Philosophy and Afrofuturism

This course will focus on select philosophical topics in Afrofuturism and Black Futurism. The term ‘Afrofuturism’ refers to the thought and practice of Africana peoples projecting themselves into narratives of the future as well as conceptualizing the role of technology in ways relevant to Africana and Black Identity. As such we will focus on several key themes in Afrofuturism under three headings: the semantic-ontological, the aesthetic, and the ethico-political. We will pursue answers to certain questions such as “What is ‘Afrofuturism?”, “How does Afrofuturism challenge the political and historical erasure of African identity and history?”, “What exactly is ‘black’ about Black Music?”, “How does futurism manifest itself in non-narrative form?”, “What is the difference between Afrofuturism and ‘Black Futurism?”, “What are some futures for Afrofuturism?” Artists and thinkers that we will be engaging include philosophers W.E.B Dubois and Harvey Cormier; writers Martin Delany, Samuel R. Delany, and Octavia Butler; visual artists Wayne Hodge and Rammellzee; musicians Jimi Hendrix, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sun Ra, Juan Atkins, Afrika Bambaataa, 4HERO, Dillinja and Janelle Monae; and filmmakers Hype Williams, Wanuri Kahiu and Ryan Coogan. Both Coogans’s “The Back Panther’ and Kahiu’s short film “Pumzi’ will be required viewings in the course. The main text for the course will be the compendium ‘Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astroblackness’ by Reynaldo Anderson and John Jennings. There will also be a few supporting auxiliary readings.