Contents
Course Description
This course explores the oral, customary and material folklore of Africans and their descendants in the Americas and the Caribbean. We will use readings, and other mediums such as film, to examine various ways West African folklore was transmitted to and survived in the New World, and how Africans in the Americas created new oral, customary and material traditions.
We will compare and contrast fictional and historical folk characters and traditions from Africa, the Northern and Southern American hemispheres, with a special focus on the English, Spanish and French-speaking Caribbean. We will examine some of the customs and practices that continue to exist in these regions and how all have contributed to global culture.
This course is designed to help students to prepare for further academic study in general, and African, African-American and Caribbean studies, specifically. It will introduce students to the various disciplines that inform the study of people of African descent worldwide.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course, students should be able to,
• Describe the various forms of folklore in the African diaspora;
• Trace the folklore of specific West African peoples to specific peoples in the New World;
• Locate the historical and contemporary locations of foundational cultures on a map of Africa;
• Identify and describe African, South American and Caribbean and African-American folk characters and traditions;
• Explain how the various human migrations have spread Africana lore through the African diaspora;
• Write brief answers using correct Standard English grammar.
Required Texts
An Open Educational Resource (OER) course, this course is free of textbook costs. All readings are available on OpenLab.
Classroom Management
Cell phone use and talking (unless a group activity) is prohibited in class. Although you may conduct the reading on an electronic devise, bring a print out of the assigned reading to all class meetings. Homework assignments are due at the beginning of class or when stated online. Complete all assignments on time for credit. No late assignments will be accepted.
New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog.
Grading Scale and Assessment:
Course Grading Scale:
| A | 93.0 – 100 |
| A- | 90.0 – 92.9 |
| B+ | 87.0 – 89.9 |
| B | 83.0 – 86.9 |
| B- | 80.0 – 82.9 |
| C+ | 77.0 – 79.9 |
| C | 70.0 – 76.9 |
| D | 60.0 – 69.9 |
| F | 59.9 and Below |
Final Course Grade:
| Reading Responses | 20% |
| Midterm | 25% |
| Final Exam | 25% |
| Group Presentation | 15% |
| Final Paper | 15% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
Course Based Learning Outcomes with Assessment Methods
| Outcomes | Assessment |
| Be able to describe various forms of folklore and evaluate evidence and arguments of historical and contemporary folklore within the African diaspora; | Class discussions; responses and exams; and research |
| Trace the folklore of specific West African peoples to specific peoples in the New World (including Brazil, Hispaniola, Mexico and Cuba) and identify and describe African, South American and Caribbean and African America folk characters and traditions; | Class discussions; responses and exams; and research paper. |
| Locate the historical and contemporary locations of foundational cultures on a map of Africa, as well as how various migrations have spread African lore throughout the African diaspora. |
Class discussions; responses and exams; tutorials and research.
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| • Identify and describe African, South American and Caribbean and African-American folk characters and traditions; • Explain how the various human migrations have spread Africana lore through the African diaspora; |
Class discussions; responses and exams; and research |
Gen Ed Learning Outcomes with Assessment Methods
| Outcomes | Assessment |
| Knowledge: Engage in critical inquiry, research, and analysis concerning folklore as related to people of African descent on a global scale, by use of material and methods from African American Studies and other disciplines. | Class discussions; responses and exams; and research. |
| Skills: Students will learn to analyze material from different disciplines, devise research strategies and methodology and develop critical arguments about contemporary issues with historical grounding. | Class discussions; responses and exams; and research. |
| Integration: Students will integrate historical and contemporary perspectives. Students will also integrate the use of material and methods from African American Studies and other disciplines. |
Class discussions; responses and exams; and research. |
| Values, Ethics, and Relationships: Central components of the course, students will consider social justice, race, gender human rights, and social responsibility. |
Class discussions; responses and exams; and research.
