SOC 342 Contemporary Black Family Life
How has the institution of Black family life shifted and changed over the last few decades? How have mainstream conceptions of family life merged with or developed alongside contemporary social realities for modern Black folks? We will explore these questions by digging into the sociological literature about Black families and many factors including culture, religion, poverty, the labor market, migration, mass incarceration, Same sex marriage/parenting, Ethnic identity development, and Black sexual and gender politics. We will focus primarily on the experiences of Black folks within the United States while closely interrogating and being mindful of the diversity that exists within Black families and communities. The overall goals of the course are 1- to challenge popular misconceptions about Black families and 2- encourage critically thinking about the cultural meanings and institutional functions of family life through an unapologetically Black and intersectional lens.