Anti-Black Racism Minor

Program Director: Jeanette Snider, Ph.D.

The minor offers students from any academic discipline an opportunity to learn about Anti-Black Racism from academic experts through an interdisciplinary program of study.  Students are also able to apply what they have learned in a specific professional or personal experiential learning capstone course, including research, internship, or community engagement opportunities. Anti-Black racism is conceptualized as policies and practices rooted in social institutions (i.e. education, health care, criminal justice system, housing) that reinforce prejudice and discrimination towards people of African descent. This minor will give students a deeper understanding of these policies, practices, beliefs, and behaviors as well as ways to work to ensure they can be inclusive leaders in line with what it means to be Terrapin Strong.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Identify, describe, and relate central themes of structural racism in general and anti-black racism in academic literature.
  2. Describe (in writing and/or orally) one or more specific historical, economic, policy, or social community challenge(s) into context as it relates to anti-Black racism.
  3. Demonstrate critical skills in listening to and responding to different viewpoints in an academic context using relevant evidence.
  4. Describe the impact of historical and contemporary anti-Black racism in a specific professional or public setting.
  5. Demonstrate ability to apply knowledge generated in the classroom to propose interdisciplinary solutions to real-world challenges using problem-based learning strategies.

Students in the minor will choose one of five tracks by their 2nd semester in the minor. This will allow students to customize their experience in the minor based on their academic and professional interests. The key components are a common introductory course (ABRM330), three disciplinary courses, and a capstone course (ABRM450) that will feature an opportunity to participate in experiential learning that is mentored by a faculty member from one of the participating colleges/schools.

Course Title Credits
Core Courses
ABRM330Introduction to Anti-Black Racism3
Track Course (See below for tracks):3
Introduction to Comparative Ethnic and Racial Studies
Public Policy and the Black Community
Good Stories: Teaching Narratives for Peace and Justice
Multicultural Population Health
Introduction to Public Policy Topics (PLCY288A - 21st Century Racial Justice and Gender fom the Bullhorn to the Ballot)
Track Electives (See below for elective course list)6
ABRM450Applied Anti-Black Racism3
Tracks (includes the track course and 6 credits of electives):
Arts and Humanities Track
Introduction to Comparative Ethnic and Racial Studies
Elective Courses (6 credits)
Behavioral and Social Sciences Track
Public Policy and the Black Community
Elective Courses (6 Credits) 1
Education Track
Good Stories: Teaching Narratives for Peace and Justice
Elective Courses (6 Credits) 1
Public Policy Track
Introduction to Public Policy Topics (PLCY288A 21st Century Racial Justice and Gender from the Bullhorn to the Ballot) 2
Elective Courses (6 Credits) 1
Public Health Track
Multicultural Population Health
Elective Courses (6 Credits)
Total Credits15
Course Title Credits
Elective Course List
AASP100Introduction to African American Studies3
AASP187The New Jim Crow: African-Americans, Mass Incarceration and the Prison Industrial Complex3
AASP202Black Culture in the United States3
AASP210Intro to Research Design and Analysis in African American Studies3
AASP211Get Out: The Sunken Place of Race Relations in the Post-Racial Era3
AASP230Social (In)Justice and African-American Health and Well-Being3
AASP298B3
AASP298LAfrican-American Literature and Culture3
AASP298MMartin Luther King Jr.3
AASP301Applied Policy Analysis and the Black Community3
AASP310African Slave Trade3
AASP313Black Women in United States History3
AASP320Poverty and African American Children3
AASP377 (Baldwin and the Black Atlantic)3
AASP413Gentrification: Have You Met the New Neighbors?: Issues of Belonging and Displacement in Urban Areas3
AASP443Blacks and the Law3
AASP498Special Topics in Black Culture (AASP498R Race and Sports) 23
AMST290Shifting Sands: Constructing Cultural Mainstreams and Margins in the U.S.3
AMST328Perspectives on Identity and Culture (AMST328E Afro-Latinx Diasporas) 23
or USLT320 Afro-Latinx Diasporas
ANTH412Hypermarginality and Urban Health3
ANTH433Archaeology of Slavery: Classical, Caribbean and North American Contexts3
ARTH362Presently Black: Contemporary African American Art3
CCJS370Race, Crime and Criminal Justice3
CMLT235Black Diaspora Literature and Culture3
CMLT277Literatures of the Americas3
COMM360The Rhetoric of Black America3
ENGL130Race and the Cultural Politics of Blood: A Historical Perspective3
ENGL234African-American Literature and Culture3
ENGL360African, Indian and Caribbean Writers3
ENGL368Special Topics in African American, African, and African Diaspora Literatures3
ENGL438Selected Topics in Media Studies (ENGL438B Black Digitalities) 23
ENGL448Literature by Women of Color (ENGL448C Literature, Visual Culture and Art by Women of Color) 23
ENGL459Selected Topics in LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (ENGL459B Black Sexuality in Literature and Film) 23
ENGL470African-American Literature: From Slavery to Freedom3
ENGL471African-American Literature: 1910-19453
ENGL472African-American Literature: 1945 to Present3
ENGL479Selected Topics in Literature after 1800 (ENGL479B Black Performance: From Slavery to Hip-Hop) 23
FMSC381Family Inequality3
FMSC420African American Families3
HESI202Race and Diversity in Higher Education3
HESI220Adaptive Strategies for Multicultural Leadership and Dialogue3
HESI418Special Topics in Leadership (HESI418D Leadership and Ethnicity) 23
HIST254African-American History to 18653
HLTH240 (Am I Not a Man? Contemporary Issues in Black Men's Health)3
HLTH460Multicultural Population Health3
JOUR453Media Coverage of Diversity3
KNES401Zip Code: Prediction of Physical Activity & Health3
LGBT448Special Topics in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies (LGBT448L Black Queer Studies) 23
MIEH330Environmental Justice, Racism, and Environmental Health Disparities: How where you live can kill you3
PLCY288Introduction to Public Policy Topics (PLCY288B Impact of Discriminatory Housing Policies) 23
PLCY288Introduction to Public Policy Topics (PLCY288L Organizing and Advocating for Justice) 23
PLCY388Special Topics in Public Policy (PLCY388Z Race, Capitalism and the Wealth Gap) 23
PSYC354Multicultural Psychology in the U.S.3
SOCY224Why are We Still Talking About Race?3
SOCY424Sociology of Race Relations3
TLPL288Special Problems in Education (TLPL288R Critical Race Counter-storytelling) 23
TLPL475Equitable Classrooms2
TLPL476Equity and Pedagogy2
TLPL481Embracing Diversity in the Classroom Community3
URSP372Diversity and the City3
USLT403Citizens, Refugees, and Immigrants3
WGSS370Black Feminist Thought3
WGSS428Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS428J Black Feminist Science Studies) 23
WGSS428Topics in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS428L 21st Century Black Feminisms) 23
1

At least one course from the electives list must be at 300-400 level to ensure that 9 credits of 300-400 level courses work in the minor.

2

The specific suffixed version of the course listed in parentheses must be taken to count for the elective.

 

Students interested in declaring the minor can obtain more information by contacting the Assistant Program Director, Marshal Washington, via email at lahsram9@umd.edu, or phone at 301-405-1161; or the AAAS Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Ashley Newby, via email at anewby1@umd.edu; or in person at the African American and Africana Studies Department, 1119 Taliaferro Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.