Critical Social Inquiry 0211 - The Black Feminist Archive

The hashtags #sayhername #blackgirlmagic #blackjoy #blacklivesmatter #intersectionalfeminist and others are rooted in a long history of Black Feminist consciousness in the U.S. While these hashtags have made feminism more accessible to people across multiple lines of difference, they have also silenced a rich genealogy of black women and black queer intellectuals, educators, and activists who created the original theories long before the hashtag was created. Thus, the creators are not cited for their work and originality, but rather relegated to the dark corners of history. In this course, students will follow the hashtag offline to recover its intellectual roots. Analyzing films, archives, texts, and social media, students will examine key issues and scholarly interventions in Black Feminist Thought from the nineteenth century to our contemporary moment. Throughout the course, students will create a web-based hashtag archive that links some of the most popular hashtags to Black Feminist thinkers.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.