BK 110 / SC 045 – Introduction to African Diaspora Studies:
Commonalities, Differences, and Power within the Diaspora
Fall 2013
Professor: C. Shawn McGuffey, Ph.D.
Office: McGuinn 431
mcguffey@bc.edu
Office Hours: M 11:00 a.m.– 1:00 p.m.
or by appointment
Classroom and Time: Campion 235, MWF 2 – 2:50 p.m.
The ways in which to teach a course on African Diaspora Studies is almost as diverse as the
Diaspora itself. This interdisciplinary field can be approached from a variety of perspectives.
Although literary scholars, historians, and social scientists all have important contributions to
Diaspora Studies, most courses in this area primarily reflect the disciplinary training of the
professor as well as her or his research interests. As such, this course will primarily examine the
African Diaspora from a sociological and social science perspective, with a focus on the ways in
which the Diaspora intersects with gender and sexuality. Nonetheless, the course will underscore
how other perspectives compliment and amend social science inquiry. And while we will
acknowledge the historical foundations for many of the contemporary issues now facing the
African Diaspora, we will primarily focus on topical issues and modern-day dynamics in the U.S.
and across the globe. This course will center on the following guiding questions: What is
African Diaspora Studies? How has global racism impacted people of African descent
around the world? How does socio-economic class, sexuality and/or gender influence
individual and group experiences of being “Black”? How has society shaped the African
Diaspora? And conversely, how has the African Diaspora shaped particular societies and
the world?
To help tackle these questions, this reading and participation intensive seminar will not assume a
uniform “Black” experience and will analyze family dynamics from a critical race feminist
perspective. Four central themes of critical race feminism (CRF) are:
1) Social identities are historically and culturally specific and change over time.
2) Race, class, gender, and sexuality are not separate identities that are easily
distinguishable from one another. These social identities intersect and reinforce each
other. For example, one cannot talk about race without examining its implications for
gender and vice versa.
3) CRF acknowledges the importance of laws, policies, and institutions in the
perpetuation of inequalities.
4) Finally, CRF is skeptical of concepts such as objectivity, neutrality, and meritocracy.
Therefore, ideas of equality must be critically examined.
Course Expectations and Evaluation:
1) This is a reading and participation intensive course. Readings are due on the date they are
listed. Come to class ready to discuss them.
2) If you miss class, you are responsible for getting notes from a classmate. A doctor, school
administrator, or other certified official must verify an absence in order for it to be excused.
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Notes from parents or legal guardians will not be accepted.
3) You will be evaluated in three areas.
a. Class Participation (30%): This includes contributing to class discussions, current events, inclass writing assignments, and pop quizzes. In-class texting is strictly prohibited and will
negatively impact your participation grade. Other class disruptions and tardiness will also have a
negative impact on your class participation. Do not come to class if you are more than five
minutes late unless you have permission from the professor. After the class has been in session
for five minutes the door will be shut. Do not enter if the door is closed. You cannot make up
in-class assignments or pop-quizzes if you are not present unless you have an excused absence.
Discussions will focus on the readings and pertinent current event. Students are encouraged to
critique all the assigned readings, to dissect the debates within them, and to speak at least twice
per class period. Also, the guiding questions posed in the first paragraph of this syllabus should
be addressed, in one form or another, in every class discussion.
Further, students are required to send the professor two questions per reading by 11:59 p.m. on
Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to help structure class discussions. Questions should
demonstrate that you have done the reading, but should not be so particular that it stifles
conversation. Questions that connect readings from previous sections of the course are highly
encouraged.
Here are examples of good questions for the reading “Egypt in America: Black Athena, Racism
and Colonial Discourse.”
⇒ How did Black Athena challenge the idea of objective scholarship?
⇒ How has Egypt come to symbolize the tensions between Europe and Africa?
⇒ How does Tugrul Keskin’s discussion of Orientalism in “Sociology of Africa”
differ from Robert Young’s in “Egypt in America”?
Here are bad examples for questions about “Egypt in America: Black Athena, Racism and
Colonial Discourse.”
⇒ What is Black Athena?
⇒ Why is Egypt important?
