New MA Emphasis, English Department, U. of Missouri
Africana (African Diasporic) Literature, Literary Criticism and Theory
Note: The courses listed for this new program are in the approval process. Titles and numbers are
provisional.
Africana Literature, Literary Criticism and Theory is now a specialized area within our MA degree,
and there are plans to added an interdisciplinary minor in Africana Literature, Literary Criticism and
Theory to the PhD degree. The heart of the course sequence in this field is English 454, Africana
Theory and Literary Criticism. In addition to English 454, the emphasis requires 9 additional hours (3
courses) from:
(In process of being finalized)

304A Africana Womanist Writers

308A Major Africana Women Writers

346A Themes in Literature by Women

354 Topics in Africana Literature

404 Studies in Africana Literature
Additional elective courses in this field include:

334A Africana Male Writers

385A Themes in African Diasporic Folklore

485A Studies in African Diasporic Folklore

Romance Languages 300 Intro to Afro-Hispanic Literature

Romance Languages 410 Literature of the African Diaspora

Further courses in Theater, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Religion, Art,
and Music
Core Faculty in this Emphasis:
Clenora Hudson-Weems, Professor--Coordinator of Concentration/New Program
April Langley, Assistant Professor
Geta LeSeur, Associate Professor
Christopher Okonkwo, Assistant Professor
Sw. Anand Prahlad, Associate Professor
AFRICANA LITERATURE AND THEORY
PRE/BLACK AESTHETIC/NEO-BLACK AESTHETIC–an umbrella under which the following
PARADIGMS fall, which are taught in various courses in the Department of English at the University
of Missouri-Columbia. A couple of courses, which focus on one or more of the paradigmatic
approaches listed below are cross-listed in the Institute of Diasporic Literature and Languages and the
Department of Romance Languages.
Black Aesthetic–“A black criterion for judging the validity an/or beauty of a work of art . . . ‘art for
people’s sake,’ . . . judged according to its presentation of the traditions and styles stemming from
African and African American cultures . . . [with] a ‘separate symbolism, mythology, critique, and
iconology” (Patricia Liggins Hill, gen. ed., Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African
American Literary Tradition)
(Taught in English 104–African American Survey; English 204–Twentieth Century African American
Literature and the Black Arts Movements; English 337/493–Contemporary Africana Theory and
Thought; English 334–Africana Male Writers)
Black Aestheticians: Amiri Baraka; Richard K. Barksdale; W.E.B. DuBois; Sarah Webster Fabio;
Nick Aaron Ford; Carolyn Fowler; Hoyt Fuller; Marcus Garvey; Addison Gayle, Jr.; Stephen
Henderson; Patricial Liggins Hill; Joyce Ann Joyce; Haki R. Madhabuti; Clarence Major; Tony
Martin; Larry Neale
Africology–“The normative and empirical inquiry into the life histories and life prospects of peoples
of primary African origin and their descent transgenerationally, transmillennially, and universally . . .
an academic discipline in the American academy through the naming of academic departments”
(Winston Van Horne, “Africology: Considerations Concerning A Discipline” in Clenora HudsonWeems’s Contemporary Africana Theory and Thought–forthcoming)
(Taught in English 308A–Black Women Writers of the African Diaspora; English 354–Themes in
Literature Written by Women-Black Motherhood; English 493/338–Contemporary Africana Theory
and Thought)
Afrocologists: Kwame Alford; Geta LeSeur; William “Nick” Nelson, Jr.; James B. Stewart; Winston
Van Horn
Afrocentricism/Afrocentricity–“Placing African ideals at the center of any analysis that involves
African culture and behavior” (Molefi Kente Asante, The Afrocentric Idea)
(Taught in English 493/338–Contemporary Africana Theory and Thought)
Afrocentrics: Molefi Kente Asante; Kariamu Welsh Asante; Jake Carruthers; John Henrik Clarke;
Cheikh Anta Diop; Yosef Ben-Jochannon; Maulana Karenga; Charshee McIntyre; J. A. Rogers; James
Turner; Chanchellor Williams
Africana Womanism–“An ideology created and designed for all women of African descent. It is
grounded in African culture, and therefore, it necessarily focuses on the unique experiences, struggles,
needs and desires of Africana women. It critically addresses the dynamics of the conflict between the
mainstream feminist, the Black feminist, the African feminist, and the Africana womanist.” (Clenora
Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves)
(Taught in English 304–Africana Womanist Writers; English 308A–Black (Africana) Womanist
Writers and African American Women Writers; English 205–Introduction to Literary Studies; English
493/338-Contemporary Africana Theory and Thought; English 334–Africana Male Writers)
Africana Womanists: Delores P. Aldridge; Vivian V. Gordon; Clenora Hudson-Weems; April
Langley; Daphne Ntiri-Quenum; Adele Newson-Horst; ‘Zulu Sofola; Barbara Wheeler
Transformationism–The incorporation of “basic historical and cultural facts and insights with a focus
on bringing them more clearly and directly to bear on the concrete issues and conditions of black
communities in this historical moment, [i.e. Political economy and cultural transformation]” (Perry A.
Hall, “Paradigms in Black Studies” in Delores Aldridge’s Out of the Revolution: A Development of
Africana Studies)
(Taught in English 135–Major Authors; English 371–The Colonial Encounter in African Fiction;
English 432–Studies in 19th. Century American Literature; English 493/337–Contemporary Africana
Theory and Thought)
Transformationists: Perry A. Hall; Marvin Lewis; Christopher Okonkwo; Antonio Tillis; Jeffrey
R.Williams
Courses cross-listed with the Department of English with a focus on one or more of the above
paradigmatic approaches:
Spanish 410–Literature of the African Diaspora in Translation
Spanish 300– Intro to Afro-Hispanic Literature