AMS 295-03 - Special Topic: African American Male Inter-generational Leadership: Comparisons & Contrasts 1950-2205 and Beyond

2 credits (Spring Term 1)

The purpose of this course is to introduce, examine, and critique Black male leadership over the late 20th and early 21st century. We will unpack 24 interviews of Grinnell black male alums to discover their leadership skills, styles, and contributions to campus life; meanwhile, highlighting their lessons of resistance to administrative restraints in the decades they attended the college. Their stories, as a repository for identity formation, intellectual fine-tuning, and the integration of one’s “lived experiences” with future professional aspirations, creates an educational legacy they left to Grinnell College. Our task is to understand that legacy through the lens of the on-going black liberation struggle. This course is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.

Prerequisite: AMS 130 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Scott