Red Rocks Community College is offering a new course in African American Literature
The new African American Literature class starts the morning after MLK Day, and is likely to start with a discussion about him, but the class will cover much more.
When you think of African American literature, does your mind turn to tales of slaves, civil rights and resistance?
A new course being offered this semester at Red Rocks Community College explores African American literature including how it has evolved and how it is as broad as the human experience.
For instance, more modern writings include themes about identity, families, friendships, and even reimagining past events from different perspectives.
The new course will cover historical authors but also modern writings, including in the areas of fantasy and science fiction elements.
The course will be taught by Professor Courtney Osborne, who is in her first year as a full-time English faculty member at RRCC. Osborne has taught literature and English classes for 13 years as an adjunct instructor.
Osborne, who says she loves to read, has always tried to incorporate less well-known authors into her classes.
But after the Colorado Community College System approved an African American Literature course, she pushed to have Red Rocks Community College start offering it.
“Latinx Literature has been offered at RRCC since last year and students have responded to the course with enthusiasm,” Osborne said.
This course will further increase the variety of voices. Plus, she said, African American literature is the backbone for other works.
“None of the other literature, music, or art would be framed without this group that created so much,” Osborne said. “It is key to our American history.”
The new African American Literature class starts the morning after MLK Jr. Day, and Osborne is likely to start the class with discussion about him.
"MLK Jr. built on ideas from African American movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance, and made it something that went outside of that entertainment realm,” Osborne said. “He took a lot of that content and voice and brought it to politics, and the way he wrote allowed him to do it. It’s what made him so powerful.”
In addition to reading essays from Dr. King, the syllabus for the new African American Literature class will include works from Huston Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou. She also wants to include contemporary works including some that are part of Afrofuturism, or more fantasy centered novels.
Any students who appreciate good stories, history, and tales of hope will find something to love in the readings, Osborne said.
The course will be a guaranteed transfer course that will meet course requirements for many students. Anyone who wants to expand their awareness of diverse voices and perspectives should sign up.
“There’s so much more you might not be aware of,” Osborne said. “The African American voice is such an important voice that often gets left out.” As she’s designing the class, Osborne expects to show students that the typical slave narratives they might have read in the past are only a fraction of the narratives and works created by African American writers.
Several courses at RRCC touch on the subject of MLK Jr. or his views
One course being offered at RRCC for the first time in several years this semester is Intro to Buddhism Philosophy.
The course doesn’t specifically go into Martin Luther King Jr.’s life or views, but does go into depth on the philosophical principle of nonviolence, or Ahimsa, which inspired King’s strategy for peaceful resistance.
King openly talked about his admiration for the principles of nonviolence, as he learned them from Mahatma Gandhi and other Buddhist leaders.
“Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics,” Martin Luther King Jr. said.
“My reading of his work in the context of Buddhism is that all people deserve the same respect,” said Jonas Mabey, assistant professor of philosophy who is teaching the Intro to Buddhism Philosophy course. “It’s the primary principle of human dignity.”
Philosophy classes in general can help students open up their views of the world, and offer a place to practice having uncomfortable discussions about contrasting views, Mabey said.
Other RRCC courses that might interest students seeking a deeper understanding about Dr. King and his views include HIS 2105, Women in United States History, which Professor Toni Nicholas said includes a discussion of civil rights movements and historically marginalized women. HIS 1220, U.S. History since the Civil War, and HIS 2015 20th Century World History, also focus on discussions of civil rights, MLK, and similar themes.
Have you registered for your spring classes yet? Sign up now.