African American poetry has a rich tradition that begins in the 1700s with Jupiter Hammon, moves through the early 1900s with the Harlem Renaissance, and finds itself in the radical politics of the Black Arts Movement (BAM) during the 1960s. We will explore this lyrical moment post the BAM Era in order to excavate current prosodic expressions of the human condition from three African-American poets: Terrance Hayes, Harryette Mullen, and Natasha Trethewey.

Students will write short weekly responses to readings, give an oral presentation, and write a final 10-page paper. There are no exams for this class.

This class will be held the second seven weeks of term.