May 03, 2024  
2018-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2018-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

Core Curriculum Requirements
The Core Foundation/Proficiency attribute search terms are:

  • Civic Engagement, Diversity, Ethics, Fine Arts, Natural Science, Oral Communication, Philosophy, Physics-Based Natural Science, Quantitative Reasoning, Social Science, Theology, Writing I, Writing II

To search in the Catalog for courses that meet specific Core Foundation/Proficiency attributes, there are three options:

  1. Use the Course Filter on the Course Descriptions page. Enter your desired search term in the “Keyword or Phrase” box and check the box beneath for “Find whole word or phrase only.”
  2. Enter the desired search term, in quotes, in the Publication Search box.
  3. Use the Advanced Search feature of the Publication Search. Click on the Advanced Search button and type in the desired search term in the “Enter a keyword or phrase” field, check the box beneath for “Find whole word or phrase only.”, and leave only the Courses checkbox checked. This will ensure that only courses containing the desired search term show.

In addition, users may visit the Core Curriculum site for a listing of courses that have been approved for specific Core Curriculum requirements and/or search the Semester Course Offerings in CyberFriar.

Need assistance? Please contact the Office of the Registrar or 401.865.1033.
 

Black Studies
  

  • BLS 101 - Introduction to Black Studies

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Civic Engagement; Diversity; Social Science

    Introduces students to the foundations of Black studies as a scholarly inquiry, covers the diverse field’s most important theoretical approaches, builds analytical skills, and prepares students for further courses in Black studies while fostering an understanding of Black life and culture in the Americas. Students will engage in a semester-long activism project.


    Click here for the Semester Course Offerings
  

  • BLS 107 - The African-American Artist

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity

    An introduction to African-American achievements in the visual arts, especially painting, from Colonial times to the present. Same as AMS 107 & ARH 107.


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  • BLS 225 - The African World View

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity; Social Science

    Introduces African history and culture as an independent aspect of world civilization. Considers Afrocentrism, post-colonialism, world systems analysis, dependency theory, colonialism, imperialism, state formation, and cultural exchange. Shows how distinctive African contributions have shaped, and are shaped by, the world’s cultures.


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  • BLS 227 - History of Jazz

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    A study of the history of jazz from African music to contemporary trends and more popular forms. Emphasis will be placed on styles and performers. Analytical listening will be required. Same as AMS 227 and MSC 227.


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  • BLS 230 - Faith and Spirit in the Black Family and Community

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Civic Engagement; Diversity; Social Science

    Covers the many ways in which religious practice and faith have contributed to the development of contemporary African-American society and culture. African and African-American Catholicism, conventional and evangelical Protestantism, Islam, traditional African spirituality, syncretic traditions of the Caribbean and South America, voodoo, and contemporary mysticism are considered. Students will engage in a semester long activism project.


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  • BLS 265 - Twentieth-Century African-American Literature

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity; Writing II

    A reading-intensive introduction to 20th century African-American fiction, autobiography, drama, and poetry, with particular attention to social and cultural contexts. Writers include Nella Larsen, Ralph Ellison, Amiri Baraka, Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, and Anna Deavere Smith. Focus on race, class, and gender, and on the authors’ approaches to the role of literary art in society. Same as AMS 365 & ENG 365.


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  • BLS 302 - Diversity, Community, and Service

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Diversity in American society and its implications for people in community service. Topics: ethnicity/race, language, religion, gender, social class, sexual orientation, and peoples with “disabilities.” Students study problems in cross-cultural communication and ways in which their life experiences and social structures of service organizations affect community service. Community service case studies relevant to diversity issues used. Same as PSP 302. Prerequisite: PSP 101 or instructor permission.


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  • BLS 303 - Urban Politics in the United States

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    A survey of city politics in the United States from a variety of theoretical perspectives, using analytical concepts such as social class, pluralism, political economy, and urban regimes. Includes urban elections and party machines, metropolitan development and suburbanization, and racial and ethnic political mobilization. Fulfills the American Politics requirement. Same as PSC 303.


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  • BLS 304 - Social Movements

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    What was it like to be a part of the 1950s and 1960s U.S. civil rights movement? Examines why people join social movements, how they are organized, why they occur when they do, and why they succeed or fail, and offers a critical evaluation of current theories of social and political movements. Same as AMS 305 and SOC 304.


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  • BLS 305 - Race and Racism

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity

    A critical analysis of the social history, power structures, and hierarchies of racial and ethnic groups in the United States of America and from a comparative perspective. Sociological theory and data are used to examine colonialism and the logic of white supremacy, structural racism, racial categorization, ethnic identification, nativism, and intersecting oppressions. Same as SOC 305.


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  • BLS 307 - Urban Sociology

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Identifies the extent of, and reasons for, such urban problems as poverty, crime, and homelessness in cities such as Providence, New York, Boston, and Chicago. In generating explanations and developing solutions, the course draws on the theories of urban sociologists and on the personal experience of those who confront urban problems. Same as AMS 308, and SOC 307.


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  • BLS 316 - The Civil War and Reconstruction

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Oral Communication

    The road to war is traced from the Texas Revolt to the bombardment of Ft. Sumter. The slavery issue is analyzed, and the course of the war is studied in detail. The consequences of the war, attempts to implement differing plans of Reconstruction, and the end of the Reconstruction are examined. Same as AMS 315 and HIS 316.


