Course Syllabus
DEPARTMENT OF AFRICOLOGY & AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Special Topics: Black Revolutionary Movements
AAAS 2100.001 – Howard (Fall 2025)
Gladfelter Hall 839 12:30-1:50PM
Black Rev. Movements Fall 25 Syllabus.pdf
Instructor: Isaac Howard, M.A.
Office: 845 Gladfelter Hall
Email: tue65720@temple.edu
Office hours: Only by appointment. (Please email professor in advance.)
Course Description
Black revolutionary movements developed out of the long and substantial political, social and cultural history of African people. Whether on the continent or in the African diaspora, Black people organized themselves to determine their own futures and to rally against oppression. This course is a dive into those revolutionary movements and the historical actors/actresses therein, illuminating a deep and continuous struggle for self-determination.
Course Goals
Students will examine the political, social and cultural history of Black revolutionary movements in the African world. By examining the context of these movements and the events that surrounded them, students should expect the following:
- An increased understanding of Black/African resistance as self-determination
- Understanding aspects of world history as perceived by Black/African people
- A broadened perspective of the political and cultural strife between racial groups
Additionally, through classroom discussions and coursework, students should expect development in scholarly development such as, but not limited to:
- Research
- Healthy debate
- Writing
Disability Statement
This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements for participation. Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability or medical condition should contact the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) in 100 Ritter Annex (drs@temple.edu; 215.204.1280) to request accommodations and learn more about resources available to you. If you have a DRS accommodation to share with me, or you would like to discuss accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. All discussions related to your accommodations will be confidential.
Required Books
Hakim Adi. Pan-Africanism: A History. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2018.
Students are expected also to read the articles, book chapters, and other secondary and/or primary information relegated to the students as required reading materials that is given in addition to the required books.
Some of these texts are derived from book sources such as: Fighting the Slave Trade, edited by Sylviane A. Diouf and The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, compiled by Amy Jacques-Garvey.
Course Requirements:
Attendance/Participation 25%
The attendance and participation grades are the easiest to obtain an exemplary grade. Students arriving after the 10 - minute mark of class will be considered absent. Students are permitted 2 unexcused absences before their grade becomes impacted. More than 2 unexcused absences will receive an automatic grade of “C” and egregious absences can result in a lower score.Our course will be run in a seminar style and student participation is necessary for the learning process in this course via class discussion prompts. Students are expected to bring in two discussion questions to pose to classmates to generate discussion based on the readings. Read or be quizzed: If students are suspected to not be reading quizzes will be assessed as a part of the participation grade.
Midterm/Annotated Bibliography 25%
The annotated bibliography assignment is designed to align students research endeavors and combine them with an outline of the themes and direction of their final research paper. Students should be prepared to submit a minimum 1-page outline discussing the goals and direction of their research efforts and a thoroughly researched bibliography of at least the minimum required 10 sources listed in the Final Research Paper requirements. Students should include approximately 200 word annotations that summarizes the content, makes note of the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments and judges the applicability of the sources to their individual work.
Research Presentation 25%
Presentation dates will be picked within the first week of coursework. Students will be responsible for picking a particular topic within Black revolutionary movements and preparing a 15-20 minute summary of their research paper goals and present findings, in addition to dealing with peer evaluation and questions.
Final Research Paper 25%
The final research paper works in tandem with the research presentation discussed prior. Again, students will choose their own area of research in Black revolutionary movements and be expected to dive into the complexity of that particular phenomena and connect it to other movements and contemporary issues. The extent and possibility to which students discuss their topic of interest is up to their discretion, but they should be attempting with all possibility to demonstrate some deep understanding of their choice. Students are expected to utilize both primary and secondary source material to undergird their discussions and source them in a proper format and include a cover page and references (Chicago or APA). Paper length is 10-12 pages excluding cover page and references are expected.
Rubric For Written Assignments
|
Grade |
Criteria |
|
0-5 |
- No course readings referenced - Below page count/word count |
|
6-7 |
- Referenced Course Readings - Page count met - Identified central argument(s) |
|
8-9 |
- All of 6-7 criteria - Engaged with the central argument or question(s) raised - Uses Afrocentric analytical tools - Uses their own words |
|
10 |
- All of 6-9 criteria - Clear and in-depth analysis - Grammatically sound and well written. |
Grading Scale (based on 100 points)
A = 94-100 B+ = 87-89 C+ = 77-79 D+ = 67-69 F = 59-0
A - = 90-93 B = 83-86 C = 73-76 D = 63-66
B- = 80-82 C- = 70-72 D- = 60-62
WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1
Tuesday 8/26/25
Syllabus day. Course overview and introduction.
