Introduction to Black Studies (CRES040) is a new course at UC Merced in the Department of History and Critical Race& Ethnic Studies, beginning in the fall of 2024. It is overview of the history, experiences, cultures and philosophies of people of African descent in the United States and the global African diaspora. Among the topics covered in the course are, the background to the formation of the discipline of Black studies in the 1960s on-campus movements; historical and archaeological examinations of pre-colonial Africa; trans-Atlantic slavery, colonialism and their legacies; Black/Africana philosophies; Black/Africana freedom movements throughout history and the present day; the intersections of race, gender and sexuality; Black popular culture and performance; and the geography of the African diaspora.
Image: A memorial stone from the exhibition, "Song for the Beloved" by the Letters from the Dead Project, Santiago, Chile, 2015 (c) Nicosia Shakes