ENGL 493/631 Course Schedule

Tentative Course Schedule

Note: Syllabus is subject to change; however, I will always alert you to any changes.

Weekly Schedule

Week 1

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

August 27

TR

Course Introduction

Week 2

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

September 3

TR

African American Rhetorical Traditions

On African American Rhetoric by

Adam Banks and Keith Gilyard

Reading Response due on Blackboard

 Week 3

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

September 10

TR

African American Rhetorical Traditions

Afro-American Jeremiad by David Howard-Pitney

Film- King in The Wilderness. Director: Peter Kunhardt. 

Reading Response due on Blackboard

 Week 4

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

September 17

TR

Black Linguistics

Linguistic Justice by April Baker-Bell

Film- The E-Word: Ebonics, Race, and Language Politics Producer: Jonathan Gayles

Reading Response due on Blackboard

 Week 5

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

September 24

TR

The Black Church

The Divided Mind of the Black Church by Raphael G. Warnock

Film- Eyes on The Prize (Part 1): Awakenings 1954-1956 Americas Civil Rights Movement

Reading Response due on Blackboard

 Week 6

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

October 1

TR

The Rhetoric of Violence

Lynching: Violence, Rhetoric, and American Identity by Ursula Ore

Film- Mississippi Burning. Director: Alan Parker.

Reading Response due on Blackboard

 Week 7

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

October 8

TR

Criminal Justice

Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr.

Film- Just Mercy. Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Reading Response due on Blackboard

Open-Book Exam #1 due by Monday Oct. 12th by Midnight

 Week 8

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

October 15

TR

Literacy Studies

Fashioning Lives by Eric Pritchard

Film- Moonlight. Director: Barry Jenkins

Reading Response due on Blackboard

Week 9

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

October 22

TR

Rhetoric and Technology

Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Crow by Ruha Benjamin

Reading Response due on Blackboard

Week 10

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

October 29

TR

Contemporary Discourses

Begin Again by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Film- I Am Not Your Negro. Director: Raoul Peck.

Reading Response due on Blackboard

Week 11

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

Nov. 5

TR

Black Feminism

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower

by Brittney Cooper 

Film- The Color Purple. Director: Steven Spielberg.

Week 12

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

Nov. 12

TR

Black Feminism and Music

The Lemonade Reader: Beyoncé, Black Feminism, and Spirituality 1st Edition by Kinitra D. Brooks and Kameelah L. Martin

Film- Lemonade. Directors: Kahlil Joseph, Beyoncé

Reading Response due on Blackboard

Week 13

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

Nov. 19

TR

Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness

by Reynaldo Anderson, Charles E. Jones, et al. 

Film- Cosmic Slop, “The Space Traders.”  Directors: Reginald Hudlin, Warrington Hudli

Final Essay Proposal Due at Midnight.

Open Book Exam #2 due by Midnight

 Week 14

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

Nov. 26

TR

Thanksgiving Break

 Week 15

Date

Day

Topic of Discussion

Reading Due

Homework Due

Dec. 3

TR

Black Comedy

Furiously Funny by Terrence Tucker

Film- Analyzing White America. Paul Mooney.

Final Exam Essay due by Dec. 14th at Midnight.