Critical Social Thought 349LD - Advanced Topics: 'Luminous Darkness: African American Social Thought After DuBois'

Examines the causes of and proposed solutions to 'the Negro problem' in post-Civil War American social thought and public policy. Begins with the life, work, and legacies of DuBois. Drawing on domestic and diasporic fictional and nonfictional depictions of black life in the 'DuBoisian century' the course considers different responses to his 1903 question, 'How does it feel to be a problem?' The course examines the development and contemporary status of black modernity and postmodernity in the writings of Robinson, Smith, Davis, Ransby, YamahttaTaylor, and others. Our focus on DuBoisian thought culminates in a careful examination of the emergence of racial capitalism in the 21st century.

Prereq: 8 credits in Africana Studies or Critical Social Thought.