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  • BLS 323 - Contemporary Social Problems

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Covers the major social problems of contemporary American society. Attention is given to the problems of poverty, racism, sexism, war, the environment, overpopulation, drug use, and crime. An analysis is made of the structural causes and consequences of these issues. Same as SOC 323.


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  • BLS 344 - History of Africa Since 1850

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Examines the partition of Africa, colonialism, the growth of African nationalism, independence movements, and the politics of the Cold War. Social and cultural issues will also be considered. Same as HIS 344.


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  • BLS 355 - Comparative Race and Inequality

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Examines histories and contemporary experiences of race across multiple settings, with attention to how race intersects with other social identities. Explores the relevance of race in understanding inequality, privilege, and community. Scholarly publications, autobiographies, films, non-fiction, media coverage, and community events serve as course texts. Same as GST 355 and SOC 355.


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  • BLS 371 - Global and Postcolonial Literature

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity; Writing II

    Examines contemporary global and postcolonial literature. Focuses on novels and short stories from countries and regions that were formerly part of the British Empire, with an emphasis on Anglophone Caribbean, African, and Indian fiction. Key themes: globalization; the effects of colonization and decolonization on the identities of the decolonized; and migration, exile, diaspora, displacement, and belonging. Same as ENG 370.


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  • BLS 376 - Toni Morrison

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity

    Examines a selection of novels by the 1993 Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. Analyzes her dialogue with African American and American history, with an emphasis on individual and communal trauma, memory, and healing. Selected, accessible Morrison scholarship will be studied as well, with a focus on race, class, and gender, and on Morrison’s strategies as a creative writer. Same as AMS 376, ENG 376 and WMS 376.


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  • BLS 380 - Gender and Politics

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    A study of the political significance of the treatment, roles, and status of women, with emphasis on the United States. Examination of the meaning of gender, sexism, and feminism. Same as AMS 380, PSC 380, WMS 380.


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  • BLS 401 - Political Economy of Race

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Examines the co-evolution of race and capitalism over the past 500 years, from racial justifications of imperialism (for an early critique see de las Casas 1552) to contemporary processes of neo-colonialism, neo-liberalism and racial capitalism. Same as GST 401 and SOC 401. Prerequisites: One of the following: BLS 101, GST 355, SOC 305, SOC 413, or permission of instructor.


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  • BLS 413 - The Power of Whiteness

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity

    Historical development of “whitenesses” within the context of colonialism, slavery, imperialism and globalization, and their aftermaths as a way of understanding the cultural environments and processes of ethno-racial and gender-sexual identity formation today. Hegemonic whiteness is deconstructed and challenged. Whiteness is examined as an unnamed, unmarked category, “whites are just normal,” that carries powers and privileges. Same as AMS 413, SOC 413, and WMS 413.


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  • BLS 416 - Race and Politics in the Americas

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Advanced, in-depth survey of racial politics in North America, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Considers analytical perspectives such as post colonialism, pan-Africanism, negritude, indigenismo, critical race theory, racial patriarchy, and the “racial contract.” Examines the politics of Indigenous, African-descent, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Fulfills either the American Politics or the Comparative Government and Politics requirement. Same as PSC 416.


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  • BLS 425 - African-American Women

    1 semester, 3 credits- Core Foundation/Proficiency: Diversity

    Focuses on sociological analyses of the constructions and reconstructions of African-American women, examining the interrelationships of gender, race, caste, class, racism, and sexism in the United States, past and present. Topics include the family, male-female relations, poverty, discrimination, social movements, with particular emphasis on origins, consequences, social and individual changes and resistance to change, sociological, and feminist theories. Same as AMS 425, SOC 425, and WMS 425.


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  • BLS 444 - The Global Food System

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    How are our food systems implicated in the global problems of hunger, obesity, climate change, and resource depletion? This seminar will examine the workings and consequences of the industrial agro-food system and the challenges and resistances to it by activists and movements dedicated to small-scale, community-based sustainable food production and consumption, with an emphasis on class discussion and student participation. Same as APG 444, GST 444, SOC 444, and WMS 444.


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  • BLS 479 - Special Topics

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Topics discussed in the seminar will vary from semester to semester, meeting a core requirement or proficiency. Topics discussed in the seminar will vary from semester to semester, meeting a core requirement or proficiency.


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  • BLS 480 - Seminar in Black Studies

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    A capstone seminar that offers reading, writing, and small-group discussion in a particular aspect of black studies. Topics will vary. Prerequisite: Junior or senior status, or instructor permission.


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  • BLS 490 - Independent Reading in Black Studies

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    The student is provided the opportunity to explore advanced topics in the field outside of the regular departmental offerings. Prerequisite: Permission of the sponsoring faculty member and the program director.


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  • BLS 491 - Directed Research Project in Black Studies

    1 semester, 3 credits-

    Gives students the opportunity to design and carry out a significant research project in some aspect of black studies. The final result of the project may be a long research paper, video documentary, dramatic script or presentation, computer program, or other major work which demonstrates mastery of theory, technique, or subject matter. Prerequisite: Written permission of the program director and sponsoring faculty member.


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