Important Course Policies
All assignments should be handed in through the Moodle portal for the assignment.
All late work will be penalized by at least one letter grade. No late work will be accepted following the final examination.
Any documented case of academic dishonesty on any assignment will result in a failing grade for the assignment in question and may also result in a failing grade for the course as a whole, regardless of the assignment's weight in terms of the final course grade. Please remember that, as the University's policy states, "Plagiarism can be deliberate or negligent; students are responsible for ensuring that any work submitted with their name on it is properly referenced." If you have questions about how to cite material properly, refer to the appropriate sections of the MLA Style Manual or Chicago Manual of Style--if you have questions as to whether particular pieces of material should be cited, ask me. Note that submitting work that you have previously submitted (or plan to submit) for credit in another course is also a form of academic dishonesty, unless you obtain explicit approval from both instructors to do so. For this course, no such double submission is allowed. Please note that your papers and take-home exams are to be submitted to turnitin.com to check their content for plagiarism. I am setting up the turintin submission options so that you can see the similarity reports the service generates and resubmit your papers up until the due date.
Office Hours, Scheduling Appointments, E-mail Guidance, etc.
My office hours are posted on the course Moodle page along with a link for attending them--following JCU suggestions, they will be carried out remotely using MS Teams this semester. If you need to schedule an appointment to speak with me, simply send me an e-mail identifying times during the upcoming week when you are available. Please know that I do not normally respond to e-mails during the weekend or after 6:30-7 p.m. (but do feel free to write me at those times--I'll answer at the beginning of the next week or the next day). In the context of mixed on-line and in-class education, it is even more important for all of us to set aside time to work on other things, disconnect, recharge, and 'stay human.' I encourage you to do the same in ways that work with your schedule, and am trying to do what I can to provide as much flexibility as possible for you in structuring on-line and other out-of-class activities.
Types and Formats of On-line Moodle Discussion Forums
“Questions for the Professor” Forum: Use this forum to ask for clarifications regarding material that we discussed in class or if there is something in the readings that you feel remains unclear, confusing, etc.. Also try to read through this regularly to see if a classmate asked a question that you too have, but just hadn’t thought of yet. When you do so, if you feel that you can answer a classmate’s query, please feel free to go ahead and do so. I will review this forum the Mondays and Wednesdays before class meetings—depending on the nature of the question I’ll either respond directly in the forum or we’ll talk about it at the beginning of the next class session. (This forum closes at noon on Monday of the following week—if you realize you have a question after it’s closed simply post your question on the next week’s “Questions for the Professor Forum under the “Questions about something from earlier in the semester” topic.”)
“Your Discussion Questions and Observations” Forum: For each class session, you should post a question or observation about the readings (e.g., for the second class of the first week of class, the first chapter of Thornton's Africa and Africans and/or the assigned primary source) that you believe would provide a good way of starting a discussion about them and the subject they treat. You should post your questions/observations by the beginning of the class in which we will be discussing the readings in question (e.g., if they are on Tuesday’s reading, make your post no later than 11:25 a.m. on Tuesday). Try to read through what is posted before class yourselves too—in that way you can better prepare yourself for whatever we end up talking about. Feel free to build on your classmate’s questions/observations, and if there’s a post you want to respond to that we don’t end up talking about in class, please feel free to continue the discussion here. There is no specific required length for your posts (if you likely need 2-3 sentences to situate and raise your question/make your prompt). This weekly forum closes at 12 p.m. on Monday of the following week, but if there’s a strand of discussion you think we should continue into the next week because it remains relevant to the next topics we are discussing feel free to start it anew in the next week’s forum. (Maximum expected time per week, not including the time needed to do the reading: 15-30 minutes)
“Reflecting on the Week, Continuing our Classroom Discussion” Forums: For this weekly forum, I will post a few discussion questions or prompts based on the week’s readings and the material I anticipate us discussing in class. On occasion, as the week goes on, I’ll also add a few of the questions/prompts that you put up on the “Your Discussion Questions and Observations” Forum. You should post at least one response to at least one of these threads and at least one response to a classmate's post each week. Of course, feel free to post as much as you like. There is no specific required length for your posts (if you likely need a few sentences to make your point effectively). This weekly forum closes at 12 p.m. on Monday of the following week. (Maximum expected time per week, not including the time needed to do the reading: 15-30 minutes)
In-Class Organizational Matters Whenever Some Students Are Either Absent or Attending Remotely
In light of the very particular nature of this semester, should any member of the class not be physically present in the classroom, we will have to record the class session. In addition, whenever one or more members of the class are following the day's session remotely, I will need to ask one or more of those of you who are present to monitor the MS Teams stream and inform me should a remote student raise the hand icon or intervene by means of the Teams chat.
