Piloted last year, a new course started this academic school year at Miramonte High School called AP African American Studies. “The African-American Odyssey” is the textbook teacher Matt Sweeney uses.
Students sing joyfully as a new class choice comes to Miramonte: AP African American Studies. The College Board initially piloted this class last school year, and it is now being offered at Miramonte and all Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD) schools.
AP AfAm is an interdisciplinary course that starts with the ancient kingdoms in Africa and ends with Afrofuturism. The class goes back to 3000 BCE and ends in the present time.
Matt Sweeney, teacher of the class, said that it offers a unique way to center learning on a group that has been historically marginalized.
“I think AUHSD schools offering the class shows how committed we are to our student populations and community, the ever-expanding and diversifying state and nation we live in, as well as a commitment to life-long learning,” he said.
There are four units: 1. Origins of African Diaspora; 2. Freedom, Enslavement, Resistance; 3. The Practice of Freedom; 4. Movements and Debates.
Each unit builds on top of each other to bridge the understanding between various aspects of African American history, cultural development and the ongoing push for inclusivity in America.
The class is currently working on a project in which groups are honing in on different African tribes and learning about their societies and cultures.
Miramonte student Sachi Patwardhan said she enjoys the class structure of projects like this and discussion-based lectures.
“The course challenges us to look at historical events from multiple perspectives by considering the social, economic and political forces of people who have been underrepresented,” she said.
Patwardhan took AP European history last year and received a Eurocentric view on slavery. With this class, she will expand her knowledge of different views.
“AP African American studies is important because we are examining events that often get glazed over and aren’t explained in enough depth in other AP history classes,” she added.
Miramonte Principal Ben Campopiano agrees with Sweeney and Patwardhan.
“Studying African American history is essential for a comprehensive understanding of American history, recognizing the contributions and struggles of African Americans and confronting past and ongoing racial injustices,” he said.
This deep understanding of history not only broadens students’ perspectives, but also prepares them to tackle challenging courses.
The AP test grades students on a scale of one to five, with one being the lowest score and five being the highest. Despite the class only being live for a year, its difficulty is similar to classes that have been around for decades.
For example, the distribution of fives was at approximately 15% last year, which was close to the AP Macroeconomics rate of 16%.
Sweeney, Campopiano and Patwardhan said they look forward to an amazing year and seeing how the course will grow in the future.
