WGS1029H: Black Feminist Histories: Movements, Method, and the Archive

This seminar provides an introduction to historiographies of Black feminism, and Black feminist approaches to history, memory, and the archive. It studies activism and knowledge-making from the nineteenth century to our contemporary moment, with a particular focus on histories of anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle across diasporas. For our purposes, "Movements" refers to intellectual/cultural/political mobilizations and fronts, as well as the travel of people and ideas. We will situate our texts historically as well as transnationally to examine contexts and collectives that generated imaginative practices of invention, connection and intervention that continue to animate ongoing movements for solidarity and liberation. In addition to foundational and emerging scholarship on women, gender, and Black radical traditions, we will explore history-making and the political uses of the past through close readings of literary works as well as various forms of political ephemera. This seminar invites participants to build on rich traditions of self-making, bridge-building and freedom dreaming through self-reflection, creative expression, and engaged scholarship. Our collective endeavor is not simply to reckon with, honor and critique what has gone before us, but also to orient ourselves toward new terrains and new questions.

0.50
WGS1021H and any WGS special topics course with the subtitle "Black Feminist Movements."
St. George