Requirements
Texts
Call & Response: The Riverside Anthology of the
African American Tradition (1997)
I will supply articles in the form of PDFs on our website
Attendance and Participation
Attendance is mandatory. Come to class having done the reading and prepared to contribute
actively to class discussion and through in-class writing and group activities.
You will be excused for illness and family emergencies up to a point, and will
be allowed 2 unexcused absences; further absences will negatively affect your
grade and could cause you to fail the course. Please email me if you are ill or know you must miss class (and
include our course # in your email--I have lots of students).
You are responsible for any missed work/assignments/lectures/exams. Exchange
email addresses with a classmate you can contact to find out what you missed.
Exams
You will take 3 in-class or take-home exams covering course material.
Listening/Viewing Assignment
Several cd's and dvd's are on reserve at the library for this
course (see Assignment button upper left). Choose one to view or listen to and
write a 2 page report on it and include:
the title of the cd/dvd
the artist
the director
the subject/topic
brief summary
what you learned and found most important
how it
relates to the African American expressive tradition and the course.
Martin Luther King, Black History Month, UI Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival or
African American Read-In Activity
Attend an activity related to a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observance,
Black History Month (Shades of Black is Feb. 7th, 6pm SUB ballroom), or
our jazz festival (February 25-28), or reading at our African American Read-In
at the library on February 23rd during our class period. This can be a
presentation, food drive, performance, clinic, lecture, film, etc. Write a 2
page report on what you observed,
interacted with, and learned, and how it relates to the African American
expressive tradition and our course.
Final Paper/Project
You will write a researched final paper/multimedia project on some element of the course, based
on writing prompts I will provide, or a topic you create, subject to my
approval. The project is a researched, analytical essay/presentation of 8-10 pages, typed, double-spaced, MLA
documentation style. You must include at least 2 primary sources (poems, stories,
song lyrics, films, toasts, sermons, etc.) and 2 secondary sources (works written about
the literary work, author, musical genre or pieces).
You should formulate a theoretical foundation for your essay, such as those
discussed in our anthology or that I have given you as handouts, such as the
relation of verbal/mental improvisation and jazz improvisation as resilience, or
an explanation of the "Badman" tradition in an unjust society, or perhaps coded,
subversive speech/culture as survival and liberatory method. This can be a multimedia project, which includes narrative,
imagery and music.
Project Proposal
For your proposal, write a 1-2 page (typed, double-spaced) description of
your topic or the question you intend to research. Provide the primary sources
you intend to use and a brief summary of one secondary source that
will support your idea. See Class Schedule for due dates of Proposal and Paper.
Presentation of Final Project
You will give a carefully prepared, professional 10 minute presentation of your final project to the
class. I'll give specific guidelines to help you create an effective
presentation.
Grading
Participation 25%
(including discussions, writings, event attendance/report)
Exams 45%
Listening/Viewing Assign. 5%
Final Project
25%
Service Learning Option
Learning through serving a community need is a powerful and valuable
experience. In this course you have two Service Learning options:
participation in the UI Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Jazz in the Schools
Program, or helping to organize and produce a local event as part of the
national African American Read-In. Both of these events occur in February,
Black History Month (see SL button at left). Students who take the Service Learning option will write a
reflective essay on their experience, and a final paper for the course that is 1/2 the length of the
"regular" assignment.
African American Read-In
Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, this is the
21st year of the African American Read-In, in which readers of Black Literature
are collected and tallied. (NO READ IN THIS YEAR)