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Do you know how to make yourself understood? How to express your thoughts and feelings — and persuade people — in the best way you possibly can? Revision, writing, more revision, more writing, and a host of mind-opening activities are what you can expect in this course. Everyone in class is a scholar in residence, a participant in the act of learning.

Do you know how to make yourself understood? How to express your thoughts and feelings — and persuade people — in the best way you possibly can? Revision, writing, more revision, more writing, and a host of mind-opening activities are what you can expect in this course. Everyone in class is a scholar in residence, a participant in the act of learning.

This introductory course on African American dramatic literature explores the complex ways in which the black experience is constructed and presented by playwrights. In order to examine who or what informs contemporary Black playwrights, this course is divided into three parts. First, it will include a historical overview of early Black theatre beyond and within the United States. Second, it will analyze how contemporary playwrights have been influenced by Lorraine Hansberry, Leroi Jones, and Ntozake Shange. Third, it will consider the extent to which contemporary Black playwrights use theatre and performance to examine the social and political realities of Africana people. During the semester, students may have an opportunity to experience a theatrical production in New York City.

This introductory course on African American dramatic literature explores the complex ways in which the black experience is constructed and presented by playwrights. In order to examine who or what informs contemporary Black playwrights, this course is divided into three parts. First, it will include a historical overview of early Black theatre beyond and within the United States. Second, it will analyze how contemporary playwrights have been influenced by Lorraine Hansberry, Leroi Jones, and Ntozake Shange. Third, it will consider the extent to which contemporary Black playwrights use theatre and performance to examine the social and political realities of Africana people. During the semester, students may have an opportunity to experience a theatrical production in New York City.