AFRO 298

Spring 2026 All Classes

All Classes

Credit: 3 hours.

Seminar on selected topics with particular emphasis on current research trends.

May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours. Prerequisite: AFRO 100 or AFRO 101, or consent of instructor.

AFRO 298 class schedule data for spring 2026
CRN Type Section Time Day Location Instructor Section Details
61058
Lecture-Discussion
CJ
9:30AM -10:45AM
TR
1060 Lincoln Hall
Jenkins, C
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
01/20/26-05/06/26
Section Title:
Black Speculative Futures
Section Info:
Topic: Speculative Futures - Black Speculative Futures Course Description: "THERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE.” Pittsburgh-based artist Alisha B. Wormsley first posted these words on a billboard in 2017 to highlight and push back against the erasure of Blackness from collective visions of futurity. Wormsley was inspired by Black creative work falling under the umbrella of “Afrofuturism”— a literary and cultural aesthetic that incorporates science fiction and fantasy, magical realism, and non-Western cosmology, challenges the racial homogeneity of conventional genre fiction, and explores questions of Black identity and subjectivity in futuristic contexts. In this course, we will dig into such work, taking seriously the provocation and the anxiety that Wormsley’s statement implies: What is a Black future? Where and how do Black people inhabit future visions for the world? What does “the future” look like when seen through a Black, speculative lens? We will explore fictional narrative, graphic novels, film, video, visual art, and music by creators including Octavia Butler, W.E.B. DuBois, Arthur Jafa, N.K. Jemisin, Victor LaValle, Flying Lotus, Janelle Monae, Wangechi Mutu, Sun Ra, Rivers Solomon, and Kevin Willmott, among others. Active participation, group podcast, in-class writing, final project. Meets with ENGL 221
58957
Lecture-Discussion
JR
11:00AM -12:20PM
TR
G24 Literatures, Cultures, & Ling
Riley, J
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
01/20/26-05/06/26
Section Title:
Black Sexualities
Section Info:
Topic: Black Life Across Landscapes: Gender, Sexuality, and Environment Course Description: Black life moves across fields, rivers, highways, and public squares. Landscapes—natural and built, rural and urban—carry histories of power and imagination, shaping how Blackness is lived and understood. We consider these dynamics in contemporary matters such as the Flint Water Crisis, Hurricane Katrina’s displacement, and the ecological strain of AI data centers, examining how Black communities navigate crisis while cultivating care, intimacy, and possibility. Bringing Black sexualities into conversation with Black feminist ecologies, this course explores intersections of gender, sexuality, and environment through select theory, social science, creative writing, film, and digital media that reimagine Black queer and trans life. Students will help create a collaborative space for close reading, discussion, and shared inquiry.
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