A Different Format for African-American Literature Class
Want a literature class that checks all the boxes? Students looking to satisfy PVCC’s Writing Intensive requirement as well as transfer to a four-year university such as UVA will be happy to hear that PVCC is once again offering Survey of African-American Literature classes in the fall, with the addition of an Honors section.
“A writing intensive course is a graduation requirement for all associate degree programs,” reads the course description for ENG 253, Survey of African-American Literature, in the Student Information System. In addition, ENG 253 satisfies UVA’s Non-Western Perspective requirement, making it twice as useful for students looking to transfer to the university. And if that wasn’t enough, PVCC is now offering a music-focused Honors section for fall 2020.
Every section of ENG 253 includes a lot of reading: about “five book-length works, 28 essays and stories, and about 50 poems,” according to the syllabus. In the Honors section, the three reading lists are supplemented by discussions about African-American music.
“We listen to blues, jazz, r&b, rock, and hip hop and have discussions of the music, genres and artists,” said Wert in an email. Instead of a term paper about an African-American novel, Wert said students “do a research project that focuses on a music genre/musician/song analysis.” Having taken the non-Honors class during the fall 2019 semester, I can say that the range of African-American music is wide, and I’m sure the dedication of the Honors section will let students take an “in-depth” look, as Wert said.
Survey of African-American Literature I Honors section will meet during the fall 2020 semester in room 251 in the PVCC Main Building. The class covers literature from the colonial period to the 1940s, including poems, slave narratives, and the first African-American novel, as well as African-American musical traditions from those time periods on Fridays. Dr. Justin Wert teaches both the non-Honors and Honors sections.
