ENGL 2870 - Freedom Writes: Literature of Global Justice Struggles

(crosslisted)
(also ASRC 2870) (LA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits.

S. Mohanty, H. Viramontes

This course examines the idealism that has informed the major justice movements of the modern era, drawing on literature, film and music. It is based on the simple idea that cultural texts of U.S. minority groups and of the decolonizing “third world” need to be studied together. Using the methods of textual analysis and historical contextualization that writers and critics employ in their work, Freedom Writes will connect the ongoing struggles for social justice of minoritized populations in the US with the history of struggles for justice by workers, women, and disempowered social groups all over the modern world. Readings from Achebe, Deloria, DuBois, Gandhi, King, Menchu, Ngugi, Shakespeare, Sojourner Truth, and others; music and films from several national traditions.