⇒ What is Orientalism?
b. Short Statements (50%): Short, two page statements will be due via email by the start of class
on the assigned dates. There are ten assigned statements. These statements should be focused on
the assigned readings and address one or more of the guiding questions in the first paragraph of
the syllabus. Although it is not imperative to directly mention each reading, statements should at
least tackle the ideas presented in all of them.
Statements will be evaluated based on the following criteria: (a) an introduction that distinctly
states your topic and why it is important; (b) responses should have a logical flow with supporting
evidence from the readings and lecture; (c) a succinct critique of the pertinent issues; (d) and all
papers should be typed, double spaced, and NO MORE than two pages. Each of the two page
statements are worth ten points each, for a total of 100. The topic and due dates for the
statements are below:
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Paper 1: Covers sections one and two, and is due on Sept. 20th
Paper 2: Complicating Identity, Experiencing the Diaspora, due on Sept. 25th
Paper 3: Black Women and U.S. Citizenship, due on Oct. 2nd
Paper 4: Colorism, due on Oct. 11th
Paper 5: Genocide, due on Oct. 23rd
Paper 6: Religion and Morality, due on Oct. 31st
Paper 7: The Politics of Sex, due on Nov. 8th
Paper 8: HIV & AIDS in the Diaspora, due on Nov. 15th
Paper 9: Interpersonal Violence, due on Nov. 22nd
Paper 10: Hip Hop Nation or Hip Hop Diaspora?, due on Dec. 6th
c. Final Exam (20%): The last fraction of your final grade will consist of an in-class, 5 -7 page
written exam.
Grading Scale:
94-100= A
90-93= A86-89= B+
82-85= B
78-81= B74-77= C+
70-73= C
66-69= C62-65= D+
58-61= D
54-57= D53-00= F
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a standard of utmost importance in this course. Guidelines for academic
integrity in written work are posted on the Boston College website at:
www.bc.edu/integrity
If you have any questions pertaining to the academic integrity guidelines, please come and talk
with me for more clarification. If you are caught violating Boston College’s policies on academic
integrity, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment and the appropriate Dean will be
notified in accordance to the rules set forth by Boston College.
Required Readings:
Book:
Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Readings marked with an (*) indicates that they are from one of these two books.
Ereserve Readings: To access e-reserve readings (a) go to the libraries home page; (b) click on
“more catalog search options;” (c) click on “Course/On-line Reserves;” and (d) Search by my last
name, McGuffey.
The professor reserves the right to incorporate additional readings throughout the course.
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Reading Schedule:
What is African/Africana/Black/Diaspora Studies?
Sept. 4: First Day of Class – No Readings
Sept. 6: Kim Butler. 2001. “Defining Diaspora, Refining a Discourse.” Diaspora 10(2): 189219.
AND
Robin Kelley. 2000. “How the West was One: On the Uses and Limitations of Diaspora.” The
Black Scholar 30:3-4.
Sept. 9: Tugrul Keskin. 2012. “Sociology of Africa: A Non-Orientalist Approach to African,
Africana, and Black Studies. Critical Sociology 38(4): 1-16.
AND
Ibrahim Elnur. 2002. “The Second Boat of Africa’s New Diaspora: Looking at the Other Side of
the Global Divide with an Emphasis on Sudan.” African Issues 30(1): 37-41.
Thinking About “Blackness,” Thinking About Race
The Work of Du Bois
Sept. 11: W.E.B. DuBois. 1903 [1994]. Ch. 1 “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” pp. 3-11, In The
Souls of Black Folk. New York: Gramercy Books.
AND
W.E.B. DuBois. 1910. “Reconstruction and It’s Benefits.” The American Historical Review.
15(4): 781-799.
AND
W.E.B. DuBois. 1935. “Does the Negro Need Separate Schools?” The Journal of Negro
Education. 4(3): 328-335.
Sept. 13: Anthony Appiah. 1985. “The Uncompleted Argument: Du Bois and the Illusion of
Race.” Critical Inquiry 12(1): 21-37.
Africa in the Western Imagination
Sept. 16: Robert J.C. Young. 1994. “Egypt in America: Black Athena, Racism and Colonial
Discourse,” pp. 150-169, In On the Western Front: Studies in Racism, Modernity and Identity.
