Black New Orleans: A Research Seminar

Examines the development of a unique African/ American cultural and political identity in New Orleans. The seminar focuses on the development of the Faubourg Tremé, the oldest free black community in the United States, and covers the period from 1718 until 1899. Topics include: slavery and resistance; relations between enslaved and free blacks; social and political agitation; and the resulting early development of the nation's Civil Rights movement and legislation. There is discussion also of the formation and continued tradition of artists' and artisans' guilds; Creole language (e.g., Creole slave songs, proverbs); NOLA relationship to the Caribbean and Latin America. Enrollment limited to 20.