Instructor:  Janelle Poe  jpoe@ccny.cuny.edu

Office Hours: MON 12:45-1:45 PM Zoom Link

Introduction and Course Description

This introductory course in the African-American experience is largely constructed around the voices and language used by Black people themselves. The course is organized chronologically, with an emphasis on the ideas of Black social thought, political protest, and efforts to create social change. About one half of the course covers the historical foundations and background to the modern Black experience, form the struggle against slavery to the Harlem Renaissance. The second half of the course focuses on the past seventy years, from the Great Depression to the twenty-first century.

Course Learning Outcomes

• Gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view.
• Evaluate evidence and arguments critically or analytically.
• Produce well-reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions.
• Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of the interdisciplinary field of Black Studies, exploring the U.S. experience in its diversity.
• Analyze and explain one or more major themes of U.S. history from more than one informed perspective.
• Evaluate how indigenous populations, slavery, or immigration have shaped the development of the United States.
• Analyze and discuss common institutions or patterns of life in contemporary U.S. society and how they influence, or are influenced by, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, belief, or other forms of social differentiation.

Course requirements

Engage with the text and material to the very best of your ability. This will change over the course of the semester, and only you truly know what that is. This might mean reading a difficult text twice, looking up unfamiliar terms and vocabulary, or spending a few extra minutes on an assignment. Perfection is a myth, however, effort shows and energy is palpable.

Be kind to yourself and others. We are community. Remember this as you are listening and speaking to, critiquing, collaborating, discussing and disagreeing with one another. Mutual respect is the foundation and we can all learn from one another. No idea, question or being is stupid. Focus on the ideas and potential, above the person(ality).  How can you this enable you to see/think/hear/move differently? The wider open our minds and hearts are, the higher we can rise, together.

Remain adaptable. This is a large class functioning in a totally online environment, in the midst of major shifts. I will do my best to facilitate an excellent learning experience and am open to your suggestions and critiques. Inevitably we will face challenges as a group and individually, technological or otherwise. Learning to react positively to, anticipate, and prepare for change might be the greatest skill you can develop, besides the following  three requirements.

Read closely. Whether it’s directions for an assignment, an online post, a section from the textbook or critical article, a poem, or your own work, CLOSE READING IS ESSENTIAL. While you may have been taught to skim texts, this is not helpful for most of what you will be doing in this course, or online learning in general. How can you successfully complete an assignment if you do not pay close attention to the description, due date, or what you are being asked to turn-in? How can you effectively support your argument if you can’t select the strongest evidence because you skipped over entire sentences or paragraphs? How can you understand what someone is saying if you ignored unfamiliar terms or assumed the writer agrees/disagrees with what you already believe? Read closely, highlight and annotate, take notes in your notebook, formulate your response and questions. Does the text answer these?

Be prepared. This class is designed asynchronously to be considerate of your lives and learning styles, to empower each of you to take control of your education, adjust to the rigors of collegiate life and prepare you for the future. I will not be collecting every assignment, nor will there be a zillion reading quizzes. However, we are in conversation and learning with one another. Come to class prepared with notes, questions, and ready to engage. Your classmates and I, as well as the writers of these texts and people we are exploring are counting on you to pay attention and show respect. This also means that our live sessions are extremely important since we’re only meeting once a week. We need to make the most of our time together. If it appears that a large portion of the course is not keeping up with the readings, participating online or in class, course design and approach to grading will shift accordingly.

Show up as your full self and tell the truth. How can we learn from and trust one another if we’re fronting? The masks are on right now because as a nation and society, we have to take them off—metaphorically and literally. I strongly encourage everyone to display themselves in person, as much as possible over the next 16 weeks, or at least through a picture when this is not comfortable. We are humans and not machines, and recognizing non-verbal cues is one of humanity’s greatest strengths. Whether or not we can see your face, let us see your mind and heart. Be honest and “impeccable with your word” (Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements). Read closely, take good notes, and ask yourself probing questions about whether you agree or disagree with interpretations raised in the readings, and in class discussion. You must come to class with notes you’ve taken from the readings (with specific page numbers so that everyone can go to the passages you’re referring to), prepared to interact in an active fashion. Learning from our peers requires that we listen carefully and respectfully to their ideas. Attendance and participation are therefore required. Communicate with your classmates, attend office hours, and reach out if you are having concerns.

