The Black Atlantic: Cultures Across an Ocean

Description

The concept of the "Black Atlantic" was created by Paul Gilroy to counteract the divisive forces of nationalism and race, which gives rise in people of African descent to a 'double consciousness'. In the Black Atlantic, we seek to understand how the conceptualization of nation/culture around "race" creates a double consciousness and how, in spite of this, peoples of African descent have sustained cultural links that stretch across the Atlantic, uniting Africa, Europe and the Americas. Starting with possible pre-Columbian voyages, through the Middle Passage to the return voyages of contemporary Americans to Africa, we chart these connections across time and space. (McCorkle, annually fall) [Prerequisite: Open to First-Year or Sophomore students, or permission of instructor.]