Exercises: "Free-ish since 1865": Reading Black American Citizenship - Details

Exercises: "Free-ish since 1865": Reading Black American Citizenship - Details

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General information

Course name Exercises: "Free-ish since 1865": Reading Black American Citizenship
Subtitle Lehrauftrag Christina Caupert
Course number 024 100 0020
Semester WS 2023/24
Current number of participants 6
maximum number of participants 20
Home institute Amerikanistik
Courses type Exercises in category Teaching
First date Friday, 20.10.2023 11:45 - 13:15, Room: (D, 1087)
Veranstaltung findet in Präsenz statt / hat Präsenz-Bestandteile Yes
Hauptunterrichtssprache englisch

Rooms and times

(D-1088)
Friday: 11:45 - 13:15, weekly (11x)
(D, 1087)
Friday: 11:45 - 13:15, weekly (4x)

Module assignments

Comment/Description

In 2021, for the first time in almost 40 years, a new federal holiday was established in the United States: Juneteenth, also known as Black Independence Day, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the USA and celebrating African American culture. People mark the occasion with festivals, picnics, parades and, not infrequently, with special Juneteenth clothing. "Free-ish since 1865" is what one popular Juneteenth T-shirt reads – a striking reminder that even after slavery was abolished, Black Americans kept being confronted with racialized oppression and disempowerment.

African Americans were formally recognized as citizens in the wake of the Civil War. In theory, this made them full and equal members of the American polity, entitled to participate freely in its political, economic, and societal life and holding the same rights and responsibilities as all other American citizens. In reality, however, inequality has persisted for Black Americans, often on a shocking scale. Legal citizenship status has thus clearly not eliminated systemic anti-Black discrimination – in fact, to this day, many African Americans describe their status as one of second-class citizenship. Nevertheless, invoking their citizenship rights has repeatedly proven an effective strategy for African Americans in their ongoing battle for truly full and equal membership in American society.

In this course, we will study the concept of citizenship in the context of African American history and experiences, from their beginnings to the present. On the basis of a variety of literary texts, historical documents, and theoretical materials, we will examine and discuss different approaches to citizenship and learn about Black American contributions to its theory and practice.

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "ALW/ELW/NELK: Aufbaumodul BA/LA: Cultural Studies".
Studierende der Anglistik/Amerikanistik und des Faches Englisch können sich bereits während der vorgezogenen Anmeldephase zur Sicherstellung des Studienfortschritts für die Aufbau- und Vertiefungsmodule anmelden. Hierzu wird ein gewisses Kontingent der Kursplätze im Zeitraum vom 21.08.2023 bis 30.08.2023 für die Anmeldung geöffnet. Die Verteilung der Plätze erfolgt am 01.09.2023. Bitte beachten Sie, dass in dieser Anmeldephase Studierende in höheren Fachsemestern bei der Verteilung der Plätze priorisiert werden.
Die allgemeine Anmeldephase beginnt am 04.09.2023 und endet am 09.10.2023.
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 11.10.2023 on 12:00. Additional seats may be available via a wait list.
  • Enrolment is allowed for up to 1 courses of the admission set.
  • The enrolment is possible from 04.09.2023, 08:00 to 09.10.2023, 12:00.
Assignment of courses: