Courses

ES 440/540 Black Life and the Human Body
Instructor: Cera Smith

African American activists have demanded equal rights by asserting the humanity of Black people. These activists have rejected their racist treatment as animals and property by championing the qualities ascribed to Western Man. More recently, however, scholars have questioned whether claims to humanity really result in freedom and justice for all Black people. They ask, “Does mobilizing humanity as a strategy for recognition and respect benefit Black non-men, disabled people, or the working class? What impact does this assertion of humanity have on our species’ relationship to other living beings and our environments? Ultimately, are all people allowed to be ‘human?’” In this literature course, we will evaluate the category of the “human” by studying the challenge that the US Black past and present pose to the category’s assumed neutrality. We will pay particular attention to the ways that Black peoples’ bodily experiences confirm, deny, and complicate humanness in poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction.

ES 399 Eating America
Instructor: Abigail Lee

This course explores race and the United States through food, from the places where our food is grown, packaged, and prepared, to the tables and setting in which it is enjoyed. We will embark on an interdisciplinary exploration of race and culture through food, analyzing the social, political, and ecological forces that shape foodways. Using critical food studies, we will bring together issues of identity, culture, climate justice, labor, gender, race, and empire, which ask us to consider whose hands have tended to the food we consume and what histories have shaped the flavors and dishes we love. Together we will grow our critical curiosity, think critically about the foods we depend on but often take for granted, and create dynamic presentations that showcase our skills in leadership, research, and communication.