(AAS 102, ENGL 102, JST 102) Promised Lands: Jewish and African American Children's Literature

4 Credits

In the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 137 asks, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” For Jews, blacks, and black Jews, this was and is a poignant question. This course examines how these two rich, often overlapping and interacting groups tell their stories in literature for children and young adults, with a particular focus on the mediation of traumatic pasts. What does it mean to imagine promised lands beyond such pasts—and can they be reached? Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W