ENG 329-01 - Studies in African American Literature

4 credits (Spring)

“Miscegenation Nation.” Miscegenation is defined as “interbreeding among the races.” Anti-miscegenation laws have played an immeasurable role in policing race relations throughout most of our country’s history. And yet, over the last thirty years and particularly in the wake of Barack Obama’s presidency, there has been an increase in the depiction of interracial relationships in novels, film and television. However, despite the outward appearance of a happily multicultural America, we are living through a very contentious uprising of racial terror and historical knowledge suppression such as critical race theory and book bans, as well as ongoing voting disenfranchisement. By reading and discussing literary, scholarly, legal and visual texts we will explore the ways in which depictions of interracial dating and marriage between Black and white people have evolved from the turn of the 19th century to contemporary times.

Prerequisite: ENG 225, ENG 227, ENG 228, ENG 229, ENG 231, ENG 232, or ENG 273; with grade S, C, or better.
Instructor: Lavan