HST300.5 Black London (Fall, Spring) Not offered Fall 2026

HST300.5 Black London (Fall, Spring) Not offered Fall 2026

This history course covers some of the core issues that have both propelled people of African origin into Britain and determined their experiences once in London.  The course examines the history of the African Diaspora in London over approximately the last 300 years, paying particular attention to changes in the demographic background to this Diaspora and the ensuing debates around the various notions of Blackness.

The context to the course is the growth of London as the hub of an imperial system underscored by notions of race, and the subsequent changes to the metropolis in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. A theoretical underpinning of the course is that London is one of the centres of a Black Atlantic, as understood through the works of Paul Gilroy. The course will open up social relations at the heart of Black London’s history, including class, gender, and sexuality. London has a long history of ideological movements driven by the conditions of the Black Atlantic, such as Abolitionism, anti-colonialism, Pan Africanism, and anti-racist struggles within Britain. All of these will be within the parameters of the course.

Finally, the cultural impact of the Black Atlantic on London will be looked at in all its diversity, including literature, religion, music, fashion, language, and cuisine.

This course may also be registered as AAS 300.5.

Matriculated Syracuse History majors/minors: This course may count toward the European or Modern concentrations.

CRS325 Presentational Speaking (Fall, Spring)

This course teaches the value of public speaking and trains students in the practical skills of speech writing, various speech methods, and the presentational skills needed to be an effective communicator and a participant in public discourse, as well as in the professional world.

Public speaking skills are key to professional development, but practice is often intimidating and infrequent, and for students it mostly takes place in a non-professional context.  This class is specifically designed to strengthen students’ public speaking and presentation skills in organizational settings and to build their confidence.  Students will be trained in speech researching and writing, delivery styles, establishing rapport with an audience, all while practicing and delivering different types of presentations in a supportive environment with professional feedback.

The course begins by asking students to research and write a factual speech on a topic of their choice.  Once they have mastered effective information research and selection, and speech structuring and writing, we use the same research materials but switch our aim from information transmission to persuasion.  This switch in focus not only means a change in content and delivery, but also demands an engagement with ethical considerations.  Audience analysis will help speakers focus both their writing and delivery styles. Next, we shift from the abstract to the personal in the elevator pitch. This will extend presentation proficiencies and hone timekeeping. Finally, students will blend the research, writing and delivery skills they have studied to compose their final mediated speech.

To position students’ own speaking practices, we will critically analyse historic and contemporary examples of oration. Site visits outside the classroom may include Speakers’ Corner, the House of Commons, Conway Hall, or a ‘Salon for the City’ event, either in person or online.

The skills students develop during this course will prepare them for a variety of public speaking and organizational contexts that can include conferences, election campaigns, lecturing, management talks/board meetings, oral exams, as well as the fast-growing context of online, virtual events.

CAS200.1 Mapping London (Fall, Spring)

Required for London students. This 1-credit course is an introduction to the diverse politics, histories, and cultures of the United Kingdom and London in particular, aimed at developing intercultural awareness in a study abroad context.

Mapping London invites students to orient themselves as foreigners in the United Kingdom. The course launches a semester abroad at the Syracuse University London Center, where students will make use of Britain as a classroom.

A key learning goal in study abroad is gaining a wider perspective on the world and one’s place in it. This course is designed to help students prepare for an intensive experience reflecting on how they contribute to and are impacted by local cultures, geopolitics, and history. The course begins by examining ‘study abroad’ as a unique form of travel and international exchange. Students will consider their own objectives for the semester and be introduced to the historical and current presence of Americans in Britain.

Students will analyze the United Kingdom’s peoples, political histories, and contemporary realities through a series of thematic investigations on topics such as language, race, and media. They will become conversant on issues surrounding Brexit and current events, be comfortable navigating intercultural ‘lost in translation’ moments, and be able to respectfully but critically encounter new spaces and customs.

By the end of the course, students will have compiled their own multi-layered map of London centred around the flat they will be living in for the semester, creating a virtual introduction to their temporary home. The maps will form the basis for an extended seminar session at the Syracuse London campus shortly after arrival, marking the physical beginning of students’ semester abroad as foreigners in London.

Matriculated Syracuse students: This course counts as Arts and Sciences elective credit.

WRT422 Writing London: Studies in Creative Nonfiction (Spring)

This spring-only course helps students develop their creative and nonfiction writing through exploring the importance of the global city of London in a variety of genres: travel writing, cultural criticism, personal essay, fiction, correspondence, biography, and memoir. Themes common in urban writing including alienation, mental health, belonging and/or dislocation, the crowd vs. the individual, and immigrant experiences will also be a focus.

