Introduction to African American Literature

Bryan Carter
Spring 2020
Mondays |  
9 AM - 11 AM
January 27, February 3, 10, 17, 24, March 2, 16, 23, 30, and April 6, 2020
Course Format: Hybrid
Location: Main Campus
Tuition: $210

African American literature has engaged consistently with the relationship between being black and being American. W. E. B. DuBois asked if that was even possible. Many writers and artists believed that control of representations of black Americans through art would lead to greater representation in political and social spheres. This course will examine some of the major debates and central texts of African American literature. The central theme of the course is the relationship between race, representation, and identity. We will examine the social construction of 20th-century African American literature, contextualized within a framework of American history, and how authors expressed themselves through various artistic genres as they sought to establish a unique identity within an oppressive, racist, gender-biased, and capitalistic society.

Registration Opens Online: Monday, November 25, 2019 at 8AM (AZ Time)

Required Reading

Gates, Henry, and Valerie Smith, eds. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. 1 & 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.

Meet Your Instructor

Associate Professor

BRYAN CARTER received his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia and is currently an Associate Professor in Africana Studies and Director of the Center for Digital Humanities at the University of Arizona. He specializes in African American literature of the 20th century, focusing on the Harlem Renaissance and secondarily on digital culture. He has published numerous articles on his doctoral project, Virtual Harlem, and has presented it at locations around the world.    

Location

POETRY CENTER
Dorothy Rubel Room
1508 E Helen
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States

Located on the SE corner of Helen Street and Vine Avenue, one block north of Speedway and three blocks west of Campbell Ave.

Street map image of Poetry Center

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