THE BLACK INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

AAAS 168B

Spring 2015

Monday, 2:00-4:50 pm

Golding Judaica Center103

Professor Chad Williams

Mandel 219

e-mail:

Office Hours: Tuesday, 10:00-12:00, by appointment

The goal of this course is to provide a broad introduction to the people, ideas, and debates that constitute the black intellectual tradition from slavery to the present. One of the most pernicious historical misconceptions about African Americans and peoples of African descent has been that they lack the capacity for critical thinking and the ability to articulate complex ideas. This course begins from the premise that black people do indeed have an intellectual tradition and that black intellectuals, in their various guises, have made significant contributions to how we think about the modern world. We will read foundational texts and essays from key figures in the black intellectual tradition and situate them within their appropriate historical context. We will seek to understand how these men and women confronted issues of race, class, gender, freedom, citizenship, uplift, internationalism, and responsibility in their work and how their ideas have shaped the broader history of African Americans and peoples of African descent.

Students enrolled in this course will:

  • Develop an understanding of the breadth and complexity of the black intellectual tradition
  • Critically interrogate the ideas of black thinkers through intense discussion and debate with the professor and their fellow students
  • Develop their historical and analytical writing skills through a series of response papers based on the course readings and a substantive research paper.

REQUIRED READINGS

Books

The following books are available for purchase in the Brandeis University Bookstore

  • James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (Vintage, 1992)
  • Mia Bay, The White Image in the Black Mind: African-American Ideas about White People, 1830-1925 (Oxford, 2000)
  • AimeCesaire, Discourse on Colonialism(Monthly Review, 2001)
  • W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk(Oxford, 2007)
  • Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought (New Press, 1995)
  • Emily Rabateau, Searching for Zion (Grove Press, 2014)
  • Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper, 2006)

Essays and Articles

Assigned essays and articles, as indicated on the weekly course schedule with (L), will be made available through our LATTE page.

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS

Reading Presentation

Students will be responsible for one class presentation, approximately 10 minutes in length. The goal of the presentation is to not simply summarize the readings but elucidate their central themes and frame them for our class discussion. A successful presentation will:

  • Articulate the central themes and issues of the week’s readings.
  • Briefly discuss the readings, how they relate to each other, and their larger connection to the central theme of the week.
  • Pose a series of discussion questions for the class to consider.

You must e-mail me an outline of your presentation is due by 8:00 pm the Sunday before class.

LATTE Discussion Board Posts

Each student is required to complete six (6) “posts” on the course LATTE discussion board (minimum 500 words) and five (5) “comments” (minimum 50 words) on others’ discussion board posts. Contributions to the discussion board will be graded in the same way that formal writing assignments would be graded. You must therefore pay attention to the technical aspects of their writing (spelling, grammar, punctuation) as well as the compositionalaspects (clarity of thesis, style, organization of argument, relevance, etc.). Additional posts and comments in excessof the requirements will be rewarded as extra credit towards your class participation grade.

Posts are due by 5:00 pm on the dates indicated on the syllabus. Comments can be posted throughout the week. At the start of a new week, the comments section for the previous week will be closed.

Your discussion board posts can take a number of different approaches: What burning questions does this week’sreading(s) raise for you, why and how should we discuss this in class? What does a passage or significant quote mean andhow might we better understand it? What is the author’s argument and what’s at stake? You might also consider twoweeks’ readings into dialogue with one another: how are the texts in conversation? What are the parallels or divergences,for example, on issues of uplift or armed revolution or education? The primary goals of this assignment are to strengthen your writing skills and toprepare you to participate in a shared dialogue on the black intellectual tradition, both historically and contemporarily. Other goals ofthis assignment are to help you stay on top of your reading, to learn to identify contradictions and/or points of confusionwithin the text as well strengthen your close reading skills, and to guide class discussion.

Memoir Paper

Autobiographies and personal narratives of AfricanAmerican and African diaspora activists have served as core texts of the black intellectual tradition. They have been important tools for organizing support for social movements,offering validation of black people’s experiences and humanity and challenging the legacies of white supremacy. Inaddition, memoirs have provided an alternative space for black voices to be heard when they have been excluded orignored by academic, media and political institutions. This assignment offers you the opportunity to critically reflect onyour own experiences.

The Memoir should describe either a moment or some aspect of life that has informed your views regarding race, broadly, or the historical experience of black people, specifically. The Memoir should be reflective and insightful, not merely a diary ofevents.

-1 page proposal for your memoir, which should outline the period of your life that you plan to describe and thethemes you plan to explore.

-Memoir Workshop Assignment, which will help jumpstart your thinking about this project (more details tofollow).

-The Memoir: 15-20 pages, stapled, title page, numbered, double–spaced with 1 inch margins and 12 point TimesNew Roman font.

-Due Date: Wednesday, April 29 by 9:00 am on LATTE

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Engaged participation is essential for success in the course. You are expected to complete all reading assignments and contribute to classroom discussions. If you are hesitant to make a comment for whatever reason, make sure to come prepared to ask questions, which you should formulate in advance of class.

GRADING

Reading Presentation:20%

LATTE Discussion Board:20%

Memoir Paper:40%

Class Participation:20%

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is absolutely mandatory. The presence of every student is valued and unexcused absences risk disrupting the cohesion of the class. Repeated absences are disrespectful to me, as your professor, as well as your fellow classmates. If you plan to miss a class, you must have a valid excuse (ie. sickness or injury, family emergency) and inform me ahead of time. More than two unexcused absences will result in a one-third reduction of your final grade.

