AFST 43201 - Harlem Renaissance: History and Culture

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Africana Studies

Description:

This course focuses on the broad questions that have emerged as a part of the contemporary study of the Harlem Renaissance. How did the phenomenal array of black cultural production from literature to music emerge within this section of New York City? To what degree did the Great Migration, religion, and politics influence this creativity? And how do we understand the impact of the Renaissance on African-American culture outside of New York? Discussion begins with the many works written directly about Harlem in the 1920s as well as those materials on broader African-American life that emerged from Harlem in the 1930s and early '40s. Further, while exploring the question of black Harlem and its cultural vitality, we will also deal with the interplay of white and black American artists within the New York setting. Readings include many of the traditional writers from James Weldon Johnson to Claude McKay to Zora Neale Hurston, in addition to later writers who made Harlem their focus, such as James Baldwin. To best understand the context of these works, we will discuss histories of African Americans in Harlem and New York City, as well as theoretical work on the making of black cultural expression within urban life.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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