Colloquium 2991: The Harlem Renaissance
Spring 2016
CRN: 512 Section L 209 Academic Building
TR 2:00-3:15
e
Dr. LaRonda Sanders-Senu
Office: 103G Academic Building
Office Hours: MW 9:15-11:15, TR 9:15-10:15, TR 10:15-11:15 (Online)
Phone: 678-359-5444
Email: lsanders-senu@gordonstate.edu
Website: http://www.gordonstate.edu/Faculty/lsanders-senu/
Course Objectives:
Colloquiums are designed to help foster critical thinking skills. This course will be no different. This semester, we will
explore the Harlem Renaissance, a period during the 1920s and 1930s that saw a surge of African American artistic
expression. Innovations in music, art, film, and literature that explore the African American experience abounded. In this
course, we will examine literature and film of the period which will provide insight into the literary and cultural debates of
that time; many of those debates are still relevant today. We will probe examinations of sexual orientation, black
masculinity, black femininity, aesthetics, authenticity, Americanness, and the political nature of African American art.
The course selections will consist of multiple genres, including critical essays, drama, and novels.
In this class you can expect to:
- read a great deal of material
-read thoroughly and write critically about texts
- engage complex and shifting ideas about American identity, the role of art, femininity, masculinity, and authenticity
-participate in lively and thoughtful class discussions
In this class I will expect you to:
-come to class prepared to discuss the texts, with readings in hand
-ask questions
-have an open mind
-be respectful to me and your classmates
-contribute to class discussions
-approach assignments and text as academics
Required Texts:
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper, 2006); Black No More (Dover, 2011); Quicksand and Passing (Rutgers UP, 1986);
Autobiography of an Ex-Coulored Man (Dover, 1995); The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (Penguin, 1995); Home to Harlem
(Northeastern UP, 1987); The Blacker the Berry (Dover, 2008)
Other readings for the class are on my faculty website (lsanders-senu@gordonstate.edu). You are required to print the
documents out and bring them to class. If you come to class without your readings, you will be counted absent for that day.
Assignments and Grading
Midterm Exam
Final Exam: Due
Critical Analysis Paper (Due April 19, 2016)
Quizzes
Micheaux Film Analysis (March 24, 2016)
Participation
Grading
General Scale
A = 100—90
B =89.9— 80
C = 79.9—70
15%
20%
20%
20%
10%
15%
D= 69.9—60
F = 59 and below*
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Paper Scale
A = 95 A- = 92 B+ = 88
F = 58 and so on.
B = 85
B- = 82
C+ = 78
C = 75
C- = 72 D+ = 68 D= 65
D- = 62
Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, I will only discuss grade information with students in person. Grades are
calculated on a percentage basis. Therefore, it would be inaccurate for me to speculate about a student’s overall grade until the end of
the semester. There is a worksheet on the website designed to help students to estimate their own grades. Also, I will not discuss
specific absence information over email. I will not communicate with anyone aside from the student about his or her grade.
Papers
You will be required to write two papers during the semester. These papers will respond to writing prompts, and they will be an
analysis of one or more of the texts that we will study. These papers will not be research essays. Please remember that these papers
should not be a plot summary or string of quotations. More information about these papers will follow. Make sure that you follow all
of the requirements that are outlined in the assignment sheets. I do not accept papers or any other assignments via email. I will deduct
six points for every calendar day that a paper is late. A paper that is not submitted at the start of the class period in which it is due will
be counted one calendar day late.
Quizzes
You will have a minimum of ten quizzes on the assigned readings. Quizzes will usually take place at the start of class. If you are
absent or late, you will not be allowed to make up quizzes. I will drop your two lowest quiz grades.
Exams
You will have two exams in this course. The final exam will be cumulative. These exams will contain a variety of questions; they
may include passage identification, matching, short answer, and/or essay questions. You should know the historical context, authors,
and titles of the works. Taking notes, even in what seems like informal discussions, will be very helpful in your preparation for these
exams. You are responsible for all material that is disseminated through verbal communication, my website, D2L, written
assignments, and handouts. Students will not be allowed to keep exams. We will review the material in class. Students are welcome
to visit during my office hours if they would like to take an extra look at the exam.