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Course Reading Schedule
| Week | Topic | Assignment | Due Date | Assignment | Due Date |
| 1 | Introduction to Folklore | Syllabus Review
Unit 1, Africana Folklore Guide, Dr. Stephen James, Professor Emeritus, NYCCT (Pdf) Read only pages 2 and 10. |
Dance, Cumber Daryl. (2002) From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore: An Anthology. New York: W. W. Norton. (Google Books) Read only Introduction xxxiii-xliii |
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| 2 | Introduction to Folklore
Africa |
DuBois, W. E. B. “Forethought” and “Chapter One.” The Souls of Black Folk, 1903. (Project Gutenburg) *Use Browsers: Mozilla or Chrome
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Read: Africana Folklore Guide, Unit 1, p. 11-22 (James) View: Bantu Expansion, |
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| 3 | Africa | Read: Africana Folklore Guide, Unit 1, p. 23-26 (James)
View: Who is Shaka (Zulu)?, |
Class Library Research Session | ||
| 4 | TransAtlantic | TBD | Read: “West Africa and the Role of Slavery,” p. 24-32 (Corbett)
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| 5 | TransAtlantic and Colonial |
Read: “Europe on the Brink of Change,” View: The Atlantic Slave Trade (Ted Ed) |
Read: “New Worlds in the Americas: Labor Commerce and The Colombian Exchange,” p.52-62 (Corbett) | ||
| 6 | Luso-America Brazil | Read: Africana Folklore Guide, Unit 3, p. 117-139 (James) View: Afro-Brazilian Quilombo Fears Change in Land laws (Al Jazeera) |
Read: Africana Folklore Guide, Unit 3, p. 139- (James), View: Capoeira, Mestre Bembe
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7
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Hispaniola |
Read: “Navigating the Racial Terrain: Blackness and Mixedness in the Dominican Republic and the United States,” (Simmons) “Poetry in a Time of Protest” (Danticat) |
View: El Costo de la Vida (Guerra y 440), Fiestas Patronales en Villa Mella, Haitian RaRa (Lincoln Center Out of Doors) |
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8 |
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago |
Read: “The Rastafarians in the Eastern Caribbean” (Campbell) View: Nanny of the Maroons, Kumina Drumming Jamaica |
Read: “Popular Culture and the Aesthetization of Politics: Hegemonic Struggle and Postcolonial Nationalism in Trinidad Carnival (Ho) View: War (Marley), Calypso as Mother Music (Mighty Sparrow)
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| 9 |
TBD |
MIDTERM EXAM
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| 10 | Cuba and Puerto Rico |
Read: “The Spanish American War and Oversees Empire,” p. 640-646 (Corbett) View: Puerto Rico Culture Through Music (Bomba, Plena, Jibara) |
Read: “The Resurgence of Racism in Cuba” (de la Fuente) View: La Santeria in Matanzas Cuba
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| 11 | North American South |
Read: “Cotton is King, The Antebellum South,” p 331-360 (Corbett) |
Read: “The African Antecedents of Uncle Ben in US Rice History” (Carney) View: The Quilt makers of Gee Bend (PBS), |
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| 12 | Urban North America |
Read: “The African American Great Migration and New European Immigration,” p. 548-552 (Corbett) Explore: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series (Phillips Collection) |
Read: “The Jazz Age,: Redefining the Nation 1919-1929,” p. 693-722 (Corbett) View: Black and Blue (Louis Armstrong), |
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| 13 | Global, Contemporary |
View: “How Colonialism in the Caribbean Affects Hurricane Prep and Recovery” on Brian Lehrer (Bonilla), South African Protest Music,
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Read: “#Ferguson: Digital Protest, Hashtag Ethnography and the Racial Politics of Social Media in the United States,” (Bonilla)
View: Breaking from Beat Street,
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| 14 |
Presentations |
Group Presentations |
Group Presentations | ||
| 15
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Course Conclusion |
TBD |
Final Exam |
