Course Descriptions
Candidates must complete 18 graduate credit hours of coursework, selected in consultation with a program advisor, who must approve all courses for individual students prior to the courses being taken (with the exception of the 6 credit hours which may be accepted from candidates upon admission).
Courses must be taken for graduate credit and chosen from at least two different departments. Students may choose from the following courses (for the most up to date list, please visit the Academic Catalog.):
Graduate Courses
AFST 443 – Topics in Black Literature
3 Credit Hours
Content varies according to particular genres, authors, or theories from 1845 to present, including Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks, writing by black women, international black literature in English, and black American autobiography.
Same as ENGL 443
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 102, 118, 132, 290, or 298.
AFST 452 – Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice
3 Credit Hours
Examines racial/ethnic disparities in criminal offending and victimization, as well as different experiences with law enforcement, judicial and correctional agencies. Emphasis on social justice.
Same as SOCI 456
ANTH 414 – Political Anthropology
3 Credit Hours
Examination of the organization and dynamics of power and politics in both stateless and state-level societies. Role of symbols, rituals, and ideologies in producing and reproducing power relations. The relationship between actors (individuals) and structures. The encapsulation of traditional political forms and systems within modern states. Writing-emphasis course.
Recommended Background: 130 or 137.
ANTH 419 – Anthropology of Human Rights
3 Credit Hours
Overview of the development and global spread of modern human rights concepts and instruments, with intensive focus on problems of universal rights, cultural relativism, and the anthropological study of specific human rights issues such as terror, torture, and violence against women. Writing emphasis course.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 130 or 137.
ANTH 432 – Anthropology of Warfare, Violence, and Peace
3 Credit Hours
Origins and tactics of warfare; overview of cultural foundations and impacts of warfare and nonviolence; distinctions among aggression, conflict, violence, war; dynamics of militarization and peacebuilding.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 130 or 137.
ANTH 454 – Archaeology of The African Diaspora
3 Credit Hours
Historical archaeology of African, North American and Latin American sites relating to the transatlantic slave trade and the experiences of enslaved Africans in the New World from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 120 or 127.
Recommended Background: 361.
ANTH 523 – Anthropology of Genocide
3 Credit Hours
Seminar in the comparative analysis of the context and causes of genocides, with attention to problems of prevention, intervention, post-genocide dynamics, and the search for international justice. Methods and challenges of post-genocide research in cultural anthropology, archaeology, and forensics.
Registration Permission: Consent of instructor.
ENGL 552 – Readings in Black American Literature
3 Credit Hours
Content varies: genre, theme, literary movement, or other coherent emphasis.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 9 hours.
ENGL 560 – Readings in 20th-Century Literature
3 Credit Hours
Content varies: genre, theme, literary movement, or other coherent emphasis.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 9 hours.
FREN 573 – French and Francophone Literature and Culture II
3 Credit Hours
Literary and cultural heritage of France and other Francophone countries from the late 20th century to present.
GEOG 541 – Topics in Urban/Economic Geography
3 Credit Hours
Analysis of research on urban systems, internal morphology, urban problems, urban spatial behavior, and regional economic development.
Repeatability: May be repeated with consent of instructor. Maximum 9 hours.
(DE) Prerequisite(s): 441.
Recommended Background: 340.
GEOG 641 – Seminar in Urban/Economic Geography
3 Credit Hours
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 9 hours.
(DE) Prerequisite(s): 541 or consent of instructor.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – Graduate.
GEOG 663 – Seminar in Geography of the American South
3 Credit Hours
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 6 hours.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.
Registration Permission: Consent of instructor.
HIST 517 – Classic and Contemporary Readings in African-American History
3 Credit Hours
Introduces some of the most recent as well as standard scholarship in the field of African-American history from slavery to the present. Examines the relationship of African-American history to United States history and other “minority” histories.
HIST 543 – Topics in 20th-Century United States
3 Credit Hours
Reading seminar. Focus varies.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 15 hours.
HIST 561 – Topics in Latin American History
3 Credit Hours
Reading seminar. Focus varies.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 15 hours.
HIST 563 – Topics in African History
3 Credit Hours
Reading Seminar: Africa. Focus varies.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 15 hours.
PORT 430 – Contemporary Brazilian Studies
3 Credit Hours
Current Brazilian cultural, political and racial issues placed in a historical perspective with a comparative emphasis. Topics may vary.
Same as Latin American and Caribbean Studies 430
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 12 hours.
Comment(s): Open to non-majors. Majors will write papers in Portuguese.
PORT 432 – Topics in the Literature and Culture of the Portuguese-Speaking World
3 Credit Hours
Examination of the socio-political environment, literary works, and other important cultural practices of the Portuguese-speaking world. Topics may vary.
Same as Latin American and Caribbean Studies 432.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 12 hours.
Recommended Background: At least one course at the 300-level taught in Portuguese.
SPAN 484 – Race, Ethnicity, and Nation in Hispanic Literature
3 Credit Hours
Critical approaches to topics about race, ethnicity, and writing that define Spanish-speaking nations and communities across the globe. This course can include all texts and issues that dialogue with appropriate aspects of the diverse (Hispanic-based) racial and ethnic compositions and distinctions in Latin America, Spain, North America, Africa, and beyond. Also, a Latino Studies course. Writing-emphasis course.
Repeatability: May be repeated with consent of department. Maximum 6 hours.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): SPAN 309 or SPAN 312, and SPAN 330.
Comment(s): Requires completion of major or minor requirements in 332, 333, 334.
SPAN 586 – Studies in Literary Genres and Latin American and Caribbean Literatures
3 Credit Hours
Study of significant literary works within selected genres (including prose fiction, drama, poetry, etc.), and their relationship to the cultural and political practices in Latin America and the Caribbean. Topic varies.
Repeatability: May be repeated with consent of department. Maximum 6 hours.
SPAN 587 – Cultural Constructions of Race and Gender in the Hispanic World
3 Credit Hours
Examination of cultural representations of race and gender in the Caribbean, Latin America and the Hispanic and Latino communities in the United States. Topic Varies.
Repeatability: May be repeated with consent of department. Maximum 6 hours.
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