BLST 230 Black Britain
In this course, we will read and study the creative, intellectual and political offerings of those who identify as Black British cultural producers. In doing so, we will consider how Black British peoples simultaneously struggled to belong to what we call Great Britain while also challenging the ongoing structures of empire and colonialism that are embedded within British histories and institutions. We will explore works by Jay Bernard, Leonora Brito, Isaac Julien, Steve McQueen, Zadie Smith, Luke Sutherland and others. Students will be asked to think critically about the overlapping and at times contradictory experiences of Black peoples in Scotland, England and Wales and their historical and contemporary arguments on topics ranging from abolition to multiculturalism. In doing so, we undertake the serious work of thinking through and theorizing blackness, Black sociality and Black life outside of solely U.S.-centered perspectives. Assignments will include both informal and formal written components.