"Tell About the South": Cultural History of the American South

Americans feel compelled to "tell about the South," framing it as a provincial, backward region separate from the nation. Yet the region has consistently produced some of the most modern, emphatically American culture. This course investigates these tensions from the Old South to the New South, incorporating film nights, photography, music, and literature ranging from slave narratives to works by William Faulkner, Richard Wright, and Zora Neale Hurston. Together, we will ask: What is the South? What can the South explain about the United States? Students will learn the historical craft by asking how Southern history and culture were crafted.