W-Charles, Nadia | Africana Studies

nadiawc@arizona.edu

Phone

520-626-1135

Office

Learning Services Building

Office Hours

Thursdays 3pm - 5pm

W-Charles, Nadia

Assistant Professor

Dr. W-Charles taught Caribbean and Media Studies in the department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies at The University of the West Indies (UWI) for nine years. She has worked as a Research and Brand Insights Specialist in Jamaica for three years employing interdisciplinary research techniques to collate consumer preferences and guide innovative brand campaigns. Dr. W-Charles completed a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with a focus in Black Nationalism and Jamaican music scenes at UWI. She also earned an M.Sc. in Cyberpsychology with an emphasis on online research methods at Nottingham Trent University. Her research interests include Caribbean consumerism, music scenes, Black Nationalism and the politics of difference.

Currently Teaching

AFAS 285 – Conceptualizing Caribbean Society

This course will provide students with an introduction to Caribbean society through an exploration of regional experiences tied to social, cultural and political fields. Weekly lectures will interrogate the effects of colonialism and postcolonialism on a variety of subjects such as the construction of race, class and gender. Additionally, AFAS 285 will provide an understanding of the intersection between critical theory and Caribbean Studies. Subsequently, this course aligns local identity politics with global cultural flows and, offers a historical guide to themes such as the transatlantic slave trade, creolization, difference, diaspora and imperialism. AFAS 285 is well suited to students who have an interest in Caribbean culture, Global Studies, the Black Diaspora, postcolonial theory and Ethnic Studies.

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AFAS 386 – Soundtrack of the Caribbean

AFAS 386 introduces students to various Caribbean music cultures from the perspective of the French-, Spanish- and English-speaking islands in the Caribbean. The sounds that emanate from the region have descended from various folk traditions and refined by global processes. As a result, sonic products like reggae, soca, chutney, salsa and zouk, nurture cultural practices in religious, political, familial and festival spaces. A key ingredient of the Caribbean's cultural soundtrack is Afro-folk traditions which anchor the experiences of the colorful society. Caribbean music also showcases inheritances from India, the US and UK. This course is well suited to students with an interest in the Caribbean, music traditions, Global Studies and creative work. Moreover, AFAS 386 can enhance the knowledge of students in the Humanities and Social Sciences as it explores cultural, economic and political happenings in the region.

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AFAS 150B1 – Contemporary Afro Brazil

This course challenges historical and contemporary popular culture perceptions of Brazil as a tourist haven and paradise replete with festivities and beautiful beaches while also reinforcing an interdisciplinary and multiple perspective approach to the study of Afro-Brazilian people's history, cultures, arts, music, dance, cinema, cuisines, and sports, and the protracted systemic discrimination and exclusion from political and economic rights, as well as the racial and educational inequalities and disparities that Brazilians of African descent have experienced over the years.

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AFAS 200 – Introduction to Africana Studies

Course provides a comprehensive understanding of the African American experience as grounded in the humanities. A broad investigation of Africana history and culture and its subsequent evolution in the United States.

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