ENG 4300 - African American Literature

This course explores key themes of African American literature, such as the legacy of slavery, the challenges of identity, and the richness of the vernacular tradition. Students will interpret and analyze African American texts of the 18th - 21st centuries. The course covers a wide range of genres, including fiction, poetry, drama, autobiography, and nonfiction, from the earliest work by African Americans to the present day so that students can develop an understanding of racial identity and how it is constructed and reconstructed throughout American history. Also, so that students can see the various conceptions of African American art, we will study works in different forms and media, including music, film, and material culture. Authors central to the course include Briton Hammon, Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Langston Hughes, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, August Wilson, Natasha Trethewey, and Toni Morrison.

Credit Hours: 3

Term Offered: Fall of odd years

Locations

Locations

ENG 4300 - African American Literature