Hey y’all!

My name is Eunice Michieka. I’m from Johnson City, TN, and I’m currently a freshman living in Apley Court. I haven’t decided on a concentration yet, but I am interested in the social sciences, especially economics and African American studies. I decided to take this course as a way to introduce myself into this field, as well as to help me decide if I wanted to maybe pursue either a concentration or secondary in African American studies. Outside of the classroom, I’ve gotten involved in the Black Students Association, the Association of Black Harvard Women, and I hope to find at least one volunteering program to participate in this year.

Through this course, I hope to gain a deeper and fuller understanding of the dynamics of the black community from a sociological perspective. Like most people, I never really had the chance to take a class on African American history in high school, so I am really hoping to get a lot out of this course and gain a new perspective on my community, not only here at Harvard, but also back home in Tennessee.

I look forward to getting to know all of y’all this semester!

Hi guys!

My name is Gabriela Thorne, but almost everyone calls me Gabi or some variation of my name. I am a sophomore living in Cabot House currently undecided but exploring the possibilities of either a joint concentration in African American Studies and Studies Women, Gender, and Sexuality or simply concentrating in Sociology. I hail from the wondrous Bronx, New York with its delicious bagels and Chinese food. I am really excited for this course because this past semester I took Introduction to African American Studies, which I enjoyed and wanted to dive into more of the sociological analysis of the material.

Outside of class, I am on board for the Association of Black Harvard Women, Fuerza Latina, and Concilio Latino. I also write for Blavity in my spare time, which is a site that combines Buzzfeed and Upworthy styled news written by Black millennials. My hobbies include fashion, eating, dyeing my hair, discussing social justice issues, and sleeping.

Looking forward to taking class with all of you!

Hi everyone,

My name is Monica Ukah and I’m a senior living in Currier. I’m a Sociology concentrator, but I love taking AfrAm courses and it’s one of my related fields so this class has been on my list of classes to take for a while. My academic interests include: race in America, class identity, media and pop culture, gender representation, and the intersectionality of all of these subjects! One of my favorite essays I’ve written explored fashion choices (trends, stores shopped at, and hair styles) manifested amongst black women here at Harvard and the effects they have on ideas of class consciousness on campus.

On the topic of fashion,  I recently completed an internship at Saks Fifth Avenue this summer. As graduation looms closer (and the job search gets more real), I’ve begun to explore a career in the fashion industry in an editorial position. Alternatively, I’m also looking into retail, and or branding/marketing consultancies.

I sing on campus with Harvard Keychange (shameless plug here’s a link to one of our song performances you guys should all come to our fall concert, best believe I’ll pass flyers around section when the date gets closer:) ) and I’m very involved with the black community on campus as a BCL co-chair and member of BSA and ABHW.

Hi all!

My name is Avni Nahar, and I’m a junior from Burlington, Vermont currently living in Mather House. I’m pursuing a joint concentration in Sociology and Government with a secondary in South Asian Studies. Outside of class, I work at the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and serve on the Mather House Council. I’m also a peer advising fellow and involved with theater on campus and public service in the Boston area. In my free time, I love to hike, read, and try new foods (recommendations always welcome!)

Over the summer, I was in Buenos Aires interning for the Argentinean Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. I was working with a small team that focuses on cataloging cases of institutional violence that the Ministry is constantly processing. It was fascinating to gain insight into how a governmental body attempts to be self-regulating, and interesting to compare their approach to that of the United States.

My academic interests are centered around issues of inequality related to race, gender, and class, as well as mass incarceration, and focusing on the instances and demographics of cases of police and penitentiary violence tied right into this. It also seems like this course will offer a strong understanding of the African-American experience in this country, which I hope will contribute to my knowledge and understanding as I try and continue to focus on work in racial, sexual, and socioeconomic justice. I’m really excited about all the incredible things we will be reading and talking about over the next few months and look forward to getting to know all of you. See you Tuesday!

Hi everyone!

I’m Anna Zannetos, a sophomore living in Adams House and hailing from Wellesley, Massachusetts. I am concentrating in Sociology with a secondary in Psychology.

My passion is education equality. I served as a City Year corps member during a gap year between high school and college, where I had the opportunity to serve 40 fourth graders in a public school in Mattapan (a neighborhood of Boston). I worked as a classroom assistant, tutor, mentor, and after school teacher and was lucky to form powerful relationships with many students. Through this experience, I learned so much about the vast disparities in quality of public education; while the school in which I worked had few resources, meager learning opportunities, and created a chaotic environment, the public school I attended 12 miles away was bustling with brand new technology, creative projects, and a vast network of support staff for students. I hope to spend my life working in elementary education in underserved urban communities. I plan to focus on social-emotional education and celebration of culture in the classroom.

I am excited to take this course because I want to increase my awareness and sensitivity to sociological issues pertaining to the black community. As someone who benefits from many forms of privilege, I struggle to understand the role I can play in fighting for racial and social justice. Through this course, I hope to listen and learn in deep and engaging ways about the black community’s past, present and future and how I can best support the fight for a more just society. Additionally, I plan to serve students of color as a teacher in underserved urban communities after college. I want to understand as much as I can about the dynamics of the communities I may serve in order to be a culturally aware, compassionate, supportive, and loving teacher and human being.

