ENGL 4538 Visual Culture in Black America: The Art and Politics of Seeing and Being Seen
This courses fulfills the Race, Blackness, and Language requirement for English majors. In this course, we will examine the significance of visual culture for Black America, thinking critically about the art and politics of seeing and being seen. Well keep in mind the following questions: what does it mean to see blackness? How do images function as tools of empowerment and disempowerment, or representation and misrepresentation? What role does visual media play in Black life and imagination? Photography will be central to the study of visibility, but well also consider what role other media play in the production of blackness as a visual phenomenon: literature, performance, and music videos. Authors and artists may include Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Josephine Baker, Gordon Parks, Spike Lee, Hype Williams, Melina Matsoukas, Claudia Rankine, and LaToya Ruby Frazier. Assignments will include weekly discussion posts on readings and images featured in the course, and one creative project that may take the form of a photo-essay, critical paper, or video related to Black visual culture.
Course overview
- Department
- English
- School
- MCAS
- Credits
- 3
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Offered
- Periodically
Requirements fulfilled
- African and African Diaspora Studies: Cross-listed courses named in the catalog (count as AADS electives under either number) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- English: Earlier literatures in English: eighteenth- or nineteenth-century literature, 1700-1900 (one course, 3 credits) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- English: Earlier literatures in English: medieval or early-modern literature, before 1700 (one course, 3 credits) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- English: Major electives (five courses, 15 credits) from department offerings (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- English: Race, Blackness, and Language requirement (one course) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
Course evaluations
- Course rating
- 4.69 / 5 · Excellent
- Instructor rating
- 4.85 / 5 · Excellent
- Terms evaluated
- 2
| Term | Instructor | Course overall | Instructor overall | Well organized | Clear learning objectives | Intellectually challenging | Helpful assignments | Applicable beyond course | Attendance necessary | Weekly effort | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2024 | Jovonna Jones | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 19 of 28 |
| Spring 2023 | Jovonna Jones | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 1–3 hrs/week | 20 of 30 |