Harlem Semester
The Harlem Semester Program critically examines Harlem not as an inert site or abstract concept, but as an intensively peopled place of complex interaction and rich history, alive today. Taught by Barnard faculty in collaboration with Harlem-Based institutions or by members of those institutions in collaboration with Barnard, these place-based courses examine Harlem’s diverse cultural and political legacy through participatory, interdisciplinary, multi-directional learning modules.
In the past decade, students have worked with archivists at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on digital archiving; participated in a movement workshop with famed choreographer Diane McIntyre; learned about artistic and curatorial practice at the Studio Museum in Harlem; and engaged in a multi-media production at the Harlem Stage. Courses are resolutely local, for example on the Harlem Renaissance and Social Justice; they are also transnational, as in the case of a