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AP® African American Studies

This Advanced Placement African American Studies course is equivalent to an introductory college or university course in African American Studies and related courses, including Africana Studies, African Diaspora Studies, and Black Studies. The rigor of this course is consistent with colleges and universities and will prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. Upon successful completion of the exam, students may receive college credit and will be well-prepared for the advanced coursework. Additional details about this course from College Board can be found here: AP African American Studies.

In this course, students will explore four themes:

  • Migration and the African Diaspora - explores the role of migration (forced and voluntary) in the development of African diaspora communities and the evolution of African American communities in the United States.
  • Intersections of Identity - examines the interplay of distinct categories of identity (such as race, ethnicity, class, nationality, gender, region, religion, and ability) with each other and within society
  • Creativity, Expression, and the Arts - emphasizes creativity, expression, and the arts as a lens for understanding the experiences and contributions of African American communities in the past and present.
  • Resistance and Resilience - highlights a range of methods that African Americans have innovated to resist oppression and assert agency and authenticity politically, economically, culturally, and artistically

From Africa to Hip-Hop Music and Culture, AP African-American Studies is an interdisciplinary course that examines the diverse social, political, and cultural experiences of Afro Descendant people in the Americas. Through direct encounters with varied sources, this course surveys the landscape of people of African descent from the earliest African civilizations to the social, political, and cultural movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. As an interdisciplinary course, students will encounter various types of texts and develop skills across multiple fields. These texts include but are not limited to song lyrics, paintings, sculptures, maps, and historical documents. Students will actively engage with primary and secondary source materials which will assist students in developing historical, literary, visual, and data analysis skills.

The course includes four units and also allows for exploration where students can identify and engage in a special topic within the field of African American Studies that falls outside of the curriculum. The units cover a 3000 year period and include Origins of the African Diaspora, Freedom, Enslavement and Resistance, The Practice of Freedom, and Movements and Debates.

Students will participate in lessons that will encourage and develop their ability to analyze a variety of sources, argumentation, and allow for students to apply an interdisciplinary focus to their source encounters. Students will develop argumentation skills through structured discussions and projects, effectively articulating and defending viewpoints with evidence-based reasoning. Students will have opportunities to explore multimedia sources using their ebook, the course and exam description, digital art, and the Smithsonian Museum of African American Art.

Students must complete an individual project to explore four related sources on a topic of their choice and then present and defend their analysis of those sources. This project is scored by the teacher and constitutes 8.5% of the AP exam score. Students are required to meet synchronously for planning, practice, peer review meetings, and formal presentations, using an online meeting tool provided through the course. There will be at least four synchronous meetings during the first semester and six synchronous meetings during the second semester. These meetings will be scheduled in advance and students are required to make themselves available to meet.

Students will be expected to enroll in AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in AP Classroom throughout the year. AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, which include AP-style multiple choice and free response questions.

Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam. Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student’s VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.

This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.

In this AP-level course, students are expected to invest approximately 10 hours per week on their coursework.

Acknowledgements

  • Students should be able to read a college-level textbook and to express themselves clearly in writing.
  • During this course students will encounter historical events documenting violence and oppression that may be disturbing.
  • This course requires synchronous meetings. Meeting times will generally be scheduled between 7 AM and 8 PM ET, Monday - Friday.
  • In addition to the enrollment fee, this course has an Additional Course Fee of $80.
  • The required summer assignment for AP® African American Studies will be found in our AP® Summer Work Directory.

Course Objectives

Course Essential Questions:

  • What cultural, social, and political aspects of West and Central Africa had an impact on the Transatlantic Black World and their descendants?
  • What cultural features did African descendants maintain and what did they encounter and adopt outside of the African continent?
  • How did African descendants in the United States and the Caribbean resist oppressive conditions through creative coalitions and institution building?
  • How did Black activists, clergy, educators, creatives, and organizers use their art and/or activism to negotiate the social, political, and aesthetic moments of their day?

Course Learning Objectives:

  • Analyze and explain how over time, Africa has been a symbol that influences the cultural practices, artistic expression, identities, and political organizing of African Americans in the United States and the broader African diaspora in divergent ways.
  • Analyze how intersections of identity shape individuals' experiences and perspectives.
  • Examine the context and audience of African American forms of expression to describe their global influence and the way they have changed over time.
  • Evaluate how various forms of resistance and resilience have evolved within Black communities in the United States, and in connection to the broader African diaspora.
  • Explain cultural, historical, political and social concepts, developments, patterns, and processes.
  • Evaluate written and visual sources and data to describe and draw conclusions about and make connections to AP African American Studies.
  • Develop an argument using a line of reasoning to connect claims and evidence.

Additional Requirements

This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.

Students enrolled in AP African American Studies are required to use Google Workspace and Google Meet through VHS Learning to complete their individual research project in the course. The following outlines the technical requirements for using these tools.

Technical Requirements:

  • Students must have a Google account, but do not need a gmail address. Students who wish to use their Google account through their school may find that permissions do not allow for this and may need to create a second Google account.
  • To participate in Google Meet sessions, students must have a device with a camera and microphone.
  • Google Meet requires 4 GB of available memory.
  • Google Meet is compatible with the two most recent versions of these operating systems: Apple macOS, Microsoft Windows, Chrome OS, Ubuntu, and other Devian-based Linux distributions. Accessible mobile operating systems are Android 2.0 and up or iOS 14 and up.