Participation
In order to earn an average participation grade (in the C range), you must fulfill four basic requirements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Arrive on time
Be ready to discuss readings when called on
Be prepared with the book or readings in class
Complete class work and have homework completed
Listen respectfully
To earn a B, you must consistently fulfill requirements 1-5, and:
1.
2.
Volunteer questions or points of interest from readings to generate discussion
Willingly offer ideas in class; make sure your contributions are topical and thoughtful
To earn an A, you must consistently fulfill the above criteria and:
1.
2.
Show leadership in class discussions (break uncomfortable silences; respond to open-ended questions; challenge received opinions; ask
difficult questions)
Respond to other students’ ideas (not just mine) by asking questions or building on their points
You will receive a failing participation grade if you are excessively and/or frequently: (1) tardy; (2) unprepared for class; (3)
disruptive during class; or (4) occupied with activities other than those related to English. Please remember to turn off all cell phones
and to be respectful of other students and the instructor during discussions or lectures. Participation is important to the success of this
course. Your participation grade will be a composite of my perception of your contribution to the class.
Attendance
Students may have up to four absences without penalty. All absences are considered the same, whether the absence is due to a
legitimate illness, a family emergency, or a desire to have an early weekend. No excuse is necessary for absences one through four.
Each subsequent absence (after four) will result in a five-point deduction from the student’s final grade. NO EXCEPTIONS. Use
your absences wisely. You are responsible for all material missed. If you are absent, you are welcome to visit me during my next
scheduled office hours. I am happy to discuss material, but I will not re-teach all of the material that was covered during your
absence.
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Please Do NOT come late to class. I understand that sometimes late arrival is unavoidable; however, chronic tardiness will adversely
impact your grade. After the add/drop deadline, students will be required to sign the attendance sheet at the beginning of class. You
may not sign the attendance sheet for anyone other than yourself. If you sign the attendance sheet for one of your peers, your violation
of academic integrity will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs and you will receive three absences. If you come in late, you
may NOT sign the attendance sheet. You must see me after class and sing the late sheet. If a student fails to sign in immediately after
class, he or she will not be afforded that opportunity later. If chronic tardiness occurs, I will begin to close the classroom door after I
take roll. Students who are not inside the classroom when I close the door should not enter the classroom. He or she will be marked
absent for that class period. Three tardies will result in one absence. Students who miss fifteen or more minutes of class will be
counted absent for that class period.
Academic Integrity
The 2015-2016 Gordon State College Academic Catalog states that
Plagiarism is prohibited. It is assumed that the written work submitted for evaluation and credit is the student's own unless
appropriately acknowledged. Such acknowledgment should occur whenever one directly quotes another person's actual
words, appropriates another's ideas, opinions, or theories even when they are paraphrased, and whenever one borrows facts,
statistics, or other illustrative materials unless the information is common knowledge. (348)
Be mindful of this in your academic work. Academic integrity is a serious matter.
Types of Plagiarism:
Lack of Citation- Quotations that do not have proper citation or quotations that do not have accurate citation information.
Inadequate Paraphrase- A paraphrase that shares the same sentence structure and word choice with the original text
(Quotation), a paraphrase that changes the meaning of the original text, or a paraphrase that is not properly cited.
Patchwork Plagiarism- A text that is comprised, either entirely or in part, of improperly cited material from multiple
sources.
Wholesale Plagiarism- A text that is submitted by a student that is comprised of work that was written by someone other
than the student. This includes papers or sections of papers that are taken from the internet, purchased, retrieved from
reference books ,or written by an acquaintance, friend, or family member.
Self-Plagiarism-A text, either in its entirety or in part, that was written by the student and submitted for another course (or
the same course).
Using Unauthorized Material for In-Class Papers- Any drafts of papers, portions of papers, or other unauthorized material
that is used during in-class paper assignments is considered plagiarism.
Collusion- A text with which a student receives so much help from others that the assignment can no longer be considered a
valid representation of the student’s work. This includes excessive help from friends, family members, tutors, or other
classmates. All work should be an indication of the student’s ability. I reserve the right to refuse to accept an assignment
that reflects collusion between a student and any other person.
