ES 342 - James Baldwin

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-C; Social Justice
This course assesses James Baldwin’s vanguard role in American discourses of race and gender and appreciates the impact of his radical synthesis of race and gay consciousness on American politics and the construction of an aesthetic of radical Black masculinity.

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.
Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid, or Online-Asynchronous.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-C - Upper Division Arts or Humanities, Overlay - Social Justice
Course Typically Offered: Variable Intermittently

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

Students will be able to explain discipline-specific theoretical frameworks including queer of color theory and intersectionality as it applies to the literature and essays of James Baldwin and to understand how Baldwin functioned as an avatar of these disciplinary developments
Students will be able to recognize the complexity, heterogeneity and power dynamics regarding gender, class, and race between and within Black communities depicted by James Baldwin

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.

Social Justice Overlay Learning Outcomes

use a disciplinary perspective to analyze issues of social justice and equity;
describe the challenges to achieving social justice; and
identify ways in which individuals and/or groups can contribute to social justice within local communities, nations, or the world.