Bard - Introduction to African American History

 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads demonstrators during the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, March 1965 
Source: Huffington Post (http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/212261/slide_212261_754640_free.jpg)

Course Description

This course explores African-American history through the lens of literary texts by one of the most important Black writers of the 20th century: James Baldwin. Students will engage with these texts as both works of art and as historical artifacts—reflecting and interrogating the lived experiences, cultural transformations, and political movements that have shaped Black life in America. Students will develop critical thinking, close reading, and analytical writing skills while investigating topics such as racial identity, systemic oppression, cultural memory, family, masculinity, migration, and liberation.

Course Objectives

  • Analyze and interpret literature as a lens into African-American history and identity.

  • Trace historical and cultural developments in the U.S. from Reconstruction through the late 20th century.

  • Engage in close reading, discussion, and writing to develop and support original arguments.

  • Examine the intersections of race, gender, class, and power in literary and historical contexts.

  • Develop expressive and analytical writing through essays, journals, and projects.

Formatting: Please complete all written assignments in Times New Roman, 12 point font,  double spaced, with one inch margins on the right and left, top and bottom. Use the Chicago  Manual of Style to format your footnotes or  endnotes.   

Academic integrity:  Students are expected to adhere to our school's academic integrity policies  in every assignment.  Plagiarism will not be tolerated and may result in academic penalties. 

Grading

Annotations: 20% 

Professionalism: 10% 

Tests: 20% 

Essays: 50%

Unit 1: Witness & Fire — James Baldwin and the Making of the Modern Civil Rights Consciousness

Texts:

  • “Notes of a Native Son”
  • Essays from Notes of a Native Son  (1955)

Key Historical Themes:

  • The legacy of slavery and segregation
  • Race, religion, and identity
  • Baldwin’s critique of American moral consciousness

Core Assignments:

  • Close-reading journal: rhetorical power of Baldwin’s voice
  • Socratic seminar: Baldwin and the role of the witness
  • Analytical essay: “What does Baldwin demand of America—and of us?”

Unit 2: Exile, Representation, and the Price of Citizenship — James Baldwin’s “Journey to Atlanta” and “Equal in Paris”

Texts:

  • “Journey to Atlanta” (1955)
  • “Equal in Paris” (1955)

Key Historical Themes:

  • The limits and contradictions of American citizenship for Black Americans
  • Exile as refuge and resistance: Paris as a space of possibility
  • The politics of Black representation in Cold War America
  • Comedy, absurdity, and tragedy in confronting racial injustice

Core Assignments:

  • Historical context essay: The Cold War, Civil Rights, and the politics of “representing” America abroad
  • Close reading: Baldwin’s use of irony, tone, and personal narrative in shaping political critique
  • Comparative analysis: Representations of freedom and incarceration in “Equal in Paris” vs. American narratives of justice
  • Creative project: Write a modern “journey” essay exploring identity, citizenship, and belonging in today’s global context

Unit 3: Mask, Protest, and the Limits of Representation — James Baldwin’s “Many Thousands Gone” and “Everybody’s Protest Novel”

 Texts:

  • “Everybody’s Protest Novel” (1949)
  • “Many Thousands Gone” (1951)

Key Historical Themes:

  • The role of literature in the Black freedom struggle: art vs. propaganda
  • The legacy of slavery and the creation of the “Negro” mask
  • Baldwin’s critique of sentimentalism and moral oversimplification
  • The psychological and cultural effects of racial caricature in American literature

Core Assignments:

  • Analytical essay: Baldwin vs. Wright — rethinking Native Son and the role of the protest novel
  • Seminar discussion: The “mask” and double consciousness — Baldwin in conversation with Du Bois
  • Rhetorical analysis: Baldwin’s critique of stereotype, sentimentality, and simplification

Creative assignment: Write a fictional character sketch that resists stereotype and embraces complexity