Finding Joy
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This course will use Ross Gay's book of essays, Inciting Joy, as a framing for other American Literature as we read and think about what joy is, how we find it, and how it permeates art. The course will include some well known and some less known texts written by American writers, and will have several creative projects which allow students to explore their own understanding of joy.
Some of the texts we will read will be:
"Joy" by Zadie Smith
poetry and letters by Phillis Wheatley
Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
poetry by Walt Whitman
"Religion of the Healthy-Minded" by William James
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
"To the Young Who Want to Die" by Gwendolyn Brooks
"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg
Live on the Sunset Strip by Richard Pryor
American Happiness by Jaqueline Trimble
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Waller Kimmerer
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
and others
Want to know more? Watch this video from Tara A. Bynum talking about her book (2023): Reading Pleasures: Everyday Black Lives in Early America
Some of the texts we will read will be:
"Joy" by Zadie Smith
poetry and letters by Phillis Wheatley
Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
poetry by Walt Whitman
"Religion of the Healthy-Minded" by William James
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
"To the Young Who Want to Die" by Gwendolyn Brooks
"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg
Live on the Sunset Strip by Richard Pryor
American Happiness by Jaqueline Trimble
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Waller Kimmerer
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
and others
Want to know more? Watch this video from Tara A. Bynum talking about her book (2023): Reading Pleasures: Everyday Black Lives in Early America