COURSE PROPOSAL
Black Women, Slavery, and the Nation: From Sally Hemings to Michelle Obama
Conceptually framed by two black women of national significance—one who served as the long-time slave mistress to “founding father” Thomas Jefferson and the other who currently occupies the position of First Lady of the United States—this course will explore the roles of black women within the national body politic during the era of American slavery and in our current time, focusing specifically on the effects and legacies of slavery on the figurative and literal placement of black female bodies in the nation.
The course will develop in four stages. In the first of these, students will examine historical perspectives on Sally Hemings, as well as Jefferson’s own discussion of slave women in Notes on the State of Virginia (1783), in order to investigate public and official discourses surrounding black women and their function within the national body in the 18th century. They will use historical documents as well as the work of historians such as Jennifer Morgan to investigate the lives of Sally Hemings and the black women of her time and the discourses that shaped these women’s existence in a slave economy. Students will conduct both primary and secondary research to produce papers on figures or issues related to black womanhood in the 18th century.
In the second stage, students will examine contemporary theory and literary texts that challenge and subvert the social and political discourses that surrounded black womanhood in slavery and that still circumscribe their lives in powerful ways. Students will read essays of Hortense Spillers and Lauren Berlant, for instance, as well as Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) and Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone (2001) and examine revisionist artwork such as that of renowned black female artist Kara Walker. They will discuss the construction of official “history” as well as its reconstruction in the texts that they encounter. Students will then write textual analyses based on the literature and art studied in this stage of the course.
Next, students will analyze Michelle Obama’s portrayal in popular media venues, such as women’s magazines and blogs, as well as in government publications, like the official website of the White House, in the context of historical and current discourses on black womanhood. This portion of the course will also include an exploration of popular depictions of black women in contemporary musical lyrics, music videos, and films in order to provide students with opportunities to explore the ways that the legacy of slavery and its discourses continue to impact the widespread interpretation of black womanhood and, ultimately, the social and political treatment of black women. To conclude this stage of the course, students will explicate blog posts, magazine articles, songs, films, and other texts with close attention to the depictions of black women in these popular texts.
Finally, students will investigate new ways of celebrating black womanhood and forging black female subjectivity in the 21st century. This portion of the course will include readings from theorists like bell hooks and Audre Lorde and authors such as poet Lucille Clifton. At the end of the course, students will compose multi-media texts—such as websites, short films, presentations, and photo essays—that will represent their own reconstruction of the dehumanizing discourses surrounding black women in slavery and today. In this way, students will ultimately participate in the rewriting of the history of black womanhood.
Black Women, Slavery, and the Nation: From Sally Hemings to Michelle Obama
Conceptually framed by two black women of national significance—one who served as the long-time slave mistress to “founding father” Thomas Jefferson and the other who currently occupies the position of First Lady of the United States—this course will explore the roles of black women within the national body politic during the era of American slavery and in our current time, focusing specifically on the effects and legacies of slavery on the figurative and literal placement of black female bodies in the nation.
The course will develop in four stages. In the first of these, students will examine historical perspectives on Sally Hemings, as well as Jefferson’s own discussion of slave women in Notes on the State of Virginia (1783), in order to investigate public and official discourses surrounding black women and their function within the national body in the 18th century. They will use historical documents as well as the work of historians such as Jennifer Morgan to investigate the lives of Sally Hemings and the black women of her time and the discourses that shaped these women’s existence in a slave economy. Students will conduct both primary and secondary research to produce papers on figures or issues related to black womanhood in the 18th century.
In the second stage, students will examine contemporary theory and literary texts that challenge and subvert the social and political discourses that surrounded black womanhood in slavery and that still circumscribe their lives in powerful ways. Students will read essays of Hortense Spillers and Lauren Berlant, for instance, as well as Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) and Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone (2001) and examine revisionist artwork such as that of renowned black female artist Kara Walker. They will discuss the construction of official “history” as well as its reconstruction in the texts that they encounter. Students will then write textual analyses based on the literature and art studied in this stage of the course.
Next, students will analyze Michelle Obama’s portrayal in popular media venues, such as women’s magazines and blogs, as well as in government publications, like the official website of the White House, in the context of historical and current discourses on black womanhood. This portion of the course will also include an exploration of popular depictions of black women in contemporary musical lyrics, music videos, and films in order to provide students with opportunities to explore the ways that the legacy of slavery and its discourses continue to impact the widespread interpretation of black womanhood and, ultimately, the social and political treatment of black women. To conclude this stage of the course, students will explicate blog posts, magazine articles, songs, films, and other texts with close attention to the depictions of black women in these popular texts.
Finally, students will investigate new ways of celebrating black womanhood and forging black female subjectivity in the 21st century. This portion of the course will include readings from theorists like bell hooks and Audre Lorde and authors such as poet Lucille Clifton. At the end of the course, students will compose multi-media texts—such as websites, short films, presentations, and photo essays—that will represent their own reconstruction of the dehumanizing discourses surrounding black women in slavery and today. In this way, students will ultimately participate in the rewriting of the history of black womanhood.