Haunting in American Literature

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this course, we will examine writers who engage ghosts, haunting, and the supernatural to explore how oppressive systems of power, though pervasive, are rendered imperceptible due to their historical persistence. We will unpack how writers engage with ghosts and the supernatural to interrogate issues of power, gender, race, sexuality, and class. We will critically examine what these classed, gendered, and raced intersections reveal to us about American culture, ideology, history, identity, and future trajectories. We will interrogate, reflect, and deconstruct how writers affirm, challenge, and negotiate identity and conceptualize American society through their engagement with ghosts.