LIT 4322 Spring 2020 McGregory

Ours has been called a global "age of rights," an era in which respect for human rights is considered the highest aspiration of the international democratic community. With its literary approach, this course endeavors to make human rights “real” by emphasizing limitations in our own backyard. Rather than a globalizing gaze directed elsewhere, since the legitimate aim of the International Declaration of Human Rights is to eradicate significant and systematic human suffering, a closer inspection of its erosion at home may guarantee our democratic idea of freedom, dignity, and personal equality for all. Ultimately, the course will interrogate a multiplicity of genres (from contemporary novels to graphic art); models of oppression beyond the usual suspected –isms by including adultism, ableism, ageism; and engaging a range of historical moments.