AST 500 Black Bodies in Motion

In many parts of West Africa when someone is asked about their identity they are not asked what is your language? What nation do you come from? What's your ethnicity? What tribe do you belong to, they are asked, what do you dance?" (Katrina Hazzard Donald). In this course we will examine concert dances, religious dances, and vernacular dances of the African Diaspora as forms of embodied knowledge, intellectual history, and sources of cultural creation. Particular attention will be paid to aesthetic principles and sources of cultural meaning, transmitted through bodies and performances.

Credits

4

Cross Listed Courses

AST 300

Prerequisite

None