in the United States and beyond, of slavery and other forms of racialised violence | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO8: Global citizenship |
These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year
Assessment
Trimester 1:| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1 (Individual) - Quizzes | 800 words or equivalent | 20% | Ongoing |
| Assessment 2 (Individual) - Essay | 1200 words or equivalent | 30% | Week 6 |
| Assessment 3 (Individual) - Essay | 2000 words or equivalent | 50% | Week 11 |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning Resource
The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via the link below: AIH276 Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
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