ENGL 2650

Introduction to African American Literature

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2015-2016.

This course will introduce students to the African American literary tradition. Through aesthetic and contextual approaches, we will consider how African American life and culture has defined and constituted the United States of America. From slave narratives to Hip-Hop music, we will trace the range of artistic conventions and cultural movements while paying close attention to broader historical shifts in American life over the past three centuries. We will ask: How do authors create and define a tradition? What are some of the recurring themes and motifs within this tradition? Authors will include: Phillis Wheatley, Harriet Jacobs, David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Jean Toomerm Zora Neal Hurston, Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ntozake Shange, Toni Morrison, and Percival Everett.

When Offered Spring.

Distribution Category (CA-AS)

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