When Ancestors Become Ghosts: The Costs of Burying Our Past *In-Person* *NEW*

Through the lenses of history, psychoanalytic theory, and literature, participants will analyze our current tortured cultural and political moment. We will explore the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, as well as excerpts from the writings of 21st-century novelist Jesmyn Ward, and the work of 21st-century psychoanalyst Dionne Powell. Their insights will help us understand both the impulses driving the current wave of book-banning and censorship, and the dangers these impulses pose for all of us if they remain unexamined. These authors require us to consider the damage we do when we refuse to acknowledge and recognize our painful history. 

Required text: Beloved by Toni Morrison; other supplemental readings will be excerpted in class.

Instructor: Joshua Frank