BLK_ST 225-0
African-American Culture
Survey of African American culture from slavery to the present. Relation of African American culture to African and Euro-American cultures, the Black Atlantic as a unit of analysis, representations of Blackness in the public imagination.
2027 Winter
Topics
- In The Beginning - Students will establish context for the study of gospel music through: 1. The exploration of West African Griot religious and music culture, 2. Liberation theology, 3. Robert Darden's three research revelations regarding the lives of Black Americans as seen through their music, 4. Interpretations of early spirituals, work songs, and code songs, 5. The works of ethnographer, Alan Lomax, and Black religion scholar, Dr. Albert Raboteau. The Rise of Spirituals - Students will be able to discuss the construct and performance of early spirituals within the contexts of the both the fields and the sacred space. They will also be expected to identify accompanying expressions like the ring shout and its ties to West Africa. Students should be able to articulate the importance of the first independent Black religious denomination in the United States and emphasize the necessity for unapologetic Black sacred expression. The Post-Reconstruction South will also be explored as well as the emergence of Methodism, Pentecostalism, and the musical expression of each movement. From Spirituals to Gospel - Students will be expected show knowledge of: 1. The spirituality of the Gullah Culture, 2. Black Code culture, 3. The contribution of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, 4. Minstrelsy and spirituals, 5. Foundational elements of gospel music, 6. The Great Migration's influence on gospel music, 7. Barbershop Quartets, Chicago's Storefront Churches, and Race Records 8. Proto-gospel and its composers Early Pioneers - Students will be able to identify early gospel innovators and the contributions of each to the development of gospel music. These artists include (but are not limited to) Rev. William Sherwood, Rev. Charles A. Tindley, Mrs. Lucie Campbell, Professor Thomas A. Dorsey, and Sallie Martin. Gospel Music in Chicago - Students will explore the development of gospel music in Chicago. They will be expected to know how the Great Migration supported the expansion of early gospel music and why the storefront church was vital to its growth. The careers and lives of Chicago legends James Cleveland, Thomas A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, Rosetta Tharpe, Delois Barrett, and others will provide the context of study. Students will explore the emergence and sound of Golden Age gospel quartet singing and mixed group singing advanced by gospel legend (and Northwestern University classical piano major) Roberta Martin. Girl Power - Students will explore the lives of prominent women in gospel music, in particular Mahalia Jackson, Rosetta Tharpe, and Clara Ward. Students will be expected to identify and demonstrate knowledge of systems where gender and race become critical elements in the development of these artists. Gospel Music and Civil Rights - Students will explore the emergence and development of freedom songs and message songs of the Civil Rights Era. This exploration includes the repurposing of spirituals and hymns as well as original refrains and pieces that were responses to resistance to the movement. Transition toward Contemporary Gospel Music and Contemporary Gospel Voices - Objectives include recognizing elements in text, composition, and instrumentation that point toward the evolution of Golden Age gospel to contemporary gospel. This analysis is supported in the works of Richard Smallwood, Andrae Crouch, and Edwin Hawkins.
Readings
- People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music by Robert Darden; (c) 2004 Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., ISBN 0-8264-1752-3 (paperback) Additional Materials will be provided in class and on Canvas
Prerequisites & course information
SoC Individual and Social Behavior Distro
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- Official class description ↗2027 Winter