Foundations of Early American Literature

Foundations of Early American Literature had students explore four major influences in American literature: the conception of land, in a foundational and ideological sense; the influence of religion and spirituality, to help shape a cultural identity; the way that race, specifically slavery, manifested in American literatures and narratives; the way that literatures remained relevant, for both American political and social organization. Over the course of this class, I explored these four influences on early American literatures, and the way these literary trends manifested today, both in traditional literatures and in other mediums.