Reach out respectfully and thoughtfully. Communication is the key. What do you want to say? Why? What is the context it will be delivered in? Who is your audience? Whether sending an email, writing an essay, presenting a project or having an in-person conversation, be aware of your message, your purpose, your tone and the situation. Use your power wisely, to uplift and exchange, not demean or deny. This means recognizing who and what you’re dealing with, respecting one another’s time and lives; encouraging curiosity and acknowledgement of present, past and future socio-historical conditions, power dynamics, individual experience.

Complete four major assignments (at minimum) including a research paper, multimodal project, short presentation and a final exam. Research papers and the final exam will ask you to demonstrate your understanding of the history we have studied, to write a clear and coherent argument, and to engage with broad interpretive questions. The multimodal project integrates multidisciplinary aspects of Black Studies,  interactive learning and communication across genres and media. The course reading presentation  allow students to develop interpersonal and presentation skills while preparing for an interdisciplinary Black Studies conference.

Required Text and Platforms

Manning Marable and Leith Mullings, eds. Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal. An African-American Anthology. 2nd. ed. (2009) Roman & Littlefield. Available as e-pub online.

Course will use CUNY Academic Commons (Groups and Site feature) to post content, hold discussion forums, submit and grade assignments. Additional readings can be found on JSTOR, or as URLs, links and PDFs posted on course website on CUNY Academic Commons.

Attendance

Online participation and attendance during live sessions are required. Online activities will be required for attendance points. Live sessions will be recorded, but students should miss no more than 3 of these sessions. Please notify me in advance regarding missing live sessions; if you encounter any issues in your personal or academic life that prevent you from attending class on a regular basis, please let me know immediately, keeping relevant deadlines for class withdrawal in mind. Attendance grades will be visible through Blackboard.

Late Work

Assignments are due via Blackboard (unless otherwise noted) and must be submitted by the specified time on the date they are due and in the assigned medium.  Assignment due dates and times are listed in the Weekly Schedule and posted on the course website. Submissions may be required in different formats (PDF/DOC/PPTX). Late assignments will have 5% deducted and that penalty will increase by 5% for each 24-hour period that passes after the time they were due. Plan ahead as technological malfunctions are not an excuse for late work.

Classroom Decorum

Students are expected to behave with courtesy and respect toward each other. Please stay focused and engaged during live sessions. Feel free to eat or drink during class, just make sure we can’t hear you!

Students with disabilities

In compliance with CCNY policy and equal access laws, appropriate academic accommodations are offered by the AccessAbility Center / Student Disability Services. Students who are registered with the AccessAbility office (NAC 1/218) and are entitled to specific accommodations must arrange to have the office notify the professor in writing of their status at the beginning of the semester.

Technology

This course requires a significant amount of reading and interactive content, along with steady internet or phone access during our live sessions. If you have accessibility issues and require a laptop or tablet, or wifi troubles, reach out to iMedia https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/it/imedia-reservation-desk and request a loaner as soon as possible, please inform me as well. Use our Q&A discussion board for general and assignment based questions outside of class. Reserve emails for critical and personal matters.

Academic honesty

You are responsible for doing honest work in this class, which includes adhering to the College’s guidelines concerning plagiarism and cheating. Work submitted with your name on it must be your own original effort, not something copied, purchased, or downloaded from someone else. You must provide citations or endnotes in accordance with accepted academic practice. Ideas taken substantially from someone else, even if not directly quoted, requires a citation. So do statements of significant facts that are not drawn from your own firsthand knowledge. Any documented instances of plagiarism or cheating in this class will result in a failing grade for the course and College sanctions. A link defining the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity follows:

https://www.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/page-assets/about/administration/offices/legal-affairs/policies-procedures/Academic-Integrity.pdf

Grading

Preparedness/notes and active, engaged participation 15%

In-Class Reading Presentations 15%

Essay Assignment #1 – Research Paper 15%

Essay Assignment #2 – Multimodal Project 15%

Final Exam (Final Paper) 20%

Discussion Board Posts 20%

In Class Reading Presentations:

Individual  – Each person will present a selection of primary or secondary source readings from the required list of texts. Presentations should be crisp, clear and thought-provoking – 5-7 minutes, with presentation slides (Powerpoint/Google Slides/Canva/PDF/DOC) or 2-3 page summary and script for each presentation.

Groups – Students will be grouped together to annotate and lead the class discussion on course critical texts. Each group will be responsible for at least one critical essay.

• Identify the author of the reading, its title, and the date it was published.
• Select the key concepts and terms in the reading. Be sure to include quotations (with page #) and significant facts.
• Highlight and define significant terms; contribute to course glossary
• Include your analysis of the reading and historical context. Note: this is not a summary, it is a reflection of how this reading connects with others we have seen in the course, and how similar or different it is to our present understanding of the situation and historical period.

