ES 346 - Afrofuturism

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-C; Diversity
Afrofuturism explores cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magical realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique present-day dilemmas of people of color, imagine Black futurity and re-examine historical events.

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 - Diversity
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 Afrofuturity, Afrocentricity, and the intersectionaity of Afrofuturism and Black feminisms and queer of color theories
Students will be able to recognize the complexity, heterogeneity of the Black imaginary and how Afrofuturity reflects a critique of power dynamics between and within Black communities

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.

Diversity Overlay Learning Outcomes

describe the histories and/or experiences of one or more U. S. cultural groups and the resilience and agency of group members;
identify structures of oppression and the diverse efforts and strategies used by groups to combat the effects of oppressive structures;
analyze the intersection of the categories of race and gender as they affect cultural group members’ lived realities and/or as they are embodied in personal and collective identities;
recognize the way that multiple differences (including, for example, gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability, immigration status, gender expression, color/phenotype, racial mixture, linguistic expression, and/or age) within cultural groups complicate individual and group identities.