CSP 60 Black Paris: Diasporic Connections in the City of Light

During the first part of the 20th century Paris was an international hub of intellectual and creative activity. For black Americans, in particular, Paris held the promise of “liberty, equality, and (interracial) fraternity.” There they established connections with African and Caribbean thinkers resulting in an explosion of cultural production that would influence French culture and transform the future of people of African descent. This course will examine black internationalism as experienced in Paris during the Interwar period and the decade following World War II, focusing on themes such as Pan-Africanism, the Harlem Renaissance New Negro, the Jazz Age, and Negritude. Readings will include works by and about figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, James Baldwin, Aimé Césaire, and Léopold Senghor.