Black Women Writers Summer 2023
Week One: Slave Narratives, Gender, Sexuality, and Something Akin to Freedom
Monday, June 12, 2023 (Synchronous on Zoom)
Zoom Link: https://baruch.zoom.us/j/87118807368?pwd=ZHFqVmY4dFA3Ym1uWlpueVdPc3pLQT09
Click here to see Zoom Password on Blackboard
Reading (To be completed after the class intro and a brief lecture. Class will end by 1:00 to give students time to read for the next class. Please note it will likely take 2 hours to complete the reading):
From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Jacobs. This text is in the Baruch College bookstore. You can also access it for free online by clicking this link to free online version of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.
“Preface by the Author” by Linda Brent
“Introduction by the Editor” by L. Maria Child
“Childhood” through “A New Tie to Life”
Homework (due by next class):
- Register for Cuny Commons. Directions to do so are linked here. Directions for Registering for Cuny Commons (scroll to the bottom of the site to register. It will look like this:
After you register you can more readily accept the invite sent to student Cuny emails as listed in Cunyfirst registrar.
- Accept the invite link to Cuny Commons class site linked here Black Women Writers: Flight and Friendship.
- If you have any troubleshooting, make sure you have the correct password for your cuny email; take screenshots for reference, and the help chat located at the bottom of the site is linked here:
https://help.commons.gc.cuny.edu/
And the button to access the chat or email the Cuny Commons help desk looks like this
Tuesday, June 13, 2023 (Synchronous on Zoom)
Reading (continuing from previous class):
From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Jacobs, Read “Preface by the Author” by Linda Brent, “Introduction by the Editor” by L. Maria Child, and “I: Childhood” through “XI: A New Tie to Life”
Homework:
Decide which text (and week) you would like to write your Blog Post connecting the reading that week to contemporary society and culture (worth 20% of your overall grade. Once you sign up, you cannot change your due date). The options are as follows:
- Week One (focus on selections Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Jacobs (Blog post due June 15 note those who go first have the option of revising; others do not)
- Week Two (focus on Mary Church Terrell( writing circa 1901-1920) and the struggle of publishing fiction and race on public transit (Blog post due June 22)
- Week Three Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen and the film adaptation on Netflix Passing (2021) (Blog post due June 29)
- Week Four: Gwendolyn Brooks’s poems “The Bean Eaters” (1949), “Kitchenette Building” (1963), “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” (1963), “Boy Breaking Glass” (1987)” and Sula by Toni Morrison (Blog post due July 6)
Thursday, June 15, 2023 (Synchronous on Zoom)
Reading (due at the start of Class):
Skip “XXII: Fear of Insurrection” and “XIII: The Church and Slavery” and read “XIV: Another Link to Life” to “ XXII: A Loophole of Retreat” and then read “XXVII: A New Destination for the Children” through “XXX: Northward Bound.” (NOTE: The other half of the narrative details prejudice in the North, but eventually, Linda/Harriet Jacobs reunites with her children in the North.) (approximately
Homework:
Comment reply 2-3 sentences to ONE of the provided questions associated with the Instructor’s videos focused on Gender, Sexuality, and Slavery Part I and Part II. Click here for “Instructor Blog Post on Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” also available in the menu at the top of this Cuny Commons site as a drop-down tab under “Instructor Blogs for Comment Reply.”
Post Blog Post connecting Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to Contemporary Culture and Society if you have signed up to do so. Please post by 11:59 pm and copy and the URL for your post to a word doc, make it a hyperlink and submit to Blackboard for assessment.
Week Two: Literary Aspiration and “Failure,” Race and Gender on Public Transportation, and Female Intimacies, Racial Desire, and Queer Relationality (Part I)
Monday, June 19, 2023 (asynchronous on Cuny Commons)
Reading:
Read Mary Church Terrell’s short stories “Betsy’s Borrowed Baby” (circa 1901-1920) (5-pages single spaced) and “Venus and the Night Doctors” circa 1901-1920 (3 pages single spaced), and an archival “Letter from Mary Church Terrell to Mr. Metealf” circa 1901-1920 (1-page single spaced). The titles are hyperlinked, and you need your Cuny ID and password to access them through Newman Library.
Read Part I: Encounter, Chapters One and Two from the novel Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen.
Homework:
Comment reply to two student Blog posts connecting Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and related concepts and themes to contemporary society and culture.
Comment reply to the instructor’s blog post with lecture videos on Mary Church Terrell and Nella Larsen (posted by noon on Monday).
Office hours are 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Mondays on Zoom.
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 (synchronous on Zoom)
Reading:
“Chapters Three and Four” from Part I: Encounter from Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen
Homework:
Let the instructor know in class if you want to attend the off-Broadway play Black Mother Lost Daughter Saturday, June 24, from 3:00-4:30 at the Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street, New York, NY 10007. Below is a location map with directions from Baruch’s College campus for reference. You should use google maps or another navigation app to determine how long you will travel to the theater. We will meet outside at 2:45 pm. Attending this trip and creating a blog post reflection (same expectations as the Blog Post connecting reading to contemporary culture and society) can add 5pts to a critical analysis essay or replace one absence. Everyone gets 2 absences).