CLASSROOM CONDUCT

Your classroom conduct will be a factor in your participation grade. You are expected to arrive to class on time, be attentive (no falling asleep), focused (no cellphones, i-pods, etc.), and maintain the highest standards of collegiality with your classmates. Please use the restroom BEFORE you come to class. Acts of disrespect will not be tolerated. Repeated disruptive behavior may result in your failure of the course.

COMPUTER POLICY

Laptop computers, I-Pads or other relevant electronic devices are allowed for the specific use accessing the assigned course readings on LATTE. Use of your electronic device for any other purpose is strictly prohibited. Any violation of this policy will result in the prohibition of your electronic device for future use in the classroom.

DISABILITY POLICY

If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability, please contact me and present your letter of accommodation as soon as possible.

If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations, you should contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in Academic Services (x6-3470 or (.)

Letters of accommodation should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure provision of accommodations. Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1 (1/12):Defining the Black Intellectual Tradition

Readings:

  • Cornel West, “The Dilemma of the Black Intellectual” (L)
  • Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “The Master’s Pieces: On Canon Formation and the African-American Tradition” (L)
  • Lewis Gordon, “Black Intellectual Tradition” (L)

Week 2 (1/19):No Class—Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Week 3 (1/26):Writing and Remembering Slavery

Readings:

  • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ch. 6-7 (L)
  • Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, ch. 1-4 (L)
  • Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “The Trope of the Talking Book” (L)
  • Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, excerpts (L)

Week 4 (2/2):Black on White in Slavery and Freedom

Readings:

  • Mia Bay, The White Image in the Black Mind, ch. 1-5
  • Frederick Douglass, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” (L)
  • Rev. Henry McNeal Turner, “I Claim the Rights of a Man” (L)
  • David Walker, David Walker’s Appeal (excerpt) (L)
  • Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, “We Are All Bound Up Together” (L)

Week 5 (2/9):Racial Uplift and Education

Readings:

  • W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, ch. 1-3
  • Mia Bay, The White Image in the Black Mind, ch. 6
  • Mary Church Terrell, “The Progress of Colored Women” in Words of Fire
  • Anna Julia Cooper, “The Status of Woman in America,” in Words of Fire
  • Booker T. Washington, “Atlanta Exposition Address;” “The Awakening of the Negro” (L)

Week 6 (2/16):No Class—Midterm Recess

Week 7 (2/23):Life and Death in the “Nadir”

Readings:

  • W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, ch. 4-14
  • Ida B. Wells-Barnett, “Lynch Law in America” in Words of Fire
  • Alexander Crummell, “Civilization, the Primal Need of the Race” (L)

Week 8 (3/2):The New Negro

Readings:

  • Alaine Locke, “The New Negro” (L)
  • Marcus Garvey, “The New Negro and the UNIA” (L)
  • Alice Dunbar-Nelson, “The Negro Woman and the Ballot,” in Words of Fire
  • Amy Jacques Garvey, “Our Women Getting into the Larger Life,” “Women as Leaders,” in Words of Fire
  • MinkahMakalani, In the Cause of Freedom, ch. 2

In Class Film:Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind

Week 9 (3/9):Race, Gender, and the Politics of Black Representation

Readings:

  • Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • Richard Wright, “Blueprint for Negro Writing” (L)
  • W. E. B. Du Bois, “Criteria of Negro Art” (L)
  • George Schuyler, “The Negro Art Hokum” (L)
  • Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (L)

Week 10 (3/16):Radical Internationalism and Black Liberation in the Diaspora

Readings:

  • AimeCesaire, Discourse on Colonialism
  • Franz Fanon, “On Violence” (L)
  • C.L.R. James, A History of Pan-African Revolt (excerpt) (L)

Week 11 (3/23):Black Identity in the Civil Rights Era (Brandeis Monday)

Readings:

  • James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
  • Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Words of Fire, Ch. 3
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter From Birmingham Jail” (L)
  • Malcolm X, “The Ballot of the Bullet” (L)
  • E. Franklin Frazier, “The Failure of the Negro Intellectual” (L)

Week 12 (3/30):Modern Black Feminist Thought

Readings:Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Words of Fire, Ch. 4-5

Week 13 (4/6):Passover and Spring Recess—No Class

Week 14 (4/13):Rise of the Modern Black Public Intellectual

Readings:

  • Margaret Walker Alexander, “Black Women in Academia” in Words of Fire
  • Cornel West, “Nihilism in Black America;” “The Crisis of Black Leadership” (L)
  • Michael Eric Dyson, “Black Youth, Pop Culture, and the Politics of Nostalgia” (L)
  • bell hooks, “Black Women Intellectuals” (L)
  • Glenn Loury, “Beyond Civil Rights” (L)
  • John McWhorter, “The New Black Double Consciousness” (L)
  • Shelby Steele, “I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent” (L)

Week 15 (4/20):Diaspora, Identity and the Search for Home

  • Rabateau, Searching for Zion
  • Colin Palmer, “Defining and Studying the Modern African Diaspora” (L)

Week 16 (4/27):The Black Intellectual Tradition in the Age of Obama

Readings:

  • Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Fear of a Black President” (L)
  • Imani Perry, “The New Black Public Intellectual” (L)
  • Chris Hedges, “The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic” (L)
  • Melissa Harris-Perry, “Cornel West v. Barack Obama” (L)
  • Melissa Harris-Perry, “Breaking News: Not All Black Intellectuals Think Alike” (L)
  • Brittney Cooper, “The War On Black Intellectuals: What (Mostly) White men Keep Getting Wrong About Public Scholarship (L)
  • Touré, Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness, excerpts (L)

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