(Offered as ENGL 360, BLST 360, and SWAG 360) This course explores the life and writings of American author James Baldwin. Born in poverty-stricken Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance (where he spent his childhood as a Pentecostal boy-preacher), Baldwin went on to become one of the twentieth century’s most influential essayists, novelists, orators, and political commentators---particularly around issues related to American race relations.
(Offered as ENGL 273, BLST 373, and SWAG 273) This course surveys the past roughly seventy-five years of African American literature and culture. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century with Ralph Ellison’s 1952 magnum opus Invisible Man, we will explore some of the major issues that have shaped the production of late African American literature, including the rise of various critical discourses (postmodernism, feminist theory, queer theory, black internationalism) as well as the influence of numerous twentieth and twenty-first century U.S.
Play is an essential component of human life. Yet, while the word play evokes leisure and frivolity, it can be serious work. Cultural values, spiritual truths, and social politics arise from play, particularly when they are codified in sports. From raucous games of lacrosse in pre-Columbian North America to Tim Tebow’s gameday prayers, sports have long been used as instruments of social cohesion and as a way to connect a people to their gods.