This is a practice-based course: students will read and analyse a range of writing about London (and elsewhere, for comparative purposes) and develop their craft as writers. Every class session will centre around writing exercises as well as workshopping one another’s writing. The course may therefore be of particular interest to students with a Creative Writing focus, or those who have, or who wish to develop, a personal writing practice outside of an academic context.

London has been a focus, setting, or inspiration for the work of countless writers across time. In what ways are the stories we tell a response to the different locales that we find ourselves in? How is the authorial voice, the ‘I’ of the writer-narrator, affected by different contexts, and how does it in turn affect the way that such places are understood and portrayed? How does a sense of place ground prose and bring it to life?

Prereq: WRT 205 or WRT 209 or ENL 213

HST300.2 London’s Burning: Rebellious Histories (Fall, Spring)

This course presents an alternative history of London that contrasts conventions of progress and openness with the stories of minorities, rebels and martyrs in order to challenge conventional narratives of the city’s tolerance and diversity. Foregrounding the histories of immigration, religion and politics reveals the crucial role played by conflict, suppression and protest in the development of the metropolis.

London is commonly characterised as diverse, tolerant, stable and safe; a city that has evolved gradually and evenly and without the cataclysmic revolutionary change that has convulsed so many other European cities.  But how true is this portrait of London, and to what extent does it serve the political agenda of the ruling elites? In the light of recent political, social and cultural protests that have called into question our dominant historical narratives, this course aims to question our conventional understanding of this metropolis and its 2,000-year development.

In particular, we will explore two great truisms about London:

  • Firstly, we will question the discourse of London’s historical continuity by pursuing disruptive narratives of rebels and revolutionaries – from Boudicca’s revolt in the first decades of London’s recorded history, via civil war and political protests, through to recent struggles over taxation, war and globalisation
  • Secondly, we will focus on the conventional understanding of London as a city of tolerance and diversity, questioning this broadly accepted overview through histories of religious martyrdom and emancipation, through an historical overview of London as a hub of immigration and of political exile, and lastly through an examination of London’s complex relationship with colonialism and slavery as capital of the British Empire.

The intention of this course is not merely to deny or denigrate London’s status as an open and diverse metropolis; indeed, by questioning the dominant narratives of the city we will expose the extraordinary contribution that religious and ethnic communities have made to London’s life and culture over its entire history. Furthermore, we will discuss how contemporary debates surrounding globalisation, the environment and especially Black Lives Matter, can serve to enrich our understanding of the city, and underpin ambitions for its future development.

PSC484 Death as Political (Fall, Spring)

This course examines the interplay between political violence, popular protest, and peace processes with a particular focus on the role of public mourning and collective grief. Case studies from around the world introduce students to death as a catalyst for social change and an analytical lens for political science.

The 2020 police killing of George Floyd brought global attention to #BlackLivesMatter, a movement launched in 2013 in the wake of another death—that of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Images like Floyd’s daughter proclaiming ‘Daddy changed the world’ highlight the potential for death and mourning to be significant catalysts for social and political change.

Death as Political: Violence, Grief, and Protest examines how contemporary protests build on other collective responses to death around the world. The course asks students to engage with the pain and emotion of a conflict society – as well as its constructive potential. As demonstrated by recent events, death can serve to draw attention to wider concerns. Sites and rituals of death in the form of memorial infrastructure, commemorative institutions, and highly publicized funerals are often used by activists, community leaders, and policymakers to champion particular causes.

This course introduces core concepts in peace and conflict studies by examining various types of political protest. Students will engage with literature on terrorism, violence, non-violence, peace, and reconciliation. Diverse tactics and outcomes for political violence will be explored in four conflict settings: Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’, South Africa’s Apartheid period, the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, and the now global Black Lives Matter movement. This historical and geographic diversity allows students to compare and contrast protest methods as they consider:

  • What is ‘peaceful’ protest?
  • What role do our emotions play in shaping responses to violence?
  • Who holds decision-making power for protest movements?
  • When do we achieve ‘peace’ and how do we maintain it?

While asking these questions, students will come to understand that violence and mourning are full of potential for both further conflict and greater peace.

This course may also be registered as HST 484

Most semesters, registration limited (including minors) to only one Political Science class (PSC prefix and courses cross-listed with PSC) except for Political Science majors. Check the current semester’s Schedule of Classes for more information.

GEO310 Climates of Resistance: Environmental Racism and Collective Action (Fall, Spring)

This interdisciplinary course examines the reality of systemic environmental inequalities in the United States and globally, with particular attention to the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in the 21st century. Theoretical frameworks include environmental justice, ecofeminism, human-nature dualisms, agency, and intersectionality.

Climates of Resistance familiarises students with the myriad ways in which racism is manifested in contemporary environmental policy and practice—and the multiple means through which marginalised communities respond to and transform unjust realities.

