Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0157 - Banned Books

We will read books that have recently been banned from libraries, schools, and other institutions in the United States. We will attend closely to the books themselves, understanding our reading as an act of collective resistance. In addition, we will carry out collaborative research on histories of literary and artistic censorship: i.e., the historical evolution of concepts of artistic "freedom" and "free speech" in Western literature and art in tandem with the suppression of other understandings of free expression (poetry, oral forms); the entanglement of literary/artistic and other forms of censorship; the relationship of the printing press to power. In addition to deepening our knowledge of the history and contexts of literary censorship, we will examine possible responses: legal, political, artistic, intellectual, and activist. Books will be selected, through a collaborative process, by students at the beginning of the semester and purchased with the $65 materials fee charged to each student Keywords:Literature, censorship, artistic freedom, freedom of expression

Materials fee:$65 Books will be selected, through a collaborative process, by studentsenrolled in the course at the beginning of the semester andpurchased with the $65 materials fee charged to each student. Students will not be expected to purchase any additional books outside the materials fee Students should expect to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time