Essay Seminar: James Baldwin

Dinner, discussion, and social

Registration fee is for dinner.

Our ability to talk about race and class has been flattened by internet discourse. Baldwin's essays apply to the modern American multicultural project, even sixty years after the Civil Rights Act. Baldwin refused the simple redemption story America tells about itself and showed how unstable our identity categories are. Much has changed since he wrote, and much still needs explaining.

Agenda

6:00-6:30: Meet, greet, and dinner catered by Chi'Lantro

6:30-8: Discussion with short break

8:00-8:30ish: Stay and hang if you like

Reading Assignment

We’ll discuss the essays "Notes of a Native Son" and "Stranger in the Village," attending to argument and craft. Both are found in the collection Notes of a Native Son. Come having done the reading.

By signing up, you commit to reading and participating fully in the discussion.

Meet your instructor

Anu Pandey writes a newsletter with thousands of readers, turning a critical eye on herself and the social narratives that order our lives.