S-African-American Poetry

An intensive survey of African American poetry from Lucy Terry to the present, focusing on how language, form, and content reflect the ways in which African Americans have perceived their positions in American society and their roles as reflectors and/or shapers of African American culture. Includes various works of African, American, and British literature as well as works of African American folklore, and secondary critical works dealing with African American poetic tradition.

Blackness and Utopia

This course explores the vibrant history of utopian thought in Black Studies and African American literature and culture. It considers how the black radical tradition poses particular challenges to Western utopian thought as well as how the question of utopia might contribute to, or help to re-configure, the future(s) of Black Studies. Topics of discussion will include Afrofuturism, utopia and the black radical tradition, cultures of life and cultures of death in the Black Atlantic, black science and speculative fiction, and blackness and metaphysics.

Civil War & Reconstruction

This course examines the revolutionary significance of the Civil War and Reconstruction Era in United States history. While not ignoring military history, it will focus on the demise of slavery during the war and contests over the meaning of freedom, citizenship, and the powers of the state. It will also look at African American political mobilization, constitutional issues, and vigilante violence during Reconstruction.
Subscribe to