ENG 293 - Special Topics in African American Literature

This seminar explores narratives of health, wellness, and ethics in literature by black women writers. The course will explore the historical categorization of black women as vectors of disease and pathological difference. We will examine discuss the practices of mainstream scientific medicine and research and the various ethical abuses that have occurred against black women’s bodies throughout history in the name of scientific advancement. From psychological and sexual issues to the interrogation of broader social and cultural illness and alternative conceptualizations of health and wellness, this course explores how black women writers understand and approach the question of who is worthy of ethical treatment and how we might begin to relate more humanely across perceived differences.

For undergraduate English majors this course satisfies the Period (C-3) requirement.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered annually