Hello everyone,

My name is George Baxter, I am a junior in Mather House studying sociology, and I am delighted to be taking this class with you all! My interests within the subject comprise urban poverty and the multiple manifestations of inequality across lines of race, gender, and sexuality. Hailing from London, England, I am interested in exploring the ways in which racial divisions present themselves in urban USA, in comparison to my observations of major cities in the UK. Furthermore I am looking to understand how each nations’ racial histories have led them to where they are now – and I shouldn’t forget to mention that this course was highly recommended by a very close friend of mine! These things, coupled with the engaging and extensive syllabus of topics that we will cover, led me to enrolling in this course.

Outside of the classroom, I have spent my time at Harvard in theater, however I’m taking an (albeit not too sharp) turn towards other interests and activities. I’ll be working on the fashion board for Eleganza, working with Mission Hill Afterschool Program, and hope to be singing with the University Choir (wish me luck, final audition today!). I look forward to a fascinating, engaging, and imperative educational experience with you all this semester!

Hi Everyone! My name is Madison Whitney and I’m a freshman living in Weld Hall. I haven’t yet decided on a concentration, but I’m considering Government with a secondary in either African American Studies or WGS. I’m most interested in politics and social justice issues, as well as where politics meets direct public service / community outreach. So far this year I’ve gotten involved with Kuumba, the Association of Black Harvard Women, and the Black Students Association.

I was drawn to this class as an introduction to the African and African American Studies department. I’m excited to take a class of this nature, which I’ve never had the opportunity to do before, and to explore the black American experience through a sociological lens. With many issues within the black community now receiving increased media and political attention, this class could be a great venue to consider and discuss these important issues. I hope to be able to explore many different perspectives, including those of my fellow classmates as well as those of the authors and sociologists whose writings we will be studying. As a black woman, I also hope to gain a greater academic understanding of my own community and to contemplate new ways to address its plights through both an individual and governmental approach.

I’m excited to begin on Tuesday!

Hi everyone,

My name is Miles Malbrough, and I’m a senior Social Studies concentrator in Currier House. At Harvard, I’ve been most involved in the Black Students Association and the Phillips Brooks House Association, where I have spent the last three summers working for the Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment program.

I’m currently working on my thesis, which focuses on young, black professionals in Memphis, Tennessee–exploring the relationships between their families’ educational backgrounds and their perceptions of opportunity for upward social mobility.

I was raised in Tennessee, myself, and I am interested in questions of racial and socioeconomic identity formation, intergenerational social mobility, and educational equity, especially in the South. I’m looking forward to discussing these and other topics with all of you this semester. See you all Tuesday!

Hey everyone!

Great to be taking this class with you all! My name is Trevor Byrne, and I’m a junior social studies concentrator living in Kirkland house. Outside of school, I enjoy singing a cappella with the Harvard Callbacks, and I am also involved with Mission Hill Afterschool Program through PBHA. I am interested in social justice issues in urban America, as well as education, and I spent the last summer interning with DC Public Schools.

My interest in this class comes from my concentration actually, in that my focus field in social studies is “Urban Poverty in America”. I think many of of the readings and topics we will be discussing will give me greater insight into the issues of urban poverty. I hope to learn from this class how race issues and urban poverty are intertwined, which I think will give me a greater understanding of my focus field. As a junior who is preparing to research and write a thesis fairly soon, I think it is important to have these considerations going forward. I could definitely see myself addressing many of these readings in my thesis, so reading them and discussing them with the class seems like a great opportunity.

This seems like a great class, filled with important, interesting readings, and I’m excited to get started! See you all Tuesday!

Hello everyone! My name is Kara Shen and I am a senior in Quincy House studying Computer Science and Economics. I spent the last two summers working as a software engineer for a start-up in Cambridge and an advertising tech company in New York City. Outside of class, I became involved in Harvard National Model United Nations, Harvard College Consulting Group, and Student Mental Health Liaisons, but I’m now invested in our Women in Computer Science group on campus to help create community for women interested in STEM fields.

I’ve spent a lot of the past three years learning a lot about computer science, economics, and other quantitative subjects, but as it’s my senior year and requirements are winding down, I saw this year as my last chance to delve into issues I’d always wanted to learn and discuss more about. The events of this past year mandated renewed conversations and reflection from everyone in the country, and I am really looking forward to taking a comprehensive look at the issues affecting the African American experience in this country, from matters of class and economics status to schooling and education.

I’m hoping that this class will give me the knowledge and vocabulary to speak as a more informed and critical citizen, and I am so excited to start the discussion with all of you! See you on Tuesday. 🙂

Welcome to Sociology of the Black Community!

Please introduce yourselves so that we get a sense of who you are and what brings you to the course.

I’ll start!

  

My name is Khytie Brown and I’m a third year doctoral student in the African and African American Studies department and I’m excited to serve as teaching fellow for the course!

I’m an Atlanta resident who originally hails from the beautiful island of Jamaica. I graduated from Emory University in 2010, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Religion and received my Master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School in 2013 where I concentrated in the areas Religions of the Americas and Religion and the Social Sciences

My primary research emphasis is on religious expression and cultural production in the Caribbean and Afro-Antillean Panama, with particular attention to disruptions of the sacred/profane binary, sensory epistemologies, mediation, Afrophobia and the interplay between private religious discourses and public space.  My current research examines  affect, embodiment, somatic rituals, digitization and identity production as enacted in two traditionally disparate spaces: the sacred seal ground of Jamaica’s African-derived Revival Zion Christianity and the secular dancehall spaces of Kingston’s urban streets.

Sociology of the Black Community is a particularly engaging course that I’m thrilled to teach as many of the themes and questions our course addresses need to be reviewed with new lenses and fresh eyes for the contemporary moment. It is my hope that we’ll each bring our own knowledge and perspective  to the classroom and that we’ll  enjoy learning from each other.