Community-based learning courses (CBL) are courses that incorporate at least 25 hours of meaningful community engagement with course content so you can get real-world experience as part of a for-credit class. This may look like volunteering, working on a project with a community partner, or a combination of both. Starting this semester, students can enroll in CBL courses through the Department of African American Studies.
AFROAMER 271 “Black Urban Regimes in the United States” examines how African American communities have fought for political power and representation, and how Black political engagement, resistance, and coalition-building have shaped city governments from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
Focusing on major urban centers with historically significant Black populations—such as Atlanta, Detroit, and Baltimore—as well as Black urban communities in Wisconsin, students will analyze how Black elected officials, community leaders, and allied organizations have built influential urban political regimes while also confronting persistent challenges of inequality and governance.
Beginning in Week Four, the course will follow a modified meeting format to support the community-based learning partnership with the Kennedy Heights Community Center (KHCC) in Madison, a HUD-supported center serving primarily Black families in one of the city’s few majority-Black neighborhoods. The class will meet in person on Tuesdays, while Thursdays will be asynchronous, allowing students to schedule and complete their required in-person service-learning hours with KHCC. Through this partnership, students will connect course concepts to real-world issues related to policing, housing, public health, education, and community development, deepening their understanding of power, inequality, and democracy in urban America.
