Black mecca and black popular culture



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AAS 4625

BLACK MECCA AND BLACK POPULAR CULTURE

Spring 2016 M & W 5:30-6:45p325 Aderhold Learning Center


Dr. Maurice J. Hobson

Department of African American Studies

Georgia State University

Office: One Park Place South, Suite 962 Phone: (404) 413-5136

Office Hours: 1:30-2:30pm M & W or by appointment Email: mhobson@gsu.edu
Course Description:

This course is an upper level seminar that focuses on the history, politics and culture within what I call the Black New South, a subfield within the academic field of African American Studies. With an interdisciplinary approach as seen through public memorials, film, music, and literature, our focus will be on the major issues involved in the study of the post civil rights African American experience, both the objective issues being analyzed in the research literature and the subjective issues of how African Americans think about their experience. Our goal then is to provide an opportunity to understand the issues and enter a discourse based on black thought.


Our emphasis is on what you know, and not your opinions. Informed opinions must be based on understanding the issues, and that requires study of the facts and also what others believe about those facts. Informed opinions must be earned through hard work of study and investigation.
By the end of this course, you should: (1) to develop a clear understanding of several fundamental concepts within the larger field of African American Studies in general and in the Black Mecca thesis in particular; (2) to develop a clear understanding of the key theories, contradictions and ideological debates surrounding the Black Mecca thesis; (3) to develop proficiency in clear and critical writing about these concepts, theories, and ideological debates.
Course Requirements:

Each student is responsible for (1) class attendance and class participation, (2) weekly reading assignments, three blog entries, a midterm exam, and (3) a final group project and final exam.


Required Reading:

  1. Owen J. Dwyer and Derek Alderman, Civil Rights Memorials and the Geography of Memory

  2. Tayari Jones, Leaving Atlanta: A Novel

  3. Roni Sarig, Third Coast: OutKast, Timberland and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing

  4. Tom Wolfe, Man in Full

  5. Other readings will be provided by Dr. Hobson


Assignments:

The reading assignments are listed on your “Schedule of Assignments” sheet. Be sure to read each on in full BEFORE the date listed.


Meetings:

This class will meet Monday and Wednesday from 5:30p-6:45p. You are expected to attend session and participate in the discussions. Failure to do so will result in you being withdrawn from the class at the behest of the professor.


Examinations:

There will be a midterm exam and a final exam. You will receive a final letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F in the course. The grade equivalent of the points for all students will be as follows:


A + = 100-98 A = 97-94 A- = 93-90 Midterm = 20%

B + = 89-87 B = 87-84 B- = 83-80 Final = 30%

C + = 79-77 C = 77-74 C- = 73-70 Citizenship = 20%

D = 60-69 Blog Journal = 15%

F = 59 and below Group Presentation=15%

100%


University’s Policy on Plagiarism and Conduct:

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s work without proper citation. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you are still unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, please refer to page 7 and 8 of the Georgia State University Student Code of Conduct Book for clarification. This document can be accessed at

www.gsu.edu/deanofstudents/codeofconduct.html. Also, inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated in class or in any learning environment on or off campus. As stated in the Student Code of Conduct Book, inappropriate behavior can result in students being withdrawn from the course with a failing grade and expelled from Georgia State University.
Other Resources:

I advise all students to consult with the University Writing Studio. This is an invaluable resource for students. The Writing Studio is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and accepts appointments. You can find the Writing Studio in Room 976 of the General Classroom Building. You may contact them by telephone at (404) 413-5840 or e-mail at writing@gsu.edu. Please note that the Writing Center can only help you with the mechanics of writing and not the content of your paper. If you have questions about the content of your paper, please contact me.


It is University policy to provide, on a flexible and individual basis, reasonable classroom accommodations to students who have confirmed disabilities that may impact their ability to fully participate in course activities or meet course requirements. Should you need more information on attaining disability status, please contact the Margaret A. Staton Office of Disability Services (ODS) immediately so that ODS may verify your disability and grant the appropriate accommodations. An instructor will only allow a student those accommodations verified by ODS after the student has delivered to the ODS prepared Instructor Notification form to the instructor.
Please note that instructors, while required to provide accommodations as approved by ODS, are not required to alter or waive essential elements or evaluation standards of any course. Instructors are also under no obligation to provide retroactive accommodations, so the timeliness of all accommodation requests is essential. Contact ODS by calling (404) 413-1560 or by visiting the Margaret A. Staton Office of Disability Services in Suite 230 of the Student Center. Students are also encouraged to review the ODS website and related University policies at http://www.gsu.edu/disability/.
Coaching Hints:

Absolutely, positively, and without doubt, the best way to achieve a good grade in this class is to read the required text before attending the appropriate lecture. Without having read the assigned material a student has no context for the class presentation and therefore misses the important cultural points and connections.


