Black Life in the Post-Industrial City

This course explores key themes in African American life in post-industrial U.S. cities. Relying on scholarly and historical sources and films, we will examine the complicated interplay of race, class, ethnicity, and gender dynamics in the transformation of black urban life in the late twentieth-century, the structures that have defined black urban life, and various expressive cultures and modes of resistance that have emerged out of the urban context. While not required, it is beneficial for students to have a working knowledge of twentieth century American history, and African American history in particular.