This is an individual essay assignment. However, scholars are encouraged to use the Ethnic Studies Peer Tutor, Chimera, to help with essay drafts, and scholars can ask for editing help from others in their class sections.
Prompts:
Many scholars enrolled in this class because it fulfills a requirement for general education. You might even consider higher education as a pathway to a future career/employment opportunity. For this prompt, reframe your mindset to reconsider this class and your educational journey. How can you use Black Studies to grow as a citizen in a racialized world? What skills and ideas are you learning about the theories, methodologies, and pedagogies associated with Black Studies and other Ethnic Studies fields? Why are they important to any future work that you will do? Consider the chapters read thus far in African American Studies and how what you are learning can aid in your future educational or career goals. Use specific examples from the textbooks to support your thesis about Black Studies as a discipline.
ALTERNATIVE TO PROMPT 1 (for working/retired individuals):
If you are already ensconced in a working career, or even retired from the workforce, I wanted to provide a slightly different option for your writing consideration: ” For this prompt, reframe your mindset to consider your current life journey. How can you use Black Studies to grow as a citizen in a racialized world? What skills and ideas are you learning about the theories, methodologies, and pedagogies associated with Black Studies and other Ethnic Studies fields? Why are they important for your life and interactions with other people? How does it help you transform systemic racial inequities in our world? Use specific examples from the textbooks to support your thesis about Black Studies as a discipline.
In “Chapter 10: Africana Studies and Oral History: A Critical Assessment,” (126) you learned about oral histories as a methodological research tool in Black Studies. You also learned about “griot,” a community genealogist, historian, and storyteller (128). This prompt allows you to take an oral history approach to the midterm exam. Find a person in your life who holds knowledge similar to griots. Ask this individual questions that pertain to their lives–the past, present and future. You are encouraged to tie-in concepts that you are learning from the Black Studies class as part of your questions for the oral history. For example, you can ask whether the individual that you are interviewing has ever experienced systemic racism before (which connects with numerous chapters from African American Studies). For this prompt, scholars will need to include a list of their questions and provide either a recorded oral history video or a transcript of their griots’ responses. The oral history should have a mini reflection paper, between 1-2 pages, that introduces who was chosen for the interview and how it connects back to materials from the Black Studies class (this is a great place to incorporate textbook quotes!).
Follow standard MLA practice:
Header
In-Text quotes
Double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font
Works cited page
