HarlemRenaissance.doc

University of New MexicoAFST/ENGL397; AMST 357Intro to the Harlem RenaissanceFall 2008MWF 9:00-9:50Mitchell 204Professor K. Matthews Email: Phone: 277-2415 Hours: MW 1:00-2:00 or by appt. Humanities 347This course will introduce students to the primary concerns, events and personalities of the Harlem, or New Negro, Renaissance, a period stretching roughly from 1914 to 1937. Because the Renaissance was primarily a cultural happening, our discussion and analysis will focus on the periods literary, musical and visual arts. But we will begin with a brief look at the political, economic, and social conditions under which most black Americans lived at the turn of the twentieth century and at the factors that contributed to the extraordinary confluence of artists, activists and intellectuals in Harlem.What did it mean to be black in the United States in the early twentieth century? How did other affiliations (e.g., political, ethnic or class) or identifications (gender, sexuality) affect ones answer to this question (or if one even thought it was a question worth asking and answering)? The texts we will consider reflect the diverse backgrounds, perspectives, commitments and artistic inclinations that Harlem Renaissance artists and intellectuals brought to their efforts to fashion a new order for a “New Negro.” Required TextsDouble-Take: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology, Venetria K. Patton & Maureen Honey, eds. Nella Larsen, Quicksand (Penguin).Wallace Thurman, The Blacker the Berry (Touchstone).Selected poems, short stories and essays (on e-reserve or provided in class)We will also be watching two documentaries, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson and Against the Odds: The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance, and listening to various musical selections. These will be on reserve at Zimmerman. I will schedule a group viewing of the films, but you may also watch them on your own. Course Requirements and GradingParticipationYou must be in class in order to participate, so regular and punctual attendance is your first obligation. More than three absences will result in a lowered final grade. Whenever possible, you should notify me in advance if you have to miss class. As the above “punctual” suggests, I also frown on lateness. Being more than 10 minutes late for class counts as an absence; therefore habitual tardiness will adversely affect your participation and overall grade. Second, you cannot just be a warm body occupying a seat. You should complete the assigned reading or viewing before class and come prepared to share your questions, ideas, critiques and the like. The point is not so much to have the “right” answer or interpretation as to demonstrate that youve thought about the texts under discussion and are willing to engage seriously with them, your classmates and me. Note that I include “classmates” in the list; discussion should include all of us, and therefore you should get into the habit of addressing your comments and questions to each other as well as to me. I will be taking attendance and noting the level and quality of your participation each time we meet. After a few sessions, I may begin calling on students who are not contributing on a regular basis. Finally, I reserve the right to give in-class quizzes (which will count toward your participation grade) if it seems the reading is not being done. EssaysYou will write three essays during the semester, two shorter ones of 4-5 pages for which no research or secondary sources will be necessary, and one longer one of 6-8 pages for which they will. Essay 1 is due in week 5, essay 2 in week 9 and essay 3 on the last day of class. I will provide prompts for each essay at least one week before it is due, but you may also write on a topic of your own provided you discuss it with me first. Papers should be turned in to my mailbox in the English Department office (Humanities 229) by the time indicated on the schedule. Late essays will be penalized one-third of a grade for every day they are late. Further information about topics, format, grading criteria and the like will be provided in class at a later date.*Note: I encourage youto discuss your essay ideas with each other and me and to visit the Writing Center at CAPS for assistance at any stage of the writing process, from developing an argument to polishing a final draft. Keep in mind, however, that all work you submit for this class is governed by the Universitys academic regulations and student code of conduct (see ). That means any writing you submit in this class must be done for this class and must be your own. Representing someone elses workwhether words, ideas or organizationas your own is plagiarism, a serious academic offense. The penalties for plagiarism or any other form of cheating range from failure of the assignment in question to failure of the course and more serious sanctions at the University level. A visit to Zimmerman Library in October will introduce you to some of the many books, periodicals, databases