60-388 Critical Studies: Black Utopias

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

In this course we will examine various utopian visions of Black Americans. Focusing on the 20th century up to present day, the class will research the Afrofuturist and Afroutopian ideologies found in literature, film, and art, and their opposition to canonical American utopian ideals. We will engage with the ways Zora Neale Hurstons fieldwork inspired Sun Ras Space Is The Place and Julie Dashs Daughters of The Dust, how real movements like the MOVE house in Philadelphia inspired Octavia Butler to write Parable of the Sower, and more recently, how the oppression from the policing of African Americans can inspire Terence Nances new series, the Random Acts of Flyness. The course is an exploration of the empowerment and selfdetermination that African Americans use to visualize a better world for themselves. Students will develop an awareness of how cultural criticism addresses the concept of utopia and how the concerns of this field pertain to AfricanAmerican expression.

Prerequisites: none listed

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