AFRO3867: Black Men: Representations and Reality

This course will explore the lived reality of black men in the United States. Ranging historically-far and thematically-wide, this course will introduce students to the experience of black male labor force participation and employment outcomes; deconstruct representations of black masculinity in popular culture; explore academic dilemmas associated with primary and secondary educational pursuits; and uncover issues connected with law, incarceration, and criminal justice. In addition, this course will examine relationship complexities involving black men and black women, black men and white women, and black men and black men, looking closely at the African-American role in traditional and non-traditional family structures. The course will also address the most central of questions: What is the black male experience, given the growing diversity of black maleness in Minnesota, the United States, and the Diaspora. At the center of the course is not only what other people have said about the black male historical and contemporary experience, but also how black men have imagined and constructed their own experience over time.

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