Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (May 7 at 9 am** – May 24 at 4 pm): $195
Regular Registration Price (May 24 at 4 pm – first day of class): $214.5

** Registration opens online at 9 am. Phone registration will be accepted starting at 10 am.

Members, seniors, and students get a 10% discount.

Seminar Description

The stories told by slaves comprise some of the most compelling work in American literature. In this course, we will read we will read the genre-defining work Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) and then explore the ways that the slave narrative has continued to influence literary works, like Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon (1977), and contemporary films, like Get Out (2017).

Five sessions. E – $195, L – $214.5

Christopher Hagenah holds a PhD in English and American literature from the University of California Santa Barbara. He teaches English at the Chicago Academy for the Arts.

Materials List

Required:

• Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. W.W. Norton & Company, 2017. ISBN: 978-0393265446
• Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon. Vintage International, 2004. ISBN: 140003342X

First Reading:

• For the first class, please read pages 3-68 (Chapters 1-10) of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.