POL S 516 A: Special Topics in American Political Thought

Pol S 516 - AAPT Syllabus - Winter 2022.pdf

This seminar introduces students to African American political thought as a distinct body of political theoretical knowledge—of general philosophical claims about freedom, resistance, intersectional oppression, leadership, insurgency, autonomy, and the nature of black politics.  We will read major texts by Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, and Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture. Secondary readings will be drawn from African American Political Thought: A Collected History (2021), edited by Melvin L. Rogers and Jack Turner. We will pay close attention to both (1) the content of the texts and (2) questions of how to interpret the texts in a responsible scholarly manner.

Writing assignments will focus on the challenge of responsible interpretation. Students will write a 6-to-8-page midterm paper so that they may get feedback on their skills in textual reading and scholarly writing. They will then write a 15-to-20-page research paper at the end of the term on a text or thinker of their choice.

Class will meet regularly Weeks 1-8. Students will then have week 9 off to work on their research paper. Students will then do research presentations to the class in Week 10. Final papers are due at the end of finals.