Course Description
This course explores the Gullah Geechee people. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it expounds principles of survival and resilience in social conditions across time and space compared to that of the Swahili people; examines their language and culture; emphasizes practical application to students’ lives and appreciation of human connection and diversity.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Extra reading and completion of additional assignment.
Athena Title
Survival & Resilience GU&SWAH
Undergraduate Prerequisite
Students must be able to work collaboratively with others to complete group projects such as presentations, discussions, and performances.
Graduate Prerequisite
Students must be able to express themselves clearly orally and in written form.
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of the Gullah Geechee history and culture through course content and guided experience.
- Students will analyze linguistic features of the Gullah Geechee language.
- Students will discern principles of survival and resilience of the Gullah Geechee and an understanding of culture’s role in shaping beliefs, practices and perceptions.
- Students will evaluate similarities and differences between the Gullah Geechee and the Swahili people.
- Students will develop new perspectives on one’s own culture and an ability to think critically, using principles of survival and resilience towards one’s own values, beliefs, and goals.
Topical Outline
- Similarities and differences of survival and resilience
- Definition of cultural resilience and significance of maintaining cultural identity in the face of adversity
- Interdisciplinary vs multidiscipline approach to addressing community challenges
- Principles of Survival and Resilience
- Assessing historical backgrounds of the Gullah Gechee and their cultural features
-Visiting the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island
- Untangling the story of Mitchellville
- The Art of Sonja Griffin Evans and Amiri Geuka Farris
- A closer look at the Gullah Gechee language and use
- Engaging in field study: on-site investigations within Gullah Geechee communities:
Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and Penn Center, St. Helena Island
- The art of story-telling- trixter tales for personal and community wellbeing
- Gullah music and dance
- Preservation Strategies: education involvement, community leadership, and adaptation to modern challenges :
The Gullah Sweetgrass Basket Creations
Fishing as a community touchstone of the Gullah
Special features of the Gullah Quisine
Traditional medicine- assigned reading and observation
- Cultural practices of the Gullah Geechee and Swahili peoples, focusing on language, art, music, and community rituals that contribute to their cultural resilience
- Assigned reading
- Critical perspectives: implications of survival and resilience, considering policies and practices in multicultural societies.
- Daufuskie Difference; Gullah Heritage Trail Tours
- Discussions and Observations
- Questions and Reflections
