See slightly edited syllabus below. (Also — Remember that you must read all of James Weldon Johnson’s novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by 5/21 so keep on with that reading now.)
English/Africana 265 in Spring Term 2024
CONSTRUCTING BLACK LIVES IN FILM AND LITERATURE
Professor: Leslie Wingard Cunningham, W & L University
Office: Washington Hall 304
Email: lwcunningham@wlu.edu
Class Days/Time/Locale: TWR 9:00 am–12:00 noon in Washington 115
Office Hours: By appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES
In this cultural studies course, we will pay close attention to the ways in which 19th, 20th and 21st century African American life narratives are constructed on film, in other visual art, and in literature. In fact, our work together will consider a wide variety of texts: classic, contemporary, and documentary films, poetry, critical articles, fiction, music lyrics, memoir, and even visual art at several museums. We will engage with at least six guest speakers from off-campus and several on-campus. And we will boldly contest provocative stances about each of our texts. Our goal will be to investigate the impact of historical events and processes upon Black people, the ways Black identities are performed, and the relationship between race, class, gender, religion, and sexuality. Overall, the class topic will allow us to be active academicians conducting vibrant interdisciplinary scholarship and to practice building the strongest of cases (even making a case for some positions with which we do not agree!).
Strong analysis of such varied stories depends upon our ability to give complex, evidence-based interpretations of them, so here is what we will learn and repeat 1.) skillfully close reading/explicating; 2.) arguing our points aloud in debate; and 3.) writing our thoughts clearly. Pay attention to key terms and phrases throughout the class, such as: anachronism, historiography, irony, counter-narrative, palimpsest, Old South and New South, memoir vs. autobiography, modernist literature, tragic mulatto, the ethics of filmmaking, primal moment, diaspora/dispersal, and more.
COURSE TEXTS
- James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912)
- Melba Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry (1994)
- Critical articles distributed during class in hardcopy for your convenience (be sure to hold on to these)
Films (required)
- Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust (1991)
- Robert Stone Productions’ Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space (2023)
- Clark Johnson’s Boycott (2001)
- Spike Lee’s Four Little Girls (1997)
Films (as supplement)
- Joseph Sirk’s Imitation of Life (1959)
- Youtube’s review of Imitation of Life (featuring “where are they now?” re: actresses)
- Youtube’s Legacy of the Little Rock Nine: Featuring Ernest Green and Melba Pattillo Beals
GRADING
30% Blog Activity (at least 1 substantive post and/or at least 2 thoughtful comments per week)
15% Essay 1 due to Canvas Sunday May 19 by midnight
15% Essay 2 due to Canvas Sunday May 26 by midnight
40% Class Participation (including active engagement in debates and with guest speakers)
More specifically, class participation includes FIVE things total….
1)attendance on T, W, and Th mornings;
2)verbal participation in large group and small group discussions in and outside of our classroom (in debates and with guest speakers);
3)a first attempt at Essay 1 and 2’s what/how/why thesis with counter-argument (submitted to LWC and/or to partners) and/or an exchange of the first few paragraphs of Essay 1 or 2 for feedback from partners;
4)a self-reflection on your first essay writing process and/or your overall performance in the first 2 weeks of class submitted to LWC;
5.)occasional quizzes in class if assigned
FORMATTING AND TIMELINES FOR TWO ESSAYS
Your essays are to be written in Microsoft Word and deposited electronically via Canvas as a “doc” file and NOT as a pdf — by midnight on Sunday May 19 and midnight on Sunday May 26. Late papers drop one whole letter grade per day, including weekends (so, don’t be late). I do not grant extensions. Specific prompts for these essays are To Be Announced (TBA) by May 10 and May 17. Those prompts will tell you exactly how to cite references. Also — Visit the writing center in Leyburn Library Sunday through Thursday from 3-6 pm to improve your work!