At my discretion, the penalty for plagiarism of any type may range from a lower grade, to a zero on the assignment, to a failure of the
course. I will inform the Vice President of Student Affairs of cases of plagiarism. Egregious instances of plagiarism or repeated
instances of plagiarism will result in referral to the Academic Judicial Committee. Please review the Student Code of Conduct.
ADA and 504
If you have a documented disability as described by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
Section 504, you may be eligible to receive accommodations to assist in programmatic and/or physical accessibility. The Counseling
and Accessibility Services office located in the Student Center, Room 212 can assist you in formulating a reasonable accommodation
plan and in providing support in developing appropriate accommodations to ensure equal access to all GSC programs and
facilities. Course requirements will not be waived, but accommodations may assist you in meeting the requirements. For
documentation requirements and for additional information, contact Counseling and Accessibility Services at 678-359-5585.
Title IX
Gordon State College is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment, including
sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. If you (or someone you know) has experienced or experiences any of
these incidents, know that you are not alone. All faculty members at Gordon State College are mandated reporters. Any student
reporting any type of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking must be made aware that any
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report made to a faculty member under the provisions of Title IX will be reported to the Title IX Coordinator or a Title IX Deputy
Coordinator. If you wish to speak with someone confidentially, you must contact the Counseling and Accessibility Services office,
Room 212, Student Life Center. The licensed counselors in the Counseling Office are able to provide confidential support.
Gordon State College does not discriminate against any student on the basis of pregnancy, parenting or related conditions. Students
seeking accommodations on the basis of pregnancy, parenting or related conditions should contact Counseling and Accessibility
Services regarding the process of documenting pregnancy related issues and being approved for accommodations, including
pregnancy related absences as defined under Title IX.
I reserve the right to make changes to the schedule and course policies at my discretion.
Friendly Notes
Please ask if there is ever anything that you do not understand. Please come during my office hours or make an appointment with me.
I am here to help, and I want to help! I would also encourage you to utilize the Students Success Center, which is located in room 235
of the Student Center. The tutoring staff there can help you in most of your courses. ( http://www.gdn.edu/successcenter/ )
Students are responsible for all written and verbal material that I introduce in class, post on the website, send through email, and place
on Desire2Learn.
Make sure that you check your Gordon email frequently. I will use your gordonstate.edu address to communicate with you. Make
sure that emails are professional and that you include either your CRN# or your class time on the email.
Students are expected to always follow the schedule without being prompted by the professor, unless notified of specific changes.
I do not respond to emails after 4:00 pm or on weekends. If I do respond via email during those times, you should consider it a
courtesy. I will try to respond to all emails in a timely manner.
I will try to return paper grades within two weeks of submission. Please do not ask when papers will be returned prior to this two
week period.
Students are required to wait at least twenty-four hours to ask questions about their paper grades. During that twenty-four-hour
period, students should review both my comments and their paper to make sure that they fully understand their grade. Those
questions should be asked during my office hours.
I expect you to read the syllabus, your assignments, and any supplemental documents that I supply thoroughly. I am happy to answer
any questions that you have, but please make sure that your questions do not reflect your failure to read the materials that I supply or
listen to me during lectures.
Please address me as Dr. Sanders-Senu or Dr. Senu. It took me eleven years of education to earn that title. I prefer the title for which I
worked very hard.
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Colloquium 2291: The Harlem Renaissance
Spring 2016
CRN: 512 Section L 209 Academic Building
TR 2:00-3:15
e
****We will discuss what is listed on the day that it is listed. Have texts read, printed, and with you.
****Items marked by an asterisk (*) are on the course website
****Items marked by two asterisks (**) are both in the Harlem Renaissance Reader and on our course website
****HR designates works within The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader
Thursday, January 7
Introductions; HW: Read Booker T. Washington’s Excerpt From: Up From Slavery Chapters
1-2,5,*“The Atlanta Exposition Address,” W.E.B. DuBois: Souls of Black Folk Chapters 1 and
3*
Tuesday, January 12
Discuss Uplift Philosophy; HW: Read Charles Chesnutt’s “Goophered Grapevine,” “Po’
Sandy,” “The Wife of His Youth,” “The Sheriff’s Children”
Thursday, January 14
Discuss Uplift Literature; HW: Read W.E.B. DuBois’ “The Talented Tenth”*, “Criteria for
Negro Art” (HR pgs.100-106), and Excerpt from The Dark Princess (HR pgs. 510-536)
Tuesday, January 19
Discuss Dubois’ View of the Renaissance; HW: Read Alain Locke’s “The New Negro” (HR
pgs. 46-51), George Schuyler’s “The Negro-Art Hokum” (HR pgs. 96-99), Charles S.
