This is a class about banned books. In particular, this is a class about books that have been banned, challenged, or censored in K-12 schools, in colleges and universities, and in public libraries in the U.S. We will read, talk, and write about some of these books and about the history of book burning, banning, and censoring in the U.S. We will also read, talk, and write about the social and political issues raised—about who gets to decide what we read and teach and lend and about the value of literary works.

The books that we will read may include novels such as James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, graphic nonfiction such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, and poetry such as Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and Allen Ginsberg’s Howl. We will also read court decisions and other legal documents, historical accounts, and reporting and opinion pieces on book bans.

Assignments will include reading responses, a critical essay, and a historical context essay.