Essays

Essay 1: Critical Analysis. This essay, 1000-1200 words (4-5 pages) will be based only on the materials provided in the first half of the class. It is designed to have you reflect upon three theoretical readings in the class while putting them into conversation with one another. The readings are three distinct interpretations of Black Studies as a discipline of study. Students will analyze the texts, presenting the thesis, major claims and evidence, as well as selecting one to support or argue against, supporting their critique with primary source material and citations in MLA format.

Essay 2: Multimodal Project. This assignment asks you to identify a theoretical reading from the list below and one of the primary sources from the anthology (Week VIII-XII), to engage with these texts in consideration of Black Studies’ interdisciplinary perspective, your personal connection to the texts, and ability to communicate your views and insights across different media. Students will present their projects during Weeks XV-XVI. Projects must include at least 2-3 pages (500 – 750 words) of writing and citations.

Students must select at least one of the following options as the basis for their project:  Sacred Space; Archival Research; Cultural Artifact; Current Scholarship; Historical Figure

Students must include two of the following genres or mediums for their project:

Visual – drawings, photographs, posters, infographics, charts

Audio – sound recording of critical or creative work

Multimedia – presentation or website, social media meme

Written Text – blog post, annotated bibliography, narrative essay, journal entry, letter, list, manifesto, film/literature review, Op-Ed

Tactile – object-based and student created or sourced; must include image and written description

Final Exam. To be decided. Online exam. Optional paper.

Resources

City Tutors

Our course will have a designated tutor to assist with providing rough draft feedback and ongoing writing assistance. Students will receive extra credit for making an individual appointment to review a draft once during the semester. This tutor is not a Teaching Assistant and will not grade or complete assignments for you. Their contact information will be provided once they have been assigned to our course. Reach out to them well in advance of the assignment due date. If you would like additional, ongoing help, you may complete this form. Our course tutor will only be helping with our course work. Use the Writing Center for general assistance or with other courses.

The Writing Center http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/writing/

The CCNY Writing Center offers a supportive learning environment where students can have one-on-one tutoring sessions with writing consultants. It is a great resource for you to obtain extra help as you write and revise your papers. They DO NOT proofread your papers, but offer assistance on improving certain aspects of them. They also offer ESL tutoring. To set up an appointment or semester-long sessions, contact them in person at the Writing Center, which is located in the NAC, 3^rd floor plaza or call (212) 650-8104.

Gateway Advising Center – NAC 1/220 http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/gateway/

Students without a declared major can receive academic advising, especially if you have questions about your course of study, core requirements, etc.

AccessAbility Center Tutoring Services – NAC 1/218 http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/accessability/

Provides one-on-one tutoring and workshops to all registered students with learning or physical disabilities.

SEEK Peer Academic Learning Center – NAC 4/224 Phone: 212-650-5786; Email: seekpals@ccny.cuny.edu

Offers counseling and peer tutoring for students in need of academic and financial support who have registered for the SEEK Program.

Yours Truly  – As your instructor I am here to help you. Weekly office hours will be held during our asynchronous class, generally M 12:45-1:30 via Zoom. If you are unable to attend and would like to schedule a separate meeting, phone call, Google Hangout, etc. to discuss your coursework, just let me know and we will connect. Direct emails to jpoe@ccny.cuny.edu and CC: janelle.poe@gmail.com. Before or after the hours of 10AM-6PM and on weekends, be sure to include my gmail address. Whenever possible or required, I will respond to your email within 48 hours.

Writing well is a skill that takes practice and thoughtfulness about what you are setting down on paper. Use the our course City Tutors assistant, course office hours, and the CCNY Writing Center for your assignments. You are encouraged and welcome to come to office hours to review a draft before each assigned paper. Due to course size, I will only be able to provide in-depth comments on one rough draft per student due 3 class days before the final draft is due. Please treat these drafts as seriously as if you were turning in a final version. It’s much easier to revise and condense when there’s a strong, substantial and organized idea taking form, than a few paragraphs of loose, unrelated and undeveloped statements. Use outlines and write at least one rough draft for every major assignment.

***Please keep in mind that I am also a full-time student, and am only paid for the time we are in the classroom, along with one office hour a week. I spend a great deal of personal time crafting and producing assignments and content. Read directions fully, closely and repeatedly. Reading and responding to emails is part of the job, but invisible labor and easily overwhelming, depending on time and scale.