Course Description
Summary
"You can choose a lighter path, go through that door with nothing on your person, nothing on your back." --Anna Maria Hong, "H G"
In this course we will investigate contemporary plays, films, and books in which the protagonists have the courage to question authority, lean into the unknown, survive despite harrowing odds, and allow time to help then unfold their identities. They come of age with a difference, not by graduating out of someone else's system, but by giving birth to their own narratives of what matters. We will examine stories that fight for the rights of individuals, considering films of Radha Blank, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, Arthur Jafa, Barry Jenkins, Spike Lee, Taika Waitit, and Lulu Wang. We will read plays that challenge old notions of gender and sexuality, including the work of Jocelyn Bioh, Maggie Bofill, Eisa Davis, Mashuq Mushtag Deen, Taylor Mac, Young Jean Lee, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Martyna Majok, Heidi Schreck, Ntozake Shange, LLoyd Suh, and Leah Nanako Winkler. We will meet once a week in a long block on Monday afternoon to allow for screening of scenes and full discussions of the plays, films, and books considered.
Following the example of Lynn Hernandez, I will be presenting material and activities that respect equity, inclusion, and diversity. This embraces gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture.
