For centuries, stories and fantasies have been heaped upon Black bodies, and it shows absolutely no sign of slowing. With that understanding, how does African American Literature, art, or film view its protagonist, view the self, and how has that self-image been colored or informed by how it has been held in the imagination of others? In this course, students will not only engage the continually shifting perceptions of Black being, but also the deep influence of media, in particular, in those perceptions. Students should expect to draft and revise essays and reading responses that analyze and interrogate the work of various African American writers, artists, and filmmakers, which may include Cornelius Eady, Victor LaValle, Ava Duvernay, and Donald Glover, among others. This seminar is affiliated with the Media + Technology Learning Collaborative.
While this seminar is, in large part, a literature survey course, much of the material we will interrogate will be visual, or have a visual element. Therefore, a portion of our conversation will be the nature of visual media read as a text is read. Please also note—because this course is rooted in some interrogation of African American history and culture, some of its materials will be challenging—its details at times brutal and difficult. This course, however, is designed in the hope that we, as a community, arrive at honest assessments and understandings of not only these dispensations of time, our fellow neighbor and countryman, but ourselves. Our goal and objective together should be to learn, to raise important questions, to add to our personal toolkits of critical thinking and analysis, and, most importantly, to grow.
While this seminar is, in large part, a literature survey course, much of the material we will interrogate will be visual, or have a visual element. Therefore, a portion of our conversation will be the nature of visual media read as a text is read. Please also note—because this course is rooted in some interrogation of African American history and culture, some of its materials will be challenging—its details at times brutal and difficult. This course, however, is designed in the hope that we, as a community, arrive at honest assessments and understandings of not only these dispensations of time, our fellow neighbor and countryman, but ourselves. Our goal and objective together should be to learn, to raise important questions, to add to our personal toolkits of critical thinking and analysis, and, most importantly, to grow.
- Teacher: Nathan McClain