Past TASS Topics & Faculty
Past TASS Topics & Faculty
2019
Cornell I: Blackness Remixed: Genre and Adaptation in Contemporary Literature, Music, and Film
Faculty: LaMonda Horton-Stallings, University of Maryland, College Park, and Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Bryn Mawr College
Cornell II: Black Feminist Thought
Faculty: Ashley R. Hall and Nia Michelle Nunn, Ithaca College
Michigan I: Black Movements
Faculty: Gabriel Allen Peoples, Indiana University and Aaron C. Allen, Roger Williams University
Michigan II: Reconceptualizing Black Geographies: The Politics of Race, Space, and Home
Faculty: Tashal Brown and Lauren Elizabeth Reine Johnson, Michigan State University
2018
Cornell I: Mediated Lives: Performing Identity in Contemporary Media
Faculty: Karen Jaime and Samantha Sheppard, Cornell University
Cornell II: Shades of Blackness: Exploring Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the African Diaspora through Performance, Film, Music, and Art
Faculty: Marlon M. Bailey, Arizona State University, and John Thabiti Willis, Carleton College
Michigan I: The Cultural Politics of Race in Media and Literature
Faculty: Shazia Iftkhar and Aliyah Khan, University of Michigan
Michigan II: African American Mobility and Travel Abroad: From Paul Cuffee to Ta-Nehisi Coates
Faculty: Sharika Crawford, United States Naval Academy, and Derek Handley, Carnegie Mellon University
2017
Cornell I: The Opposite House: Grieving Time in Space and Place
Faculty: Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon and Greg Londe, Cornell University
Cornell II: Black Feminist Thought
Faculty: Nia Nunn and Ashley Hall, Ithaca College
Michigan I: Coming of Age within the Long Black Freedom Movement
Faculty: Erin Chapman, George Washington University, and Brandi Hughes, University of Michigan
Michigan II: Performance, Gender, Race and Culture in the Harlem Renaissance and in Parisian Negritude
Faculty: Frieda Ekotto and Robin Wilson, University of Michigan
2016
Cornell I: Are You an American Citizen? A History of a Complicated Question
Faculty: Ed Baptist, Cornell University, and Minkah Makalani, University of Texas at Austin
Cornell II: Exploring Cultural Identity Through the Music of the Harlem Renaissance, Soul and Social Protest Movements, and Contemporary Hip Hop
Faculty: William Banfield, Berklee College of Music and Charrise Barron, Harvard University
Indiana: The Black Struggle for Freedom: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Faculty: Maria E. Hamilton Abegunde and Fabio Rojas, Indiana University
Michigan: In Search of Identity: Performance of Blackness and Representations of Gender and Sexuality
Faculty: Tabitha Chester, Denison College and Khalid Long, University of Maryland, College Park
2015
Cornell: Ascending Melody: Contemporary African American Creative Arts and Critical Thought
Faculty: Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon and Dagmawi Woubshet, Cornell University
Indiana: Growing Up While Black: Coming of Age in Black Literature, Music, and Film
Faculty: Marlo David, Purdue University and Lamonda Horton-Stallings, Indiana University
Michigan: Dreams of Freedom and Realities of Confinement
Faculty: Diana Louis, Indiana University and Michael McGee, University of California, Berkeley
2014
Indiana: Health Disparities: The Importance of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Social Class.
Faculty: Pamela Braboy Jackson and Rasul Mowatt, Indiana University.
Michigan: Comparing and Performing Black Theatre.
Faculty: Charles (OyamO) Gordon and Dieudonné Mbala Nkanga, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2013
Indiana: Race Films in a ‘Post-Race’ America? Film Studies and Critical Spectatorship.
Faculty: Audrey T. McCluskey and Natasha C. Vaubel, Indiana University.
Michigan: Race, Ethnicity, and Difference in Modern Medicine and Society.
Faculty: Barbara Berglund, University of South Florida and Alexandra Stern, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2012
Indiana: Don’t Believe the Hype: Facing Cultural Misinformation about African Americans with Historical and Legal Truths.
Faculty: A.B. Assensoh and Yvette Marie Alex-Assensoh, Indiana University.
Michigan: Mass Incarceration: Race, Punishment, and Contemporary Urban America.
Faculty: Ahmad Rahman, University of Michigan, Dearborn and Stephen Ward, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2011
Indiana: Blackness, Media, and Self-Concept.
Faculty: Maresa Murray and Sharlene Newman, Indiana University.
Michigan: Intergenerational Memory in U.S. Literature.
Faculty: Joshua Miller, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Ruby Tapia, Ohio State University.
2010
Indiana: Blackness, Literature, and the Media.
Faculty: Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, Indiana University; and Libya Pugh, New York–based actor and educator.
Michigan: Poverty, Environment, Work, and Social Inequality in America.
Faculty: Dorceta Taylor and Ian Robinson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2009
Indiana: Health and Illness in the African American Community: Social and Neurobiological Perspectives.
Faculty: Maresa Murray and Sharlene Newman, Indiana University.
Michigan: Imaging Race in Literature and Visual Culture.
Faculty: Joshua L. Miller, University of Michigan; and Ruby C. Tapia, Ohio State University.
2008
Indiana: Social Identity in Contemporary African American and LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) Theatre.
Faculty: Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe and Marlon Bailey, Indiana University.
Michigan I: Pros and Cons of “Getting Involved” – Community Participation in Multicultural Communities.
Faculty: Robert Ortega and Charles Kieffer, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Michigan II: Imagining the Congo, Performing African History and Culture.
Faculty: Mbala D. Nkanga and Nancy R. Hunt, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2007
Indiana: Modern Sports and the African American Experience.
Faculty: Gary Sailes, Indiana University, Bloomington; and JaDora Sailes, Indiana University at IUPUI campus.
Michigan I: American Politics and Culture: Left and Right.
Faculty: Angela D. Dillard and Alan Wald, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Michigan II: Infectious Disease Detectives: Fighting Epidemics Using the Right Tools.
Faculty: JoLynn P. Montgomery, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Kristi J. McClamroch, University at Albany, SUNY.
2006
Indiana: Civic Engagement and African American Youth.
Faculty: Paulette Patterson Dilworth and Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, Indiana University.
Michigan I: Bridging the Atlantic: Music and Media in the African Diaspora.
Faculty: Naomi André and Kelly Askew, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Michigan II: Black Multiculturalism: Harlem’s World 1919-1940.
Faculty: Ifeoma C.K. Nwankwo and Frieda Ekotto, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2005
Indiana: Films of the African American Experience: An Introduction to Film Studies.
Faculty: Audrey McCluskey and Natasha Vaubel, Indiana University.
Michigan I: Race, Space, and American Identity.
Faculty: Magdalena Zaborowska and Justyna Pas, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Michigan II: Who Deserves to Get Well? Public Health at the Crossroads of Science and Social Values.
Faculty: Sharon Kardia and Susan King, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2004
Indiana: Conflicting Visions: A History of African American Political Thought and Action.
Faculty: Lawrence J. Hanks and Jas Sullivan, Indiana University.
Michigan: Slavery, Emancipation, and the Formation of Multicultural Societies in Brazil and the U.S.
Faculty: Susan Juster and Sueann Caulfield, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2003
Indiana: Constructing “Race”: Society and Law.
Faculty: Dennis Rome and Steve Russell, Indiana University.
Michigan: Social Identities and the Mass Media.
Faculty: Elizabeth Cole and Catherine Squires, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2002
Indiana: Does My Vote Count: African Americans and the Struggle for Political Representation.
Faculty: Valerie Grim and Dennis Rome, Indiana University.
Michigan: Reading the Body through Ethnicity, Racism, Gender, and Power.
Faculty: Frieda Ekotto and Robin Wilson, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2001
The African Diaspora: Music, Dance, and History.
Faculty: Iris Rosa and Daniel Walker, Indiana University.
2000
Understanding Black and Multiracial Political History in the New Millennium.
Faculty: Akwasi Assensoh and Yvette Alex-Assensoh, Indiana University.
1999
Law, Race, and Society: Demythologizing Common Notions of Legal Order.
Faculty: Frank Motley and Dennis Rome, Indiana University.
1998
Demythologizing Africa: Transatlantic Musical Crossroads.
Faculty: Mellonee Burnim and Takyiwaa Manuh, Indiana University.
1997
African-Americans in the Political System: A Historical and Political Analysis.
Faculty: Akwasi Assensoh and Yvette Alex-Assensoh, Indiana University.
1996
African-American Arts and Social Life: Exploring Their Influence on Each Other.
Faculty: William Banfield, Indiana University; and R. Drew Smith, Butler University.
1995
Contemporary Media Representations of the African-American Community.
Faculty: Gloria Gibson-Hudson and Dennis Rome, Indiana University.
1994
Self and Society: African-American Autobiographical Writings.
Faculty: Audrey Thomas McCluskey and Fred McElroy, Indiana University.
1993
Play and Performance: African-American Music and Sports in the Twentieth Century.
Faculty: William Wiggins, Jr. and Portia Maultsby, Indiana University.