Course Syllabus
African American History
Ancestral Foundations to the contemporary United States
Course Description
Ancestral Foundations to the contemporary United States
Units
16
Lessons
116
Recommended Length
8 weeks
Learning Outcomes
- •Describe the political structures and geographic scale of the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires
- •Explain the Kouroukan Fouga as an early constitutional document predating Magna Carta
- •Locate Lalibela and Great Zimbabwe as evidence of advanced pre-colonial African architecture
- •Identify the University of Al-Qarawiyyeen (founded 859 CE) as among the oldest continuously operating institutions of higher learning in the world
- •Define the Maafa and explain why scholars prefer it over 'slave trade'
- •Analyze the economic logic of the slave ship and Middle Passage mortality
Auto-generated from unit objectives — an admin can refine these in the syllabus editor.
Prerequisite
None — open entry
Credit Hours
Self-paced / non-credit
Recommended Schedule
8 weeks · self-pacedA suggested pace. Move faster or slower as needed — your progress saves automatically.
Week
1
9 lessons · Empires, constitutions, and universities before the rupture
8 lessons · The Maafa — the economics of dehumanization and resistance
4 lessons · What survived the crossing — in food, language, and sacred movement
Week
2
4 lessons · Deep Dive · From Transatlantic to Domestic Bondage
7 lessons · 1820–1865 · From Convention to General Strike
14 lessons · From Reconstruction's collapse to African independence via Lincoln University
Week
3
4 lessons · Harlem Renaissance to Negritude, King to Malcolm — the geopolitical loop
11 lessons · Sports, Power, and the Black Body
11 lessons · From Civil Rights to today's wealth gap and media literacy
Week
4
6 lessons · From the Harlem Renaissance to Hollywood — Culture as Liberation
9 lessons · From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter — A Living Movement
10 lessons · The Diaspora in Motion
Week
5
3 lessons · The Half Has Never Been Told, and neither had the names of the banks, universities, and industries that profited from it
2 lessons · Knowledge as Resistance
Week
6
Week
8
Review & Final Exam
Supplemental Materials
967
Books & primary/secondary sources
- • Up From Slavery (1901)
- • 'Algorithmic Amplification and Skin Tone,' Journal of Communication
- • 'Can Baby Bonds Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap?
Assessment
Unit Quizzes
154
Formative, one per unit
Final Exam Questions
57
Comprehensive, course-end
Optional Experiential Enhancements
Beyond the core curriculum — ways to make this course personal and place-based.
Heritage Trip
Plan a place-based visit to sites tied to this course with the Trips planner.
Family Chronicle
Build a personal family chronicle and tree as a capstone project.
Heritage Languages
Learn ancestral diaspora languages alongside the history.
Cultural Lens
Analyze films, music, and visual art as primary sources.
Interactive Labs
Explore interactive maps, music, and culinary roots labs.