| Course Title: The African American Essay |
| Start Date: 09/09/2026 End Date: 12/22/2026 |
| Term: Fall Semester 2026 |
| Description: In this first-year seminar, students will be introduced to and acquainted with the essay form as it has been endeavored by African American writers throughout the 19th and 20th century. This course emphasizes the essay as a written genre that is meditative, argumentative, and inquisitive; it is a form that open-endedly captures a course of thought, often times raising more questions than proffering secure answers to its inquiries. Students will read works by Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B Du Bois, Richard Wright, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde. |
| Distribution(s): NO - Meets No Distrib. Rqmt , FY - First-Year Seminar , WI - Writing-Intensive |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate     | Credits:4.00     |
| Faculty         | Phone         | Email address         |
| Kristen Maye   |           | kmaye@mtholyoke.edu   |
| Meeting Dates         | Method         | Meeting days         | Meeting times         | Building name         | Room     | Frequency     |
| 09/09/2026 - 12/22/2026   | Seminar   | Tuesday and Thursday   | 10:30AM - 11:45AM   | TBA   | TBA   | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses         | ||
| None |           |           |
| Comments         |
| Additional Comments         |
| Course Tags         | ||
| FYSEM0001   | First-Year Seminar   | This is a First-Year Seminar.   |
| Cross-listed Sections         |
| None   |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open     | Capacity: 16     | Enrollment: 0     | Available: 16     | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List         | Required         | Publisher Full Price         |
| To be determined. |           |           |
| Additional Book Comments         |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class.   |