AML 2600 Spring 2025 - Montgomery

This liberal studies course introduces students to representative works in the African-American Literary and Cultural Tradition with a view to interrogating the close relationship between black writing and vernacular sources. We begin with a focus on the slave narrative, then consider the symbolic acts of religion, speech, and music, followed by a reading of canonical works from the early twentieth century up to the contemporary era. Not only will our overview cover major figures, texts, and concerns during successive historical moments, our readings direct attention to the search for freedom, wholeness, and self-identity in America.