The goal of your final project is to think through a single concept, definition, quote, or narrative thread in any of our literary works, place it in a contemporary context, and make an argument about how you see these elements in conversation. You may connect to socio-political events, social movements, pop culture, works of art, music, film, etc. You have been doing exercises like this throughout the semester in class discussions, in labs, and essays. For example, consider Derrick Bell’s use of 19th and 20th century legal cases and laws in the Space Traders and how such documents were used to oppose and promote the trade. Perhaps one resonates with you and you want to make a connection between that and a specific issue in our contemporary moment. Perhaps you cannot let go of the image of patrollers in Octavia Butler’s Kindred and want to dig deeper into the history and evolution of slave patrols into the 21st century. Maybe you’re interested in exploring how double consciousness, intersectionality, Walker’s definition of womanism, resonates in a contemporary piece of art, music, television, film, etc. Perhaps you want to further explore critical race theory’s insistence that storytelling serves as a form of knowledge & or social justice in a particular film, album, etc. Your project may take any form, podcast, mural, a recorded power point presentation, YouTube video, website, creative writing, visual art etc. whatever form and genre feel good to you. What is important is that your connections are clear. Previous Next .

1. The goal of your final project is to think through a single
concept, definition, quote, or narrative thread in any of our
literary works, place it in a contemporary context, and make an
argument about how you see these elements in conversation.
You may connect to socio-political events, social movements,
pop culture, works of art, music, film, etc. You have been doing
exercises like this throughout the semester in class discussions,
in labs, and essays.
For example, consider Derrick Bell’s use of 19th
and 20th
century legal cases and laws in the
Space Traders
and how such documents were used to oppose and promote the
trade. Perhaps one resonates with you and you want to make a
connection between that and a specific issue in our
contemporary moment. Perhaps you cannot let go of the image
of patrollers in Octavia Butler’s
Kindred
and want to dig deeper into the history and evolution of slave
patrols into the 21st
century. Maybe you’re interested in exploring how double
consciousness, intersectionality, Walker’s definition of
womanism, resonates in a contemporary piece of art, music,
television, film, etc. Perhaps you want to further explore critical
race theory’s insistence that storytelling serves as a form of

2. knowledge & or social justice in a particular film, album, etc.
Your project may take any form, podcast, mural, a recorded
power point presentation, YouTube video, website, creative
writing, visual art etc. whatever form and genre feel good to
you. What is important is that your connections are clear.
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