African American studies at The University of Montana-Missoula offers a broad historical link of African, Caribbean, and African American experiences into the 21st century. The overall goal of the curriculum is to develop appreciation for a wholistic paradigm that is applicable to any discipline. This interdisciplinary emphasis explores a socio-historical perspective of the evolving status of African-Americans with courses internal and external to liberal studies including: anthropology, Asian studies, the arts, economics, geography, international studies, psychology, and sociology. Topics concern African heritage and African-American cultural identity, ancient African civilizations, peoples of Africa, middle passage, holocaust of African enslavement, civil war, reconstruction, Harlem renaissance, civil rights movements, Gandhi and King, and the plight of African-Americans into the 21st century.

The following courses also relate to African-American studies:

Anthropology
180S Race and Minorities
Dance
107A Jazz Dance I
Economics
332 International Economic Relations
Geography
101S Introduction to Human Geography
321S Urban Geography
History
355 The Age of the Civil War: U.S., 1830 1880
Political Science
326H Politics of Africa
Sociology
220S Race and Ethnic Relations

Courses back to top

U = for undergraduate credit only, UG = for undergraduate or graduate credit, G = for graduate credit. R after the credit indicates the course may be repeated for credit to the maximum indicated after the R.

U 195 Special Topics Variable cr. (R 6) Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one time offerings of current topics.
U 208H Discovering Africa 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 208H. Interdisciplinary study of the history of pre-colonial Africa, focusing on social, economic, political and cultural institutions and traditions including the wealth, diversity and complexity of ancient and classical African civilizations and cultures.
U 278H African American Institutions and Perspectives 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Study of social, political, economic and cultural institutions that Blacks developed and utilized in their struggles from slavery to freedom, and the ideological schools of thoughts and perspectives that have defined, and continue to define and shape, the Black experience and struggle.
U 295 Special Topics Variable cr. (R-6) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
U 368E Gandhi and King: Ethics of Nonviolence 3 cr. Prereq., lower-division course in Perspective 5 or consent of instr. An examination of the writings of Gandhi and King in search of the ethical basis for their struggles for justice.
U 378H African American History to 1865 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 378H. Survey of the African American experience from the African background to the end of the Civil War. Focus on Black American quest for the American Dream, and how Blacks attempted to deal with the challenges of enslavement and racism.
U 379H African American History Since 1865 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 379H. Study of the African American experience since the Civil War. Change and continuity in the African American experience, the fight against Jim Crow, the struggle for civil rights, and post-civil rights economic, political, social and cultural developments and challenges.
U 388H Africa to 1880 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 388H. History of Africa from the earliest of times. Evolution of African societies and states, social, economic, political, and cultural developments; the dynamics, nature and consequences of Africa's interaction with Europe up to 1880.
U 389H Africa Since 1880 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 389H. Historical development in Africa since the imposition of colonial rule. Analysis of colonialism and emergence of nationalism.
U 395 Special Topics Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one time offerings of current topics.
U 396 Independent Study Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr.
UG 408 Africa and the Black Diaspora 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 408. History of Blacks in the diaspora. Focus on comparative examination of experiences in the United States, Latin America, South America, Africa and the Caribbean.
UG 409 History of Southern Africa 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 409. Historical survey of developments in southern Africa from the earliest of times to the present. Focus on the evolution and growth of societies and states; economic, social and political developments; external interventions and impacts on race relations.
UG 478 Martin, Malcolm and the Civil Rights Movement 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 478. Examination of two leading and dominant leaders of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Backgrounds, ideological orientations, idiosyncracies, and dynamics of change, continuity, conflict and consensus in their respective programs; lasting impacts and legacies.
U 493 Omnibus Variable cr. (R 6) Prereq., consent of instr.
UG 495 Special Topics Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one time offerings of current topics.
U 496 Independent Study Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr.

Faculty back to top

Professor

Ulysses S. Doss, Ph.D., The Union Institute, 1974 (Emeritus)
Tunde Adeleke, Ph.D., Western Ontario, 1985

Instructor

Jim Hogan, M.A., 1984
George Price, M.A., The University of Montana, 1996