Edited by Ali Rattansi and Sallie Westwood. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Sept. 18: Oliver Philips. 2011. “The ‘Perils’ of Sex and the Panics of Race: The Dangers of
Interracial Sex in Colonial Southern Rhodesia,” pp. 101-115, In African Sexualities: A Reader.
Edited by Sylvia Tamale. Cape Town: Pambazuka Press.
Sept. 20: PAPER 1 is DUE!
Marc Epprecht. 2008. “The Ethnography of African Straightness,” pp. 34-64, In Heterosexual
Africa? The History of an Idea from the Age of Exploration to the Age of Aids. Athens, OH: Ohio
University Press.
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Complicating Identity, Experiencing the Diaspora
Sept. 23: Melville, Pauline. “Beyond the Pale.” Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology
of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present.
Ed. by Busby. 739–43.
AND
Honor Ford-Smith. 2001. “Grandma’s Estate,” pp. 439-459, In Gendered Realities: An Anthology
of Essays in Caribbean Feminist Thought. Edited by Patricia Mohammad. Kingston, Jamaica:
University of the West Indies Press.
AND
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 2007. “My American Jon.” Conjunctions 28: 231-240.
Sept. 25: PAPER 2 is DUE!
Jovonne J. Bickerstaff. 2012. “All Responses Are Not Created Equal: Variations in the Antiracist
Responses of First-Generation French Blacks.” Du Bois Review 9(1): 107-131.
AND
Anita Fabos. 2012. “Resisting Blackness, Embracing Rightness: How Muslim Arab Sudanese
Women Negotiate Their Identity in the Diaspora.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 35(2): 218-237.
Black Women & U.S. Citizenship
*Sept. 27: Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Sister Citizen. Introduction and Chapter 1.
*Sept. 30: Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Sister Citizen. Chapters 2 and 3.
*Oct. 2: PAPER 3 is DUE!
Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Sister Citizen. Chapters 5 and 7.
Colorism
Oct. 4: JeffriAnne Wilder and Colleen Cain. 2011. “Teaching and Learning Color Consciousness
in Black Families: Exploring Family Processes and Women’s Experiences with Colorism.”
Journal of Family Issues 32(5): 577-604.
AND
In Class Video Clips: CNN & Dateline discuss colorism
Oct. 7: Yaba Amgborale Blay. 2009. “Ahoofe Kasa!: Skin Bleaching and the Function of Beauty
in Ghana.” JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women’s Studies 14: 51-85.
AND
In Class Video Clip: Colorism in Africa (from the Grio)
Oct. 9: Edward Telles. 2009. “The Social Consequences of Skin Color in Brazil,” pp. 9-24, In
Shades of Difference: Why Skin Color Matters. Edited by Evelyn Nakano Glenn. Stanford
University Press.
Oct. 11: PAPER 4 is DUE!
Christina Sue. 2009. “The Dynamics of Color: Mestizaje, Racism and Blackness in Veracruz,
Mexico,” pp. 114-128, In Shades of Difference: Why Skin Color Matters. Edited by Evelyn
Nakano Glenn. Stanford University Press.
Oct. 14: NO CLASS – Enjoy Your Break!
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Genocide
Oct. 16: Joao H. Costa Vargas. 2005. “Genocide in the African Diaspora: United States, Brazil
and the Need for a Holistic Research and Political Method.” Cultural Dynamics 17(3): 267-290.
Oct. 18: Payam Akhavan. 1997. “Justice and Reconciliation in the Great Lakes Region of Africa:
The Contribution of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.” Duke Journal of
Comparative and International Law 7: 325-348.
Oct. 21: John Hagan. 2011. “Voices of the Darfur Genocide.” Contexts 10:22-28.
AND
John Hagan, Wenona Rymond-Richmond, and Roberto Palloni. 2009. “Racial Targeting of
Sexual Violence in Darfur.” American Journal of Public Health 99(8): 1386-1392.
Oct. 23: PAPER 5 is DUE!
John Hagan and Wenona Rymond-Richmond. 2008. “The Collective Dynamics of Racial
Dehuminization and Genocide Victimization in Darfur.” American Sociological Review 73(6):
875-902.