Thursday 8/28/25
Read Mazama “The Afrocentric Paradigm: Contours and Definitions”
Week 2
Tuesday 9/2/25
Read Asante Afrocentricity Notes on a Disciplinary Position”
Thursday 9/4/25
Read Nantambu “Pan-Africanism vs Pan-African Nationalism: An Afrocentric Analysis”
Week 3
Tuesday 9/9/25
Read Williams “Egypt: The Rise and Fall of Black Civilization” pp 49-59 online.
Thursday 9/11/25
Read Adi chapter 1 of Pan-Africanism a history
Week 4
Tuesday 9/15/25
Read the introduction of Fighting the Slave Trade by Diouf.
Thursday 9/17/25
Read Cordell, “The Myth of Inevitability and Invincibility”
Week 5
Tuesday 9/23/25
Read Delaney “Condition, Elevation, Emigration” pp 189-216
Thursday 9/25/25
Read Adi chapter 2
Week 6
Tuesday 9/30/25
Read Adi chapter 3
Thursday 10/2/25
Read Smith, “Lynching, the ‘Negro Problem,’ and Female Voices of Protest”
Week 7
Tuesday 10/7/25
Midterm day
Thursday 10/9/25
Read Adi chapter 4
Week 8
Tuesday 10/14/25
Read Garvey, “The Negro and Communism”
Thursday 10/16/25
Read "We Want to Set the World on Fire" by Blaine
Week 9
Tuesday 10/21/25
Read Adi Chapter 5
Thursday 10/23/25
Documentary Concerning Violence
Week 10
Tuesday 10/28/25
Research presentation(s)
Thursday 10/30/25
Research presentation(s)
Week 11
Tuesday 11/4/25
Read Clarke “The New Afro American Nationalism”
Thursday 11/6/25
Read Farmer Ch 4 of Remaking Black Power
Week 12
Tuesday 11/11/25
Read Madhubuti “The Latest Purge”
Thursday 11/13/25
Read Lateef and Androff “Children Can’t Learn on an Empty Stomach”
Week 13
Tuesday 11/18/25
“Read Gender Dynamics within the Black Panther Party”
Thursday 11/20/25
Kuzituka Did’ho “In Memory of Patrice Lumumba”
Week 14 Fall Break
Week 15
Tuesday 12/2/25
Read Adi Chapter 7
Thursday 12/4/25
Read Kambon and Songsore “Garvey’s ‘Universal Negro’ v Nkrumah’s All-African’”
Week 16
(12/7/25)
Final Due
Late Work Policy
There is no makeup work for participation assignments. Neither major papers nor Canvas assignments will be accepted after the due date. Writing assignments are due at the designated time, after which the submission portal will be closed (11:59PM). Be sure to note that all submission times are p.m. and Eastern Standard Time. Under extenuating circumstances, extensions may be granted provided that the student contacts the professor no less than three days before the assignment is due and both parties work out an appropriate arrangement.
Incomplete Policy
Incompletes are very rarely given and only in emergency situations when an Incomplete Agreement has been negotiated and signed ahead of the submission of final grades. Incompletes are reserved for situations where you have completed most of the course and an emergency prevents you from completing a small portion of the course. You cannot disappear from the course and receive an incomplete!
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's labor, another person's ideas, another person's words, and another person's assistance. Normally, all work done for courses -- papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations--is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources--journals, books, or other media--these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor's responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources--suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language--must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Undocumented use of materials from the World Wide Web is plagiarism.
Students must assume that all graded assignments, quizzes, and tests are to be completed individually unless otherwise noted in writing in this syllabus. I reserve the right to refer any case of suspected plagiarism or cheating to the University Disciplinary Committee. I also reserve the right to assign a grade of “F” for the given assessment.
All written work for the course must be your own. Be sure to cite any works you use, including web sites, books, and articles. Presenting anyone else’s work as your own is considered plagiarism. Please follow this link to see Temple University’s Policy on Academic Honesty:
http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/Responsibilitiesrights/responsibilities/responsibilities.shtm
Statement on Academic Freedom
Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no+03.70.02.