ENG 257 : Contemporary African-American Women's Writing
This class introduces students to stories, novels, autobiographies, speeches, essays, poems, memoirs, and/or plays by and about celebrated African
American writers to examine the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of the African American experience. This course will explore how these literatures raise fundamental issues relevant to people of all races and ethnicities. Historical time periods and genres of significant focus may include slave narratives, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights era, Afrofuturism, and social justice movements of the present day. Readings may include works of Maya Angelou, Octavia Butler, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Phyllis Wheatley, Fredrick Douglas, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Nella Larsen, Roxanne Gay, Colson Whitehead, Jesmyn Ward, and others
Course Outcomes
1. Articulate the particular importance of African Americans expressing themselves.
2. Describe the connections between social and cultural histories and common themes in literature.
3. Interpret texts by taking into consideration the biographical backgrounds of authors.
4. Apply relevant theory to the analysis of literature.
5. Analyze ways in which issues in literature intersect with the lives of readers.
6. Recognize significant historical movements in African American literary studies.
7. Identify key genres and themes of African American literature.