Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God in Context(s) [3-weeks, $80 suggested]
Instructor: Andrews | Wednesdays July 14-28 | 8:00-9:30 PM ET
In 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, a central figure for Black Feminism in the US, published her most popular novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel tells the story of Janie and her itinerate lover-then-husband Teacake, as they create life and love on the fringes of black respectability in Jim Crow America. Hurston had been trained by the anthropologist Franz Boas, had completed multiple ethnographies, and was a darling of the literary-socialite scene in her day, but she died poor and unrecognized. In 1973, Alice Walker not only re-ignited interest in her anthropologies and fiction, but also clarified the social realities that had invisibilized the social scientist and literary genius. In this class, we’ll read this crucial work in its original context, including Hurston’s relationship to early 20th century anthropology as well as “American modernism” and the Harlem Renaissance. But we’ll also consider Walker’s recovery efforts and why Hurston was so central to the first collection of Black Women’s Studies, All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave. Why was this text brave, not only in 1937, but also in the 1980s and today?
We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.
Instructor: Andrews | Wednesdays July 14-28 | 8:00-9:30 PM ET
In 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, a central figure for Black Feminism in the US, published her most popular novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel tells the story of Janie and her itinerate lover-then-husband Teacake, as they create life and love on the fringes of black respectability in Jim Crow America. Hurston had been trained by the anthropologist Franz Boas, had completed multiple ethnographies, and was a darling of the literary-socialite scene in her day, but she died poor and unrecognized. In 1973, Alice Walker not only re-ignited interest in her anthropologies and fiction, but also clarified the social realities that had invisibilized the social scientist and literary genius. In this class, we’ll read this crucial work in its original context, including Hurston’s relationship to early 20th century anthropology as well as “American modernism” and the Harlem Renaissance. But we’ll also consider Walker’s recovery efforts and why Hurston was so central to the first collection of Black Women’s Studies, All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave. Why was this text brave, not only in 1937, but also in the 1980s and today?
We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.
Instructor: Andrews | Wednesdays July 14-28 | 8:00-9:30 PM ET
In 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, a central figure for Black Feminism in the US, published her most popular novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel tells the story of Janie and her itinerate lover-then-husband Teacake, as they create life and love on the fringes of black respectability in Jim Crow America. Hurston had been trained by the anthropologist Franz Boas, had completed multiple ethnographies, and was a darling of the literary-socialite scene in her day, but she died poor and unrecognized. In 1973, Alice Walker not only re-ignited interest in her anthropologies and fiction, but also clarified the social realities that had invisibilized the social scientist and literary genius. In this class, we’ll read this crucial work in its original context, including Hurston’s relationship to early 20th century anthropology as well as “American modernism” and the Harlem Renaissance. But we’ll also consider Walker’s recovery efforts and why Hurston was so central to the first collection of Black Women’s Studies, All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave. Why was this text brave, not only in 1937, but also in the 1980s and today?
We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.