English 350AB - Topics in African American Literature: 'Abolition and Climate Change'

What makes change so difficult? Why do people always seem to be so apathetic to the most pressing political and social issues? In the face of climate change and racial injustice, why do so many people remain absolutely unmoved? Questions like these were central problems for the abolitionist movement in the nineteenth century, and they remain crucial issues for people today who similarly believe that another world is possible. This class will consider how the abolitionist movement was intertwined with the birth of environmentalism to understand the nature of struggle today. We will read a range of antislavery writing, nineteenth-century Black radical figures, and various critical theorists of capitalism and climate change.

Course limited to sophomores, juniors and seniors; Prereq: 8 credits in English.