ENGL 556 A: Cultural Studies

New Directions in Black Literary and Cultural Studies: Space, Sex and Media.

At the intersections of multiple forms of media critique—sound, visual and performance studies—there now emerges new forms of theoretical, public and public analysis predicated on the increasingly fragile spaces of identity, solidarity and cross-cultural diversification. Indeed, the very notion of space—transnational, diasporic, gendered, intimate—has become where this interdisciplinary work stages its various interventions, whether it be about music, technology, geography or sexuality. This class dives into this new work, places it in historical context and attempts to make sense of Where We Are Now in terms of black theory and criticism and Where We Are Going in terms of general cultural reflection.