ENGL 364-01, Locating the Harlem Renaissance(s), Fall 2008

Abstract

This course will acquaint students with the literature and material culture of the Harlem Renaissance, allow students to develop the skills of close reading and literary analysis and interpretation, and introduce students to the methodology of African American literary studies. We will read a range of authors, including Langston Hughes, arguably the most well known and prolific figure of the HR, Claude McKay, Nella Larsen, Jean Toomer, Alain Locke and others. We will also introduce critics like Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Houston Baker in order to provide a theoretical framework for critiquing the Harlem Renaissance as a cultural phenomenon. Finally, each student will also have an opportunity to write creatively in modes pioneered by Hughes.