Department of English

In 1925, Alain Locke published The New Negro: an Interpretation, an anthology of literary and artistic works by leading figures associated with a movement in Black culture that would become known as the Harlem Renaissance. This year’s 100-year anniversary of the event has prompted new scholarship and numerous commemorations. This seminar will focus on the Harlem Renaissance and its resonances across time and space by engaging material from the end of the US Reconstruction (1880s) to the present to explore what, when, where, whose, and why the Harlem Renaissance. The syllabus will include poetry, essays, long and short fiction and criticism. Students will work with archival materials, newspapers and periodicals, as well as  film, music, artwork, and photography in exhibition catalogues and local collections. Required coursework will include the presentation of a chapter from a scholarly monograph or article associated with the theme of the course for discussion and a seminar paper, along with weekly assignments. Students will have the option of participating in a class trip (not required) in October to New York to see Superfine: Tailoring Black Style and Lorna Simpson: Source Notes at the Metropolitan Museum and to tour the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.