English 319 - Audre Lorde, Then and Now

This course is an in-depth immersion and examination of the writing of (in her own words) “Black, lesbian, mother, poet, warrior” Audre Lorde. As Alexis Pauline Gumbs puts it in her recent biography, Lorde was an “iconic writer” and “quotable teacher” – but many have not had the chance to understand her work beyond the well-known slogans and sound bites. In this course, we’ll read Lorde’s poetry, her “biomythography” Zami, the essays of Sister Outsider, and
her Cancer Journals to take a deep dive into her writing and foundational Black feminist thought. To help place Lorde in historical context, we will consider the work of writers in her circle (such June Jordan, Adrienne Rich, and Michelle Cliff), study Gumbs’s biography Survival Is a Promise; we’ll also look ahead to her contemporary resonance, asking why she looms so large for us now, and how is her writing is still “giv[ing] a name to the nameless so it can be
thought.”

Limited to 18 students. Fall semester. Professor Christoff.

How to handle overenrollment: Preference given to ENGL, SWAGS, and BLST majors

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: emphasis on reading, immersion in Black feminist thought, creative and critical writing, group discussion, and in-class community building.