This seminar will introduce students to feminist theory and literature with special attention given to the experience of African American women. We will begin with readings by Black feminist thinkers concerning the status of Black women from slavery to women’s suffrage and current struggles for power and recognition. Additionally, as a class we will explore how writers represent the agency of female black characters within novels and how these representations offer new conceptualizations of community regarding both the African American community and American society as a whole. Students will be asked to consider how these writers conceive and challenge the role of black women in discussions of emancipation, Civil Rights, and social cohesion. Each student will be required to complete a research project by the end of the semester which will be described in more detail in the course syllabus. We will discuss topics such as Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Black liberation, feminism, intersectionality, power, community, social critique, knowledge formation, and agency among other urgent concepts regarding (anti)racism in the American context.
- Lehrende/r: Timothy John Brown