The Black Classics Seminar

Purpose

This seminar proposes Black Classics not as a corrective to an existing canon, but as a distinct system of reading, seeing, and meaning-making that has always operated alongside — and often against — traditional definitions of the classical.

Seminar Structure

The seminar moves across historical periods, aesthetic forms, and critical traditions. Each unit pairs texts with visual culture, treating both as equally legible.

Texts & Objects

• Primary texts
• Visual works
• Critical essays
• Archival materials

Seminar Units

• Day 1 — Orientation: Setting the Terms

Reading Prompts

Prompts are designed to slow reading, surface assumptions, and test inherited frameworks.