ETS- 13 — Survey of Black Thought
Description: An interdisciplinary introduction to African and African American philosophy and the broader traditions of Black thought, this course centers the lived experiences and struggles of Black communities as racialized and colonized peoples. Students will examine how Black intellectual traditions—emerging from slavery, segregation, racial capitalism, mass incarceration, and ongoing state violence—have generated theories of liberation and practices of resistance. Readings include foundational works such as W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, Marcus Garvey’s Philosophy and Opinions, and Patricia Hill Collins’s Black Feminist Thought, alongside speeches, cultural productions, and political writings that shaped abolition, Pan-Africanism, Civil Rights, Black Power, Black Feminism, Afro-pessimism, Afro-futurism, Critical Race Theory, and modern abolitionism. The course emphasizes concepts such as racialization, double consciousness, intersectionality, colonialism, and liberation, highlighting how Black thought critiques white supremacy and structures of inequality while imagining decolonial and emancipatory futures. Drawing on African, African American, and Caribbean sources, students will also situate Black thought comparatively within Ethnic Studies by examining solidarities and tensions with Indigenous, Chicanx/Latinx, and Asian American traditions. Through lectures, discussions, multimedia analysis, and community engagement linked to contemporary racial justice movements, students will connect theory to praxis, developing tools for anti-racist analysis, coalition-building, and transformative social change. 54.00 hours lecture. (Same as PHI-14) (Letter grade only)