Note: PLEASE BE ON TIME to avoid disrupting class. If you must be late, please take care not to disrupt the lecture. On special occasions when you may need to leave class early, it is possible to prearrange your exiting so that it will not be disruptive. Otherwise, you are expected to stay in class for the duration of the lecture/presentation. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner to create a good learning environment. Disruptive behavior exhibited by any student will not be tolerated and should the instructor judge a student disruptive, he/she may be removed from the classroom and required to drop the class. Gum chewing, eating, and smoking are not permitted in the classroom or in the computer lab areas. Cell phones and pagers must be placed and remain in the off position in order to avoid distractions.
Contacting the Instructor: My office is located at One Park Place South, Room 962. My office hours are Mondays and Wednesday from 1:30-2:30 pm or by appointment. I can be reached by e-mail at mhobson@gsu.edu. University policy states that the gsu.edu webmail account is the official means of communication. All correspondence from me will be sent to your University issued e-mail. ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO SUBSCRIBE TO GSU’S U-LEARN SYSTEM AND TO CHECK YOUR UNIVERSITY ISSUED E-MAIL DAILY. Also, all assignments or notes must be given to me by hand. DO NOT LEAVE PAPERS AND/OR NOTES UNDER MY DOOR. This syllabus is subject to being amended if needed.


SCHEDULE FOR READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
The following are the dates by which each assignment must be completed
Jan. 11: Introduction to the Course
Jan. 13: Dissecting the Black New South
Theme—The Black Mecca/City Too Busy to Hate
Articles for this section

Virginia H. Hein, A City Too Busy to Hate: Atlanta in the 1960’s


Manley E. Banks, A Changing Electorate in a Majority Black City: The Emergence of Neo-Conservative Black Urban Regime in Contemporary Atlanta
Susan E. Howell and Huey L. Perry, Black Mayors/White Mayors: Explaining their Approval
Mack H. Jones, Black Political Empowerment in Atlanta: Myth and Reality
Jeanne Theoharis, Black Freedom Studies: Re-Imagining and Redefining the Fundamentals
Jacqueline Dowd-Hall, The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past
Sundiata K. Cha Jua and Clarence Lang, The “Long Movement” As Vampire: Temporal and Spatial Fallacies in Recent Black Freedom Studies
Jan. 18: OBSERVANCE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY
Jan. 20: Dissecting the Black Mecca Imagery
Jan. 25: Black Mecca—Education
Jan. 27: Black Mecca—Economics
Feb. 1: Black Mecca--Politics
Feb. 3: Book: Discussing Dwyer and Alderman, Civil Rights Memorials and the Geography of Memory
Feb. 5: Blog # 1 due at Noon**


Film

Feb 8: Gone With the Wind (1939)/$10 Dollars an Hour (2010)/The South Shall Rise Again (2010)


Readings: Orey, White Racial Attitudes and Support for the Mississippi

State Flag
Feb. 10: Discussion
Feb. 15: School Daze (1988)/ ATL (2006)
Readings: Alton Hornsby Jr., Andrew Jackson Young: Mayor of Atlanta, 1982-1990
Feb. 17: Further Discussions
Feb. 22: Snow on Da Bluff

Readings: Johnnie Dee Swain, Black Mayor: Urban Decline and the Underclass


Feb. 24*: Continued Discussions of Film**
Feb. 26: Blog #2 due at Noon**
Literature

The Cover-Up
Books: Tayari Jones, Leaving Atlanta
Feb. 29: Jones, Leaving Atlanta
Mar. 2: Continued discussion of the Atlanta Youth Murders
Mar. 7: CNN Special on the Atlanta Youth Murders
Mar. 9: Continued Discussions
Mar. 14: Spring Break

Mar. 16: Spring Break


Theme—Centennial Olympics
Books: Tom Wolf, Man in Full

Articles

David L. Sjoquist, The Atlanta Paradox; Introduction

James Forman, Driving Down Dixie: Removing the Confederate Flag from Southern State Capitols
Maurice Hobson, Switching Dixies: Atlanta, Neo-Confederates and the Centennial Games
Mar. 21: Discussing Wolfe, Man in Full

Mar. 23: Continued discussions on Atlanta and the Olympics


Music

Theme—The Dirty South

Book: Roni Sarig, Third Coast: OutKast, Timberland and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing


Articles

Matt Miller, Rap’s Dirty South: From Subculture to Pop Culture


Darren Grem, The South’s Got Something to Say: Atlanta’s Dirty South and the Southernization of Hip-Hop America
Mar. 28: Discussing Sarig, Third Coast: OutKast, Timberland and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing
Mar. 30: Continued Discussions of Sarig’s Third Coast
Apr. 4: Miller, Rap’s Dirty South
Apr. 6: Bunnie Jackson Ransom

Grem, The South Got Something to Say


April 11: ELEVATE: Forever I love Atlanta
Apr. 13: Further discussions
Apr. 18: Championing the Dirty South**
Apr. 20: Sheryl Merritt
Apr. 25: Sweet Auburn Tour

Apr: 27: Screening, The Art of Organized Noize, Cipher and Poetry Slam


May 2: Final Exam

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