This syllabus was created the spring of 2006 when I was a senior in undergrad and was contemplating going further and getting a PhD. Enjoy.
The African American Woman 350/450
Department of African-American Studies
T Th 12:00 – 1:30p.m.
Room 434 – Auditorium Building
Roosevelt University: Spring 2007
Instructor: Kathy M. Henry
Email: kathyhenry10@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 312 341-8260 Office Hours: Wednesday & Friday 12:00pm – 2:30
Course Description:
The African American Woman is an upper-division course for three credit hours in African American Studies. The purpose of the course is to offer an insight into the complexities of being a Black woman in a culture that has a deeply profound contempt for all women and has placed the Black woman at the bottom. We will critically read several works of literature to explore how issues of race, gender, and class are at play in African American society and in exploring these issues, develop opportunities for resistance.
Texts (required, available at Roosevelt Bookstore):
Cole, Johnnetta Betsch & Guy-Sheftall, Beverly. Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women’s Equality in African-American Communities.
Davis, Angela & Hinds, Lennox S. Assata : An Autobiography
Merriwether, Louise. Daddy Was a Number Runner
Souljah, Sister. No Disrespect
In Addition:
* Four Computer Disks- one to serve as a back-up for your work, the other to be submitted to me with your typed assignments.
Course Requirements and Grading Policy:
Final Course Grades will be determined on the basis of class participation (100), four 5 page reaction papers (50 points each) and an 10-15 page final research paper (200 points). All assignments are to be typed according to APA guidelines. The reaction papers will analyze the four readings in the syllabus and the final research paper will be a biography of an African American female figure of your choice. Also, all cell phones must be turned off prior to class.
Grading Scale:
500 – 450 (A)
450 – 400 (B)
400 – 350 (C)
350 – 300 (D)
299& below (F)
The Potty Mouth Granny 