THEA 321 - History of Black Theatre

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-C
The influence of 400 years of African Diaspora on North American theatre traditions. The African American influence on playwriting, music, slave narratives, minstrel shows, The Harlem Renaissance, The Civil Rights Movement, The Black Arts Movement, and contemporary African American theatre.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area C requirements.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better.
Equivalent Quarter Course: THEA 3220.
Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground, or Entirely Online.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-C - Upper Division Arts or Humanities
Course Typically Offered: Variable Intermittently

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

identify the characteristics of specific styles of African American plays.
explain the relationship between African American history and the development of African-American theatre.
analyze how images and themes from African and early African American traditions are used, repeated, and misinterpreted in American theatre.
discuss the themes of African American plays, placing them in historical context and using theatre terminology.

UD-C. Upper-division Arts or Humanities Learning Outcomes

demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply the principles, methodologies, value systems, and thought processes employed in the arts and humanities;
analyze cultural production as an expression of, or reflection upon, what it means to be human; and
demonstrate how the perspectives of the arts and humanities are used by informed, engaged, and reflective citizens to benefit local and global communities.