"Maya Angelou, Lyrical Witness of the Jim Crow South, Dies at 86"

Farewell, Dr. Angelou. From the New York Times:

Maya Angelou, the memoirist and poet whose landmark book of 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — which describes in lyrical, unsparing prose her childhood in the Jim Crow South — was among the first autobiographies by a 20th-century black woman to reach a wide general readership, died on Wednesday in her home. She was 86 and lived in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Watch Dr. Angelou talk about love as liberator: Here, she delivers the poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration (video courtesy of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library)

Fall 2014 Course Spotlight: AMS 4973: Research Seminar in American Studies- Chinese in America

This fall, AMS students will have the wonderful opportunity to complete their senior seminar with Dr. Wing Chung Ng on the topic of the Chinese in America. Dr. Ng describes the course in this way:

This seminar is designed for students in American Studies and History to engage in a semester-long research project under the broad subject of the Chinese in America. The Chinese presence in the United States encompasses a history of over 170 years. Interesting historical topics for research are plentiful, and the subject matter should be particularly attractive to students who want to explore questions concerning migration and settlement, ethnic community, citizenship, culture and identity. For AMS students, this seminar will provide an opportunity to apply theoretical understanding of race, class, gender, ethnicity, transnationalism and other versatile conceptual tools in a historical context.

Dr. Ng, a recent Fullbright Scholar, is a historian of modern China and the Chinese Diaspora. He has done work on Chinese international migration to North America and Southeast Asia focusing on questions of social institutions, cultural practices and identity. His latest project is on Cantonese opera, a popular theater of South China and among the Chinese overseas. His book The Rise of Cantonese Opera is forthcoming from the University of Illinois Press and the Hong Kong University Press.

Fall 2014 Course Spotlight: AMS 4823: Topics in American Culture: African American Literature

This Fall, Dr. Kinitra Brooks's African American Lit class is crosslisted with AMS. The topic this time is "The Supernatural in African American Literature." Her description:

Vampires and ghosts and shapeshifters…oh my! How have African American writers incorporated supernatural elements in their writing? How does it differ from that of mainstream literature? How does privileging the supernatural aid in these authors' examination of the intersections of race, gender, and class?

 Course Texts Include:

 Kindred, Octavia Butler

Let’s Play White, Chesya Burke

Ancient, Ancient, Kiini Ibura Salaam

Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, Randall Kenan

Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison

Brown Girl in the Ring, Nalo Hopkinson

Mama Day, Gloria Naylor

Stigmata, Phyllis Alesia Perry

Dr. Brooks's research focuses on constructions of black femininity in literature, film and popular culture, specifically comic books and hip hop videos. Her teaching interests include 20th-Century African American literature and film with a specific focus on black feminist theory, horror, and science fiction. She incorporates all manner of texts in her classes, including film, television, comic books and graphic novels. Many of her courses are cross-listed with African American Studies, American Studies, and Women’s Studies.

Please check out this intriguing course!