Religion & Morality
*Oct. 25: Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Chapter 6 “God”
Oct. 28: Douglas, Kelly Brown. 2006. “The Black Church and the Politics of Sexuality.” Pp. 347
- 362 in Loving the Body: Black Religious Studies and the Erotic, edited by Dwight Hopkins
and Anthony Pinn. Palgrave Macmillan.
Oct 30: PAPER 6 is DUE!
Andrea Stevenson Allen. 2012. “ ‘Brides’ without Husbands: Lesbians in the Afro-Brazilian
Religion Candomble.” Transforming Anthropology 20(1): 17-31.
AND
Sa’diyya Shaikh. 2011. “Morality, Justice and Gender: Reading Muslim Tradition on
Reproductive Choices,” pp. 340-358, In African Sexualities: A Reader. Edited by Sylvia Tamale.
Cape Town: Pambazuka Press.
The Politics of Sex
Nov. 1: Mignon Moore. 2010. “Articulating a Politics of (Multiple) Identities: LGBT Sexuality
and Inclusion in Black Community Life.” Du Bois Review 7(2): 315-334.
Nov. 4: Haan El Menyawi. 2006. “Activism from the Closet: Gay Rights Strategising in Egypt.”
Melbourne Journal of International Law 7: 28-51.
Nov 6: Robert Sember. 2009. “Sexuality Research in South Africa: The Policy Context,” pp. 1431, In From Social Silence to Social Science: Same-Sex Sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in
South Africa. Edited by Vasu Reddy, Theo Sandfort and Laetitia Rispel. Capetown, South
Africa: HSRC Press.
AND
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf. 2011. “Nudity and Morality: Legislating Women’s Bodies and Dress in
Nigeria,” pp. 116-129, In African Sexualities: A Reader. Edited by Sylvia Tamale. Cape Town:
Pambazuka Press.
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Nov. 8: PAPER 7 is DUE!
Sylvia Tamale. 2011. “Paradoxes of Sex Work and Sexuality in Modern-Day Uganda,” pp. 145173, In African Sexualities: A Reader. Edited by Sylvia Tamale. Cape Town: Pambazuka Press.
AND
George Paul Meiu. 2011. “ ‘Mombasa Morans’: Embodiment, Sexual Morality and Samburu Men
in Kenya,” In African Sexualities: A Reader. Edited by Sylvia Tamale. Cape Town: Pambazuka
Press.
HIV & AIDS in the Diaspora
Nov. 11: Kevin McGruder. 2009. “Black Sexuality in the U.S.: Presentations as Non-Normative.”
Journal of African American Studies 13:251-262.
AND
Patricia Hill Collins. 2004. “Why We Can’t Wait: Black Sexual Politics and the Challenge of
HIV/AIDS,” pp. 279-302 (Ch.9), In Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender and the
New Racism. Routledge.
AND
Ford, Chandra, Kathryn Whetten, Susan Hall, Jay Kaufman, and Angela Thrasher. 2007. “Black
Sexuality, Social Construction, and Research Targeting ‘The Down Low’ (‘The DL’).” Annals of
Epidemiology 17(3): 209-216.
Nov. 13: Anne W. Esacove. 2010. “Love Matches: Heteronormativity, Modernity and AIDS
Prevention in Malawi.” Gender & Society 24(1): 83-109.
Nov. 15: PAPER 8 is DUE!
Zethu Matebeni. 2009. “Sexing Women: Young Black Lesbians’ Reflections on Sex and
Responses to Safe(r) Sex,” pp. 100-116, In From Social Silence to Social Science: Same-Sex
Sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa. Edited by Vasu Reddy, Theo Sandfort and
Laetitia Rispel. Capetown, South Africa: HSRC Press.
AND
Kirk Fiereck. 2009. “Epidemiological Disjunctures: A Review of Same-Sex Sexuality and HIV in
Sub-Saharan Africa, pp. 147-165, In From Social Silence to Social Science: Same-Sex Sexuality,
HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa. Edited by Vasu Reddy, Theo Sandfort and Laetitia
Rispel. Capetown, South Africa: HSRC Press.
Interpersonal Violence
Nov. 18: Hill Collins, Patricia. 2004. Ch. 7 “Assume the Position: The Changing Contours of
Sexual Violence,” pp. 215-246, In Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender and the
New Racism. Routledge.
