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Titel
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Black Voices
This course explores the history, culture, and lived experiences of Black Americans from slavery to the present day. Through literary and non-literary texts, speeches, poetry, documentaries, film excerpts, and visual material, students will examine how African Americans have experienced and challenged slavery, segregation, racism, and inequality while shaping American culture, politics, and identity.
A central focus of the course is to move beyond legislation and political events and instead explore history through African American voices. By studying autobiographical narratives, speeches, poems, and contemporary texts, students gain insight into how Black Americans have understood and represented their own experiences across different historical periods. The course highlights both the systemic barriers faced by Black Americans and the resilience, activism, and cultural achievements that have emerged in response.
The course is organised around four main themes: Slavery, Separate but Equal, I Am a Man, and Post-Racist America?. Students will investigate how slavery shaped American society, how segregation continued racial inequality after emancipation, how the Civil Rights Movement challenged systemic discrimination, and how issues of race remain relevant in contemporary America.
Throughout the course, students will analyse a wide range of genres, including slave narratives, poetry, speeches, journalism, documentaries, and film. Particular attention will be paid to questions such as: How have Black Americans represented their own experiences? How have racism and discrimination evolved over time? What role did figures such as Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. play in the struggle for equality? To what extent has America overcome its racial divisions?
Students will work with literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, historical contextualisation, and media analysis. The course also includes continuous work with language proficiency through vocabulary development, grammar, translation exercises, oral discussions, presentations, and analytical writing. Historical introductions to each theme provide students with the contextual knowledge necessary to understand the texts and perspectives studied.
By combining historical, literary, and contemporary perspectives, the course aims to develop students’ understanding of African American history and culture while encouraging critical reflection on race, identity, and social justice in the United States.
Content
Slavery and slave narratives
Abolitionism and resistance
Reconstruction and segregation
"Separate but Equal" and institutional racism
The Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King Jr. and the struggle for equality
African American poetry and literature
Race, identity, and representation
Contemporary issues and debates about racism
Black Lives Matter and police-community relations
Literary analysis
Rhetorical analysis
Media analysis
Vocabulary development and language proficiency
Grammar integrated into text work
Main Themes
Slavery
Separate but Equal
I Am a Man
Post-Racist America?
Materials
Excerpts from slave narratives
Harriet Tubman: Abolitionist
Langston Hughes: I, Too and Ballad of the Landlord (1925)
Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream (1963)
Historical timelines and documentary material
12 Years a Slave (selected material)
Movie: 12 Years a Slave (2013)
The Birth of a Nation (1915) and related analysis
The Hate U Give (trailer and supplementary material)
N.W.A: The World’s Most Dangerous Group (documentary excerpts)
Contemporary articles on race relations and policing in America
From: Thomsen & Møller: Black Voices, systime, 2022
Keywords
Slavery
Segregation
Civil Rights
Racism
Equality
African American Literature
Identity
Representation
Social Justice
Black Lives Matter
Police Relations
Resistance
Extent: Approximately 70 pp.
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