Topics in African-American Studies (380-0-21)
Topic
Soul Beauty: Religion and Black Expressive Culture
Instructors
Marlon Millner
Meeting Info
Locy Hall 106: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
W. E. B. Du Bois in his seminal text "The Souls of Black Folks" states, "The innate love of harmony and beauty that set the ruder souls of his people a-dancing, a-singing, and a-laughing raised but confusion and doubt in the soul of the black artist; for the beauty revealed to him was the soul-beauty of a race which his larger audience despised, and he could not articulate the message of another people." This course examines how religion becomes the source language and practices for Black artists to express what it means to be Black in the Americas. The primary text for the course is "Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics," by Josef Sorett. Additional materials will come intellectuals and artists such as Paul Taylor, Katherine Dunham, Barbara McTeer, Toni Morrison, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, bell hooks, Amiri Baraka, Angela Davis, and James Cone, among others. Course will engage literary, visual, dance, musical, and theatrical Black cultures. Course evaluation will be based on weekly Canvas discussion posts, group facilitation of class readings, a short art review, and a final webpage project.
Teaching Method
Readings
Group work
Class participation
Writing assignments
Films / videos
Discussion
Evaluation Method
Group project
Presentations
Class participation
Project, final
Readings
Class Materials (Required)
Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics, ISBN-13: 978-0190064228; ISBN-10: 0190064226 (est. $30)