Nov. 20: McGuffey, C. Shawn. 2010. “Blacks and Racial Appraisals: Gender, Race and
Intraracial Rape,” pp. 273-298, In Black Sexualities: Probing Powers, Passions, Practices and
Policies, edited by Juan Battle and Sandra Barnes. Rutgers University Press.
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Nov. 22: PAPER 9 is DUE!
Helen Moffett. 2006. “ ‘These Women, They Force Us to Rape Them’: Rape as Narrative of
Social Control in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Journal of Southern African Studies 32(1): 129144
AND
Sasha Gear. 2007. Behind the Bars of Masculinity: Male Rape and Homophobia in and about
South African Men’s Prisons.” Sexualities 10(2): 209-227.
Hip Hop Nation or Hip Hop Diaspora?
Nov. 25: Mireille Miller-Young. 2008. “Hip Hop Honeys and Da Hustlaz: Black Sexualities in
the New Hip Hop Pornography.” Meridians 8(1): 261-292.
AND
Dionne Stephens and April Few. 2007. “Hip Hop Honey or Video Ho: African American
Preadolescents’ Understanding of Female Sexual Scripts in Hip Hop Culture.” Sexuality and
Culture 11(4): 48-69.
AND
In Class Video Clip: Dream Worlds
Nov. 27 – 29: NO CLASS!!! Have a Great Break!!!
Dec 2: Dagbovie, Sika Alaine and Zine Magubane. 2010. “ ‘I’m Real’ (Black) when I Wanna Be:
Examining J. Lo’s Racial ASSests,” In Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of
Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities, edited by Regina Sims and Kimberly Moffitt.
Hampton Press: New York.
AND
Paul Butler. 2004. “Much Respect: Toward a Hip Hop Theory of Punishment.” Stanford Law
Review 56(5): 983-1016.
Nov. 4: Awed Ibrahim. 2003. “Marking the Unmarked: Hip Hop, the Gaze, and the African
Body in North America.” Critical Arts 17(1-2): 52-70.
AND
Fatima El-Tayeb. 2003. “ ‘If You Can’t Pronounce My Name, You Can Just Call Me Pride:’
Afro-German Activism, Gender and Hip Hop.” Gender & History 15(3): 460-486.
AND
In Class Video Clip: German Hip Hop
Dec. 6: PAPER 10 is DUE!
David A. Samper. 2004. “ ‘Africa is Still Our Mama:’ Kenyan Rappers, Youth Identity, and the
Revitalization of Traditional Values.” African Identities 2(1): 37-51.
AND
Alex Perullo. 2005. “Hooligans and Heroes: Youth Identity and Hip Hop in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.” Africa Today 51(4): 75-101.
Dec 9: No Assigned Readings (Last day of regularly scheduled class)
LAST EXAM will be given during finals week (TBA)
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Health Service Resources
Boston College Resources
Health Services, 119 Cushing Hall
552-3225
Emergency (24 hours): 552-3227
Counseling Services, 108 Gasson Hall
552-3310
Women’s Resource Center, 213 McElroy Hall
552-3489
Sexual Assault Network
552-BC11 (24 hour hotline)
BC Police Dept.
Emergency: 552-4444
Non-emergency: 552-3475
Office of Health Promotion
552-990
Boston Area Resources
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
617-492-7273
Battered Women’s Hotline
617-661-7203
Casa Myrna Vazque
English/Spanish Hotline
617-521-0100
GLBTQ Domestic Violence Project
Hotline: 1-800-832-1901
Office: 617-354-6056
Mass. Coalition for Battered Women
1-800-799-SAFE
617-248-0922
The Network/ La Red
English/Spanish Hotline
Serves lesbians and bisexual women,
women involved with other women, and
transgendered individuals (MTF &
FTM)
Hotline/Linea de Crisis: 617-742-4911
TTY: 617-227-4911
Victim Rights Law Center
617-399-6720
Hispanic Black Gay Coalition
617-487-HBGC (4242)
Services: New Leadership Institute,
LGBTQ Mentorship, Domestic Violence,
LGBTQ Christian Worship
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