First-Year Seminars 110BW - Black Women Writers

In this seminar we will explore various parts of the United States and the Caribbean through analyses of black women's contemporary literature and visual culture. The course will be organized around four themes prevalent in contemporary portrayals of the black female experience in the diaspora. The themes, Body, Voice, Memory, and Movement will allow us to examine notions of agency, representation and counter-narrative. How are narratives of resistance and possession appropriated by black women writers and image-makers and utilized for their own empowerment? What are the penalties inherent when a black woman 'comes to voice' in the arena of self-representation?

Course limited to new first-years & transfers/FPs entering as first-years.