Poets in Protest: Footsteps to Hip-Hop

Semester and Year	SP 2011
Course Number	IDSEM-UG1072
Section	001
Instructor	Michael Dinwiddie
Days	Wed
Time	2:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement	HUM

Description

This seminar examines the tradition of poetic protest in the African Diaspora. From the Harlem Renaissance and Négritude to the Black Liberation Movement of the 60's and today's Hip-Hop/Rap explosion, poets, lyricists and rap/hip-hop artists have sought to reclaim and reshape images of themselves and their communal experiences. Through comparative and critical analysis of historical works, songs, and poetry, we will come to a deeper understanding of the common thematic and aesthetic approaches of these movements as they continue to alter the discourse on race and liberation. Texts may include Michael Richardson, ed., Refusal of the Shadow: Surrealism and  the Caribbean ; David L. Lewis, ed., The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader ; Tricia Rose, Black Noise ; films such as Euzhan Palcy, Sugar  Cane Alley , and Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant, Style Wars ; and samples from Langston Hughes, NWA, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, KRS-One, OutKast, Dead Prez, Public Enemy, and Tupac Shakur.

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)