This course is intended to acquaint students with the history and representative writings of African American women writers from the 19th century to the present, and celebrates the great tradition of African American women writers, from Phyllis Wheatley to Zora Neale Hurston to Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, and Ntozake Shange. Seeking to increase our understanding of the particular obstacles, issues and social injustice faced by African-American women, as well as the richness, complexity and diversity of their writing, we will explore the poetry and fiction of writers both famous and little known, discovering their contribution to American Literature, to African American and Women's literature, and to social critique and social consciousness over the years. Offered every 2-3 years.