Contemporary African-American Writers

English 150:001
Professor Carol Allen
Spring 2007
Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:00-4:15 pm

This course focuses exclusively on African American writing from 1970 to the present. It will be divided into units based on genre: poetry, drama, the essay, autobiography, short story, the novel, and testimonial (lyrics, oratory). Expect to encounter such artists as June Jordan, Michael Harper, Quincy Troupe, Adrienne Kennedy, August Wilson, Anna Devere Smith, Toni Morrison, Charles Johnson, Alice Walker, James Baldwin, Itaberi Njeri, and John Wideman. Critical pieces will be studied as well from the likes of Houston Baker, Henry Louis Gates, Ntozake Shange, and Larry Neale.

English Majors: Please contact your English Department faculty advisor to register as early as possible for the upper-division English classes you need. Doing so will help ensure that courses are not canceled and that you don't have to scramble to find replacement courses at the last minute. You may also contact Wayne Berninger at 718 780 4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.  Below you will find descriptions of the upper-division courses being offered in Spring 2007. Be sure to check the requirements for your particular concentration (i.e., Creative Writing, Literature, or Writing & Rhetoric).

Non-English Majors: The writing and analytical skills that students gain in English classes are very useful in a variety of professional careers. So even if you are not an English major, you can take upper-division English courses-as long as you have already completed English 16, Core Seminar, and two core literature classes (from English 61-64). If you really want to build up your transcript, consider a minor in English, which consists of any four courses numbered 100 or above. If you'd like more information about minoring in English—or if you think you might like to major in English—contact Wayne Berninger at 718 780 4328 or via e-mail at wayne.berninger@liu.edu.