DC Stories

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course is designed to serve as an introduction to the Cultural Humanities and Arts at Georgetown by allowing students to walk in the footsteps of the literary, political and artistic history of Washington DC and through ongoing conversations with influential DC-based authors, musicians, photographers and filmmakers. From the Civil War era to the Jazz Age to the present-day life of historic DC neighborhoods such as Shaw, Columbia Heights and the U Street District, students will examine the city explore aits embodiment of the intersection of topics such as race, identity, economic justice, slavery, displacement, incarceration, gentrification and immigration. Students in this course will gain an up-close understanding of the influence and cultural contexts of literary luminaries such as Walt Whitman, Henry Adams and Zora Neale Hurston through walking tours with literary historians. They will visit an array of famous DC museums and art galleries and conduct interviews with invited guests. Ultimately, students will learn to use critical humanities frameworks to analyze and deconstruct institutions of power, reflect upon DC’s past as agent in its present and acquire a foundational knowledge of the communities, challenges and crises at the center of Washington DC today.