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Washington and Lee University makes reasonable academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. All undergraduate accommodations must be approved through the Office of the Dean of the College. Students requesting accommodations for this course should present an official accommodation letter within the first two weeks of the term and schedule a meeting outside of class time to discuss accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to present this paperwork in a timely fashion and to follow up about accommodation arrangements. Accommodations for test-taking must be arranged with the professor at least a week before the date of the test or exam, including finals. (See: https://www.wlu.edu/the-college/for-students/disability-accommodations )
CLASS SCHEDULE IN FOUR UNITS
p.s. The texts listed under each day are to be read/viewed for that day.
Unit 1 = Literary and Cultural Depictions of Civil Rights Activism
Tuesday 4/30
Introductions
Opening of the film Boycott (terms: anachronism, counter-narrative, historiography, irony)
Rita Dove poetry selections (“The Situation…” and “Sit Back…”)
Instructional Technology Workshop about blogging
Wednesday 5/1
Rita Dove poetry selection (“Climbing In”)
Critical article about full film Boycott
Viewing of film Four Little Girls
First blog post with comments due
Thursday 5/2
Critical article about Four Little Girls (consider: ethics of documentary-making)
Four Little Girls vs. Boycott debate
Tuesday 5/7
Warriors Don’t Cry memoir (terms: palimpsest, Old South & New South, memoir vs autobiography)
Second blog post with comments due
Prep for Wednesday’s mini version of a debate
Quick talk by campus museum personnel (to get us ready for field trip)
Wednesday 5/8
Warriors Don’t Cry
Mini version of debate
Quick talk by library special collections personnel (to get us ready for field trip)
Unit 2 = Still Suffering? — Lingering Effects of Slavery in Visual Art and Writing
Thursday 5/9
Field trip to Brownsburg Museum exhibit “Interwoven: Unearthed Stories of Slavery” (meet shuttle at 8:20)
Start Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and finish by Tuesday 5/21 (suggestion – read Chaps 1 to 6 by 5/9! & Read Chaps 7 through the end of novel by Tuesday 5/21!)
Friday 5/10
Formal writing assignment #1 announcement
Monday 5/13
Keep reading Autobiography of an Ex Colored Man and brainstorming first essay assigned
Tuesday 5/14
No class meeting today (but you should keep reading Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (finish by 5/21) and submit your thesis draft + Aaron Coleman questions to LWC’s email inbox by 8 pm tonight)
Wednesday 5/15 – fyi: two camerapersons will be in class to photograph us at 9 am
Discuss our plan for chat with poet Aaron Coleman later during this class session AND the blog posts due tonight (or blog comments due in the morning) re: Warriors Don’t Cry, the Brownsburg art exhibit, and the Glenn Ligon art
Introduction to Daughters of the Dust film (refer to list of characters as you watch)
REMINDER — Post to blog if you are assigned to do so by tonight at 10 pm and/or Comment to the blog if you are assigned to do so by Thursday (tomorrow) morn at 8 am
Guest speaker – poet Aaron Coleman from University of Michigan from 11 am to 12 noon
Thursday 5/16
Prep for discussion with poet Van Jordan, first impressions of Daughters of the Dust film, review of critical articles about film
Reminder to keep reading James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (in full by 5/21)
Guest speaker – poet Van Jordan from Stanford University
Friday 5/17
Formal writing assignment #2 announcement
Unit Three = Tracing Roots: From Central Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Beyond…
Tuesday 5/21 – Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man should be finished in full by today
Daughters of the Dust independent film (debate prep discussion)
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space documentary film
Guest speaker – scholar Eve Dunbar from Vassar College (on Hurston and anthropology)
Unit Four = Where Do We Go from Here and WHY?
Wednesday 5/22
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man debate/discussion (how does debating help us overall?)
Guest speaker – scholar Ayesha Hardison from University of Kansas on a discovery in the field of Black comics AND on the broader public project called “History of Black Writing” or HBW (how does this type work help us overall?)
Thursday 5/23
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man continued debate/discussion (how does debating help us overall?)
Princeton University/Lafayette College Professor Lindsay Griffith Brown’s video “Loose Translation Across the Black Diaspora” (how does this type project help us overall?)
Re-cap of the course & A class celebration