The course begins by introducing the concepts of intersectionality and systemic injustice in order to help students position themselves within the reality of environmental racism and current structures. The course’s three main units are then structured around key pillars in the environmental justice movement: distribution, recognition, and participation. This framework allows the class to consider:

  • Who benefits from environmental resources and services?
  • Who bears the cost of environmental risks and harms?
  • Who has their needs and desires considered in human-nature interactions?
  • Who holds power in environmental decision-making?
  • Who implements and enforces environmental policies?

Students will explore these questions in a variety of contexts and can choose to focus on particular issues and/or marginalised communities through their assignments. Case studies range from anti-gold mining efforts in Pascua-Lama on the Chilean border with Argentina to Black-run community gardens in urban Detroit; guest speakers represent communities and issues as wide-ranging as Amazigh fog-harvesting in Morocco and legal environmental advocacy work by sovereign First Nations in Canada. Students will also consider how representations of nature-minority relations in popular culture may improve or intensify environmental racism while visiting Pocahontas’ burial site and speaking with a reindeer herder from the Sámi community that inspired Frozen’s Kristoff.

Ultimately, the course equips students to understand the (un)fairness of our current environmental system—and how both processes and outcomes might be changed.

This course can also be registered as NAT 310

NAT310 Climates of Resistance: Environmental Racism and Collective Action (Fall, Spring)

This interdisciplinary course examines the reality of systemic environmental inequalities in the United States and globally, with particular attention to the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in the 21st century. Theoretical frameworks include environmental justice, ecofeminism, human-nature dualisms, agency, and intersectionality.

Climates of Resistance familiarises students with the myriad ways in which racism is manifested in contemporary environmental policy and practice—and the multiple means through which marginalised communities respond to and transform unjust realities.

The course begins by introducing the concepts of intersectionality and systemic injustice in order to help students position themselves within the reality of environmental racism and current structures. The course’s three main units are then structured around key pillars in the environmental justice movement: distribution, recognition, and participation. This framework allows the class to consider:

  • Who benefits from environmental resources and services?
  • Who bears the cost of environmental risks and harms?
  • Who has their needs and desires considered in human-nature interactions?
  • Who holds power in environmental decision-making?
  • Who implements and enforces environmental policies?

Students will explore these questions in a variety of contexts and can choose to focus on particular issues and/or marginalised communities through their assignments. Case studies range from anti-gold mining efforts in Pascua-Lama on the Chilean border with Argentina to Black-run community gardens in urban Detroit; guest speakers represent communities and issues as wide-ranging as Amazigh fog-harvesting in Morocco and legal environmental advocacy work by sovereign First Nations in Canada. Students will also consider how representations of nature-minority relations in popular culture may improve or intensify environmental racism while visiting Pocahontas’ burial site and speaking with a reindeer herder from the Sámi community that inspired Frozen’s Kristoff.

Ultimately, the course equips students to understand the (un)fairness of our current environmental system—and how both processes and outcomes might be changed.

This course may also be registered as GEO 310

HST484 Death as Political (Fall, Spring)

This course examines the interplay between political violence, popular protest, and peace processes with a particular focus on the role of public mourning and collective grief. Case studies from around the world introduce students to death as a catalyst for social change and an analytical lens for political science.

The 2020 police killing of George Floyd brought global attention to #BlackLivesMatter, a movement launched in 2013 in the wake of another death—that of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Images like Floyd’s daughter proclaiming ‘Daddy changed the world’ highlight the potential for death and mourning to be significant catalysts for social and political change.

Death as Political: Violence, Grief, and Protest examines how contemporary protests build on other collective responses to death around the world. The course asks students to engage with the pain and emotion of a conflict society – as well as its constructive potential. As demonstrated by recent events, death can serve to draw attention to wider concerns. Sites and rituals of death in the form of memorial infrastructure, commemorative institutions, and highly publicized funerals are often used by activists, community leaders, and policymakers to champion particular causes.

This course introduces core concepts in peace and conflict studies by examining various types of political protest. Students will engage with literature on terrorism, violence, non-violence, peace, and reconciliation. Diverse tactics and outcomes for political violence will be explored in four conflict settings: Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’, South Africa’s Apartheid period, the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, and the now global Black Lives Matter movement. This historical and geographic diversity allows students to compare and contrast protest methods as they consider:

  • What is ‘peaceful’ protest?
  • What role do our emotions play in shaping responses to violence?
  • Who holds decision-making power for protest movements?
  • When do we achieve ‘peace’ and how do we maintain it?

While asking these questions, students will come to understand that violence and mourning are full of potential for both further conflict and greater peace.

This course may also be registered as PSC 484

Most semesters, registration limited (including minors) to only one Political Science class (PSC prefix and courses cross-listed with PSC) except for Political Science majors. Check the current semester’s Schedule of Classes for more information.