and other resources available to you as researchers in this course. If you have any questions about how to use and cite these sources properly, you should come see me, consult a good writing handbook or visit the Writing Center. Writing Center at CAPS: 505-277-7208/writingGroup ProjectYou will work in groups of 3-4 on a final project that you will present to the class in December. I will provide some guidelines about the scope and goals of the project in the coming weeks, but they will be purposely broad because I want you to work together to determine whats most interesting, challenging and/or important about the period and the issues well discuss, and how best to reflect on, deepen and add to what youve learned. Be creative! You should begin thinking about what issue or topic youd like to present on as soon as possible. I will likely allow you to pick your own groups, so you need to talk to each other to see if you have similar or complementary interests. Of course, you also want to pick partners who will do their fair share of the work. I recognize that between classes, jobs, extracurricular activities and personal responsibilities, finding times where all the members of your group will be able to meet may be difficult. Therefore, beginning in October, one class day per month will be given over to work on the project. Keep in mind though that these sessions are intended to supplement the work you do outside of class; they should not be the only times you meet as a group. GradingParticipation 15%Essay 115%Essay 220%Group Project25%Final Essay25%Schedule: Reading/viewing should be completed by the date on which it is listed. Any changes to the schedule will be minor and communicated in advance. Items in bold will be on e-reserve (or, in a few instances, provided in class); please be sure to bring physical copies of all readings to class on the day we are to discuss them. Week 1Mon 8/25Introduction to courseWed 8/27Alain Locke, “The New Negro”; A. Philip Randolph & Chandler Owen, “The New NegroWhat is He?”Fri 8/29Marcus Garvey, “Who and What is a Negro?”; W.A. Domingo, “Gift of the Black Tropics” Week 2Mon 9/1Labor DayWed 9/3Arthur A. Schomburg, “The Negro Digs Up His Past”; Marcus Garvey, “Africa for the Africans”Fri 9/5James Weldon Johnson, “Harlem: The Culture Capital”; Rudolph Fisher, “The Caucasian Storms Harlem”Week 3Mon 9/8Elise Johnson McDougald, “The Task of Negro Womanhood”; Marita O. Bonner, “On Being Younga Womanand Colored”Wed 9/10Alice Dunbar-Nelson, “Womans Most Serious Problem”; Zora Neale Hurston, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”Fri 9/12Zora Neale Hurston, “Spirituals and Neo-Spirituals”; Langston Hughes, “Songs Called the Blues”; Carl Van Vechten, from Keep Inchin AlongWeek 4Mon 9/15Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (DVD)Wed 9/17George S. Schuyler, “The Negro-Art Hokum”; Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” Fri 9/19W.E.B. Du Bois, “Criteria of Negro Art”; Alain Locke, “Art or Propaganda?”Week 5Essay 1 due 9/22 by 12:30 PMMon 9/22James Weldon Johnson, “The Creation,” “The White Witch,” “My City,” “Brothers,” “Listen Lord, a Prayer”Wed 9/24Alice Dunbar-Nelson, “Violets,” “You! Inez!” “I Sit and Sew,” “The Proletariat Speaks”; Georgia Douglas Johnson, “The Heart of a Woman,” “Motherhood,” “The Octoroon,” “The Black Runner,” “I Want to Die While You Love Me”Fri 9/26Angelina Weld Grimk, “Goldie”; Marita Bonner, “One Boys Story”Week 6Mon 9/29Jessie Redmon Fauset, “Mary Elizabeth”; John F. Matheus, “Fog”Wed 10/1Claude McKay, “If We Must Die,” “Africa,” “America,” “The Lynching,” “The White House”Fri 10/3Claude McKay, “The Harlem Dancer,” “Harlem Shadows,” “The Tropics in New York,” “St. Isaacs Church, Petrograd”Week 7Mon 10/6Library VisitWed 10/8Zora Neale Hurston, “Sweat,” “The Gilded Six-Bits”Fri 10/10Zora Neale Hurston, Color-StruckWeek 8Mon 10/13Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 1-12Wed 10/15Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 13-25Fri 10/17Fall Break DayWeek 9Essay 2 due 10/22 by 12:30 PMMon 10/20In-class work on group projectWed 10/22Jean Toomer, from Cane: “Song of the Son,” “Portrait in Georgia,” “Karintha,” “Blood-Burning Moon”Fri 10/24Jean Toomer, from Cane: “Seventh Street,” “Rhobert,” “Avey”Week 10Mon 10/27Rudolph Fisher, “City of Refuge,” “Miss Cynthie”Wed 10/29Sterling Brown, “Ma Rainey,” “Sam Smiley,” “Southern Road,” “Strong Men”; Arna Bontemps, “A Black Man Talks of Reaping,” “A Summer Tragedy”Fri 10/31Gwendolyn B. Bennett, “Heritage,” “To a Dark Girl,” “Hatred,” “Advice”; Helene Johnson, “My Race,” “Magalu” “Mother” “Poem” “Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem”Week 11Mon 11/3Countee Cullen, “Heritage,” “Yet Do I Marvel,” “From the Dark Tower”Wed 11/5Countee Cullen, “Tableau,” “Colored Blues Singer,” “To John Keats, Poet, at Spring Time,” “To Certain Critics”Fri 11/7Richard Bruce Nugent, “Sahdji,” “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade!”; Dorothy West, “The Typewriter”Week 12Mon 11/10In-class work on group projectWed 11/12Langston