Option Class Trip to see the play Black Mother Lost Daughter
THE FLEA THEATER
20 Thomas Street
New York, NY 10007
List of attendees (as of June 20):
- May
- Rose
- Marine
- Nazia
- Effie
- Rosa
- Michael
- Daniel (Harvey)
- Christe
- Mccurphy +1
- Juliemarie
- Azme
Thursday, June 22, 2023, IN PERSON!! New Vertical Building, floor 10, Room 140 UPDATEas of June 20: We will meet ONLINE today on Zoom
Reading:
Part Two: Re-encounter, Chapters 1-4 from Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929)
Homework:
Post your blog post if you are signed up for this week. (This week emphasizes Mary Church Terrell and literary “failure.” Blog posts focused on Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929) will be posted next week. That said, commenting on both texts is welcomed.) Please post by 11:59 pm and copy the URL for your post to a Word doc, make it a hyperlink, and submit it to Blackboard for assessment.
Week Three: Textual Ambiguity, Awkwardness, and Adaption
Monday, June 26, 2023 (asynchronous on Cuny Commons)
Reading:
Read “Part Three: Finale,” the last section of Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen
Homework:
Respond to instructor Blog post prompt (Do you think Irene pushed Clare in the novel? In the film?)
Comment reply 2-3 sentences to 2 peer blog posts connecting Mary Church Terrell and related concepts and themes to contemporary culture and society.
Office hours are 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Mondays on Zoom
Tuesday, June 27, 2023 (synchronous on Zoom)
Reading:
None:
Homework:
Be ready to discuss in class how the novel ended. Start working on Critical Analysis Essay #1 (on Jacobs, Terrell, or Larsen).
Thursday, June 29, 2023, IN PERSON!!! 🙂 New Vertical Building, floor 10, Room 140
Reading:
In class, we will watch and discuss the movie adaptation of Passing, directed by Rebecca Hall (2019).
Homework:
Post a Blog post connecting Passing by Nella Larsen to contemporary culture and society if you have signed up for this week. Please post by 11:59 pm and copy the URL for your post to a Word doc, make it a hyperlink, and submit it to Blackboard for assessment.
Essay # 1 will be due Sunday, July 2, 11:59 pm submitted to Blackboard
Week 4: Black Women and the Black Power Movement, Quotidian and Extraordinary Accumulations of Black Life at Home
Monday, July 3, 2023 (asynchronous on Cuny Commons site)
Reading:
Gwendolyn Brooks Poems
“The Bean Eaters” (1949), “Kitchenette Building” (1963), “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” (1963), “We Real Cool,” “Boy Breaking Glass” (1987)”
“Foreward” by Toni Morrison in Sula by Toni Morrison
Part One of Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison from the beginning through “1921”
Office hours are 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Mondays on Zoom.
Homework:
Watch the Instructor video lecture on the “Foreward” to Sula by Toni Morrison and Youtube video interviews with Gwendolyn Brooks. Comment reply 2-3 sentences to ONE of the videos.
Comment reply to TWO peer blog posts on Passing by Nella Larsen.
Tuesday, July 4, 2023, No Class Holiday
Reading:
None
Homework:
None
Thursday, July Thursday, July 6, 2023 (Synchronous on Zoom)
Reading:
Read from “1922” to the end of Part One in Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison.
Homework:
Post a blog post connecting one or more poems by Gwendolyn Brooks or our reading of Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison to contemporary culture and society if you are signed up for this week. Please post by 11:59 pm and copy the URL for your post to a Word doc, make it a hyperlink, and submit it to Blackboard for assessment.
NOTE: I am traveling this morning and hope to return in time to host the lecture and discussion. If I cannot make it back on time, I will email the class via Blackboard “Announcements.”
Week 5: Literary Recognition and Writing about Black Life; Radical Framing of Friendship as Love of a Lifetime and Queer Potentiality (Part II)
Monday, July 10, 2023 (Asynchronous on the Cuny Commons site)
Reading:
Read Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison Part Two from “1937” up to “1940”
Homework:
Comment reply 2-3 sentences reflecting on Toni Morrison’s responses to interviewers asking why she writes about Black people. The interviews will be embedded into an instructor post.
Comment reply on two peer blog posts on poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks or Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison.
Office hours are 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Mondays on Zoom
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 (Synchronous on Zoom)
Reading:
Finish Reading Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison
Homework:
Start thinking about which essay prompt you to want to do for Critical Analysis Essay # 2.
Thursday, July 13, 2023, IN PERSON!!! 🙂 New Vertical Building, floor 10, Room 140
Reading:
In class, we will watch the Toni Morrison documentary The Pieces that I Am (2019) and discuss it.
Homework:
None.
