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In this course, we will use essays, play excerpts, short stories, poems, accounts, and novel excerpts to examine the experiences of women of African descent from the sixteenth century to the present. We will consider the ways in which Black women from Phillis Wheatley and Maria Stewart to Rha Goddess and Lynn Nottage address questions about race, gender, class, and sexuality. We will also study how these writers have used various themes, such as motherhood, labor, exploitation, migration, nature, colorism, and love to examine the lives of Black women in private and/or public spaces. Handouts, museum exhibits, and films will also be used as supplemental material/support for the course.

In this course, we will use essays, play excerpts, short stories, poems, accounts, and novel excerpts to examine the experiences of women of African descent from the sixteenth century to the present. We will consider the ways in which Black women from Phillis Wheatley and Maria Stewart to Rha Goddess and Lynn Nottage address questions about race, gender, class, and sexuality. We will also study how these writers have used various themes, such as motherhood, labor, exploitation, migration, nature, colorism, and love to examine the lives of Black women in private and/or public spaces. Handouts, museum exhibits, and films will also be used as supplemental material/support for the course.