ENGL-179-01 Staging Anti-Slavery

Faculty:

Cima, Gay

In this course, we’ll examine late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century women’s anti-slavery texts, in hopes of understanding how concepts of race, religion, and gender became entangled during the formative years of the United States. What is the relationship between self-love and sympathy within women's abolitionist performances? What propels women to enter the risky world of abolitionism, and how do they protect themselves as they enter fiercely contested public debates? We’ll track the changes in how abolitionists gained access to the public sphere or redefined the “private” sphere, and search out archival materials as we analyze anti-slavery poems, essays, plays, speeches, short stories, letters, and autobiographical novels. Our readings may include Phillis Wheatley’s poems, Susanna Rowson’s plays, Maria W. Stewart’s speeches, and Ellen Craft’s narrative, along with a host of lesser-known anti-slavery texts.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Other academic years
There is information about this course number in other academic years:

• 2004-2005 Fall and Spring
• 2005-2006 Fall and Spring
• 2006-2007 Fall and Spring
• 2008-2009 Fall and Spring
• 2011-2012 Fall and Spring

More information
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