Syllabus

Short Course Description

Jews and Blacks in America: What Happened?

Throughout the twentieth-century, Jews and Blacks in America were closely aligned. From the Progressive Era through the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s, they marched, shoulder to shoulder, and fought together against racism to ensure that America lived up to its promise of justice, liberty, and equality for all. But something happened along the way. What was once romanticized as a "special relationship" has deteriorated and profoundly transformed. Why? This seminar looks back to the Jewish-Black relationship since the early twentieth-century to explore its origins, development, and problems. In an attempt to "demystify" and better understand it on its own terms, we will focus on how Jews and Blacks imagined, constructed, and represented each other in literature and pop-culture (especially music and film). Among the questions asked: what were the foundations of the relationship ? and are they still relevant? What are its main challenges? What role did race, gender, religion, and class play? And how does Israel inform this relationship? The seminar will primarily engage works of fiction and non-fiction by, among others, Saul Bellow, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin, Grace Paley, Toni Morrison, Bernard Malamud, Norman Podhoretz, Amiri Baraka, Adrienne Rich, June Jordan, W.E.B. DuBois, Allen Ginsburg and Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz.

An interactive research-oriented seminar, a SUBSTANTIAL part of the work (and final grade) will be pursuing your own research agenda in the context of the course materials and engaging in independent research for your seminar paper.