ENG 181 examines the relationships through which racial knowledge is constructed and communicated in contemporary literature and historical texts. It approaches racial literacy, and its development, as constructed through sets of relationships between different racial and ethnic groups mediated by culture, history, social media, and assumptions about knowledge (and what is worthy of being deemed as knowledge) and ignorance. Students will study the textual history of racial literacy to segue into how racial literacy and illiteracy manifest in contemporary texts, such as Colson Whitehead’s, The Intuitionist. Moreover, students will be introduced to critical discourse analysis and de-centering whiteness. Students’ ethnographic experiences (real-world experiences) will be included and studied to help frame contemporary issues with racial literacy in contemporary American literature and society.
A broader purpose of this course is to provide a theoretical, analytical, and praxis-based framework for examining beliefs and assumptions about racial identities, practices, worldviews, and differences in contemporary American literature. It’s important to not just examine racial literacy in its contemporary manifestations and contexts, for these current ideologies do not exist in a vacuum. In other words, these contemporary racial ideologies have antecedents that date back to Gomes Eanes de Zurara’s 1453 work, The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. People are often asked to explain or account for the current racial tensions in America, but they can’t effectively work towards racial equity without properly understanding how and why contemporary racial ideologies have become prevalent. Moreover, I will frame how pedagogy functions in the creation, perpetuation, and dissolution of power and who has access to that power.
In an attempt to effectively support students in successfully completing ENG 181, I will be hosting live sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 am-12:00 pm via Zoom. Please attend class. Moreover, I am available at the following times if you would like to meet for an office hour: Tuesday, 12:00 -1:00 pm; Wednesday, 2:00 -4:00 pm; and Thursday, 8:00 -9:00 pm. Office hours can be booked at the following link: Office hour appointments. Please take advantage of the supports I am providing, and feel free to contact me at jebell@vassar.edu if there is anything else that I can do to support you.
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