Courses at Yale

In-person Course. Beginning with the ruptures of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and European colonialism in Africa, this course traces major intellectual currents and liberation movements in the history of Black radicalism in Africa and the African diaspora. It proceeds by foregrounding the multiplicities of Blackness as a lived experience and political identity. Moving between local, hemispheric, and global perspectives, the course will explore the social and political contexts in which African and Afro-diasporic movements developed, and the ways in which they negotiated structures of racial/colonial power. By means of readings and discussion, we will consider a range of movements and ideas, including African anti-colonialism, slave revolts in the Americas, Black Reconstruction, the U.S. Black Freedom Movement, Black feminism, and Third Worldism, among others. 1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session B: July 4 - August 5.  (View syllabus)

In-person Course. What are race, gender, and class? How do they operate individually or collectively to shape contemporary inequities? This course investigates these questions and the diverse methodological and theoretical approaches that scholars have taken to highlight matters affecting Black people and racially-minoritized populations in the United States. Likewise, it examines how persisting inequities are observed and experienced in the domains of education, employment, population health, food access, housing, incarceration, and policing, among others. No previous background in Sociology or any social science discipline is assumed. 1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session A: May 30 - July 1.  (View syllabus)

Course Cancelled. Africa as the cradle of humanity is a widely accepted theory in scientific studies. Elsewhere nationalist archaeology has been used to bolster nationalism and facilitate state building. Africans, while embracing their recent history, have a marked disconnect to the cradle paradigm. A paradox thus arises out of the fact that the cradle of humanity status of Africa appears to hold no special place in the psyche of most of its inhabitants. This course examines symbolism, colonialism, poverty, media, literacy, and religion as agencies that distance the ‘humanity cradle’ status of Africa from nationalist and identity discourses. 1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session A: May 30 - July 1. (View syllabus)

This course is part of a Yale Summer Session Program Abroad and cannot be taken independent of the program. Interested students must apply to Yale Study Abroad by February 15. For more detailed information about the program, including a description of the courses, housing, excursions, and budget, visit: http://studyabroad.yale.edu/programs/society-politics-north-africa. (View syllabus)

In-person Course. As an introductory class both to the main principles and topics of legal thought and practice, and to cultural criticism, the class will use works of literature, theatre, film and music to acquaint with the field of law, and vice versa. Students will learn in what ways culture has shaped the law, and, in turn, how law governs and shapes culture. Topics include being a person on Instagram and Facebook; Black Lives Matter, the US Constitution; Freedom of Speech, “Calling out” and “Cancel Culture”; Interpretation and Authority; Law, Ethics and Religion; Islam, Nazi Dictatorship and Totalitarianism, The Trump Administration; Criminal Law, Agency and Multiple Personality Disorder; Sampling and Copyright, Hip Hop/Rap in the courtroom.1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session B: July 4 - August 5. 

Online Course. An examination of configurations of space and place in Caribbean thought. We will explore how space and place have been represented, constructed, and imagined in literary and theoretical texts. We will focus on issues concerning the transatlantic slave trade, colonization, and the postcolony, with particular attention to race, gender, and sexuality. Main topics include imperial conquest, the plantation, the slave ship, the Black Atlantic, the ocean, fugitivity, the urban, indenture, nature, tourism, and diaspora. 1 Credit. Technology Fee: $85. Tuition: $4,650. Session A: May 30 - July 1. (View syllabus)

In-person Course. Introduction to theories of the ludic and to critical race theory. Ways in which comic modes have been utilized by racialized subjects to represent and issue critiques of the dominant culture. Analysis of stand-up comedy, film, television, and novels. 1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session A: May 30 - July 1.

In-person Course. This course looks at American history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries through the lens of film and video. Students will learn to analyze fiction and nonfiction moving pictures in the context of social and cultural history. Emphasis will be placed on using films and videos as historical sources. Topics will include: The Great Migration, The Jazz Age, the Great Depression, World War II, Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, September 11th, and contemporary activist movements. Screenings will include feature films such as Within Our Gates, Sullivan’s Travels, Casablanca, Night of the Living Dead, and Selma. This course seeks to expand students' knowledge of the history of American film, culture, and society. 1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session B: July 4 - August 5.

Course Cancelled. Africa as the cradle of humanity is a widely accepted theory in scientific studies. Elsewhere nationalist archaeology has been used to bolster nationalism and facilitate state building. Africans, while embracing their recent history, have a marked disconnect to the cradle paradigm. A paradox thus arises out of the fact that the cradle of humanity status of Africa appears to hold no special place in the psyche of most of its inhabitants. This course examines symbolism, colonialism, poverty, media, literacy, and religion as agencies that distance the ‘humanity cradle’ status of Africa from nationalist and identity discourses. 1 Credit. Tuition: $4,650. Session A: May 30 - July 1. (View syllabus)