ENG 380 - African American Literature

What is the relationship between African American literature and U.S. imperial expansion into the Caribbean and  beyond ? How does African American literature represent, challenge, and at times justify U.S. imperial expansion? Through a close study of the African American literature produced during and in response to the U.S. Occupation of Haiti (1919-1934), the U.S. invasion of Grenada (1983), and the Obama Presidency (2009-2017), this course will ask students to rethink the relationship between African American literary texts and aesthetics and U.S. empire-building as well as the political values and postures we attribute to African American literature and writers writ large.

Satisfies the Literary, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Fulfills the Historical Approaches requirement of the English major.

Prerequisites & Notes
First-year students require permission of the instructor.