Accessing the Course Remotely
If you are obliged to follow the course remotely, you can find a link for accessing the course stream at the top of the course Moodle page. Clicking on the link there should then bring you to the MS Teams meeting where we will stream class sessions.
Course Schedule (Please note that the following is subject to change--any updates will be made directly to the course Moodle page. All discussion readings are available on the course Moodle page.)
9/22 Introductions—The Atlantic World? African Atlantic? Beyond Slavery?
9/24 Opening the Atlantic—Africans and Iberians (Thornton, 1-42; Azurara, “The Beginnings of a Regular European Trade”)
9/29 Atlantic Trade and Its Effects in Africa (Thornton, 43-71; Northrup, “Atlantic Exports and Technology”)
10/1 Slavery in West Africa (Thornton, 72-97; Piot, “Of Slaves and the Gift,” 31-49)
10/6 The Atlantic Slave Trade, I--Numbers and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database (Curtin, "A Historian's Recount;" Eltis and Richardson, "The Achievements of the 'Numbers Game;'" https://www.slavevoyages.org/)
10/8 The Atlantic Slave Trade, II—Effects in Africa (Thornton, 98-125; Rodney, “The Unequal Partnership Between Africans and Europeans,” 89-96; Manning, “Social and Demographic Transformations,” 97-110)
10/9 OFFICIAL FRIDAY MAKE-UP: The Atlantic Slave Trade, III—To and On The African Coast (Smallwood, 1-64)
10/13 The Atlantic Slave Trade, IV: Numbers from the Traders’ Point of View (Smallwood, 65-100)
10/15 The Atlantic Slave Trade, V—Experiencing the Middle Passage (Smallwood, 101-152; Equiano, The Interesting Narrative (Excerpts))
10/16 OFFICIAL FRIDAY MAKE-UP: The Atlantic Slave Trade VI—American Arrivals (Smallwood, 153-207)
10/20 The Beginnings of American Slavery (Thornton, 129-151)
10/22 The Atlantic Slave Trade, VI—Numbers, Mortality, Routes and Meanings
Transatlantic Slave Trade Database Project—Group Presentation and Discussions
10/27 Plantation Life: Work, Culture and Terror (Thornton, 152-182; Brown, “Spiritual Terror and Sacred Authority in Jamaican Slave Society,” 24-53)
Transatlantic Slave Trade Database Project—Write-ups Due Tuesday, October 27 (11:59 p.m.)
10/29 More than Manpower—The “Black Rice” Debate (Carney, “The African Origins of American Rice;” Eltis, Morgan and Richardson, “Problems with the ‘Black Rice’ Thesis)
11/3 Africa in America: Nations and Ethnicity (Thornton, 183-205; TBA)
11/5 African America: Creolization (Thornton, 206-234; TBA)
11/10 Afro-American Religions: Christianity and Vodùn (Thornton, 235-271; TBA)
11/12 Resistance, I: Everyday Opposition and Accommodation (Thornton, 272-279; TBA)
11/13 OFFICIAL FRIDAY MAKE-UP: Resistance II: Escape and Independent Afro-American Societies—Maroon Communities (Thornton, 280-300; TBA)
11/17 Resistance, III: Rebellions and Conspiracies (Thornton, 300-303; TBA)
11/19 Research Presentations and Discussions (Draft Due One Week Earlier)
11/24 Research Presentations and Discussions (Draft Due One Week Earlier)
11/26 Slavery and Slave Resistance in the Age of Revolutions, I (Thornton, 304-334)
12/1 Slavery and Slave Resistance in the Age of Revolutions, II (TBA)
12/3 Emancipation? (TBA)
12/10 Sailing Back: Afro-American Views of Africa (De Groot, “The Bush Negro Chiefs Visit Africa: Diary of a Historic Trip,” 389-398; Campbell, “Representing the Race,” 57-98 (focus on pages 76-90))
Final Draft of Research Paper Due (11:59 p.m.)
12/14 (MONDAY) TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM DUE (11:59 p.m.)