Johnson “The Negro Renaissance and Its Significance” (HR pgs. 206-218), and Langston
Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (HR pgs. 91-95)
Thursday, January 21
Discuss Competing Views of the Renaissance; HW: Read James Weldon Johnson’s The
Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man Chapters 1-8
Tuesday, January 26
Discuss Johnson ; HW: Read James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured
Man Chapters 9-Finish and Johnson’s poetry (HR pgs. 279-288)
Thursday, January 28
Discussion Johnson; HW: Read Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem Chapters 1-9
Tuesday, February 2
Discuss McKay; HW: Read Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem Chapters 9-15
Thursday, February 4
Discuss McKay; HW: Read Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem Chapters 16-Finish
Tuesday, February 9
Discuss McKay; HW: Read Claude McKay’s McKay Poetry (HR pgs. 289-298**), Countee
Cullen’s Poetry (HR pgs. 242-251), and Jean Toomer’s (HR pgs. 300-307)
Thursday, February 11
Discuss Poetry HW: Read Nella Larsen’s Quicksand Chapters 1-11
Tuesday, February 16
Discuss Quicksand; HW: Read Nella Larsen’s Quicksand Chapters 12-Finish
Thursday, February 18
Discuss Quicksand; HW: Review for Midterm
Tuesday, February 23
Thursday, February 25
Midterm Exam; HW: Read Nella Larsen’s Passing
Discuss Passing; HW: Read Georgia Douglass Johnson’s Poetry (HR pgs. 273-275), and
Helene Johnson’s Poetry (HR pgs. 276-278)
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Tuesday, March 1
Discuss Women Poets
Thursday, March 3
Watch Midnight Ramble
Tuesday, March 8
Thursday, March 10
SPRING BREAK!!!
SPRING BREAK!!!
Tuesday, March 15
Watch Oscar Micheaux’s God’s Step Children; HW: Read Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker
The Berry (First Half Pgs. TBA)
Thursday, March 17
Discuss Thurman; HW: Read Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker The Berry (Second Half Pgs.
TBA)
Tuesday, March 22
Discuss Thurman; HW: Read Langston Hughes’ Poetry (HR pgs. 256-270**)
Thursday, March 24
Discuss Hughes’s Poetry, Micheaux Film Analysis Paper Due; HW: Read Hughes’ Scarlet
Sister Barry, * Young Black Joe*, and The Organizer*
Tuesday, March 29
Discuss Hughes’ Drama; HW: Read Marcus Garvey’s Texts (HR pgs. 17-28) and Arthur
Schomburg’s “The Negro Digs Up His Past” (HR pgs. 61-67)
Thursday, March 31
Discuss Renaissance Black Nationalism, Watch Marcus Garvey: A Giant of Black Politics;
HW: Read Schuler’s Black No More Chapter 1-6
Tuesday, April 5
Discuss Schuyler; HW: Read Schuler’s Black No More Chapter 7-Finish
Thursday, April 7
Discuss Schuyler
Tuesday, April 12
Watch Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun; HW: Read Their Eyes Were Watching God
Chapter 1-8
Thursday, April 14
Discuss Hurston; HW: Read Their Eyes Were Watching God Chapter 9-Finish
Tuesday, April 19
Continue Discussion of Hurston, Critical Analysis Paper Due; HW: Hurston’s “How It
feels to be Colored Me”* and Color Struck (HR pgs. 703-719) and Richard Wright’s “Big
“Long Black Song” *
Thursday, April 21
Discuss the Hurston- Wright Dynamic
Tuesday, April 26
Discuss the Renaissance’s Legacy and Review
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 3, 2015 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
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