Listed in: Black Studies, as BLST-318 | History, as HIST-318
Stefan Bradley (Section 01)
(Offered as HIST 318 [TC/TR/TS] and BLST 318 [US]) This course will delve into the sociopolitical, economic, and cultural factors that affected the lives of Black youth in the United States during the 1980s. Using rap and hip hop as a tool to understand the decade, the course will explore the racialized implications of America’s cold war with the Soviet Union while detailing the societal impact of “Reaganomics.” In a period featuring culture wars, deindustrialization in urban areas, the arrival of crack cocaine, deep cuts to public school funding, and the invasion of HIV/AIDS, the bourgeoning genre of hip hop reflected the complexities of survival for many Black youth in marginalized American neighborhoods. As the new artform became a business, America witnessed the realization of a conservative ascendancy that carried Ronald Reagan to the presidency, which transformed political discourse for the subsequent decades. Young scholars in this class will be required to engage book and article-length texts, access and analyze song lyrics, critique visual media, write cogent essays, and present arguments orally.
Spring semester. Professor Bradley.
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reconsidering Reagan : racism, Republicans, and the road to Trump | Lucks, Daniel | Amherst Books | TBD | |||
Crack : rock cocaine, street capitalism, and the decade of greed | Farber, David | Amherst Books | TBD | |||
From the war on poverty to the war on crime : the making of mass incarceration in America | Hinton, Elizabeth | Amherst Books | TBD | |||
Hip-hop revolution : the culture and politics of rap | Ogbar, Jeffrey | Amherst Books | TBD | |||
Monster : the autobiography of an L.A. gang member | Shakur, Sanyinka | Amherst Books | TBD | |||
Ronald Reagan and the 1980s : perceptions, policies, legacies | Hudson, Cheryl and Gareth Davies. | Amherst Books | TBD | |||
Infectious Ideas : U. S. Political Responses to the AIDS Crisis | Brier, jennifer | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.