LARTS 353 — August Wilson’s American Experience

Prerequisite: LARTS 112 . Playwright August Wilson’s 10-play “Century Cycle” focuses on each decade of the 20th century, creatively addressing the historical and cultural experiences of African Americans. Using his plays as a point of departure, this class will explore the historical, literary, and cultural context of each play to gain insight into Wilson’s creative offering and–more broadly–African American life. What events did Wilson reference and why? How does each play respond to the moment it depicts, and how does it respond to the moment in which it was written? How do the plays work together as a commentary on 20th-century America? In addition to all ten of Wilson’s plays, texts may include Harold Cruse’s Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns, and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time.