In our fast-paced world, trying to understand the complex roles that race has played—and continues to play—in shaping life in the United States can feel overwhelming.  In this course, we’ll slow things down, roll up our sleeves, and take a deep dive into six novels written by well-known African American authors: Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952), Gwendolyn Brooks’s Maud Martha (1953), James Baldwin’s Another Country (1962), Toni Morrison’s Sula (1973), Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987), and Toni Morrison’s Paradise (1998).  These complex novels reward patience.  Through a collaborative process of close reading each text—carefully unpacking dense passages, grappling with details, and analyzing the complicated ways in which race intersects with gender, sexuality, class, nationality, embodiment, and religion—we’ll discuss how various characters try to make sense of the country in which they live while envisioning, and working to create, a more just country.  By patiently dwelling with these six novels, you’ll have an opportunity to learn from their powerful, painful, hopeful, and beautiful insights as you engage in your own process of coming to terms with the country in which you live.
 
Please note: This course fulfills the Regions requirement and the Time requirement for English.  You must attend the first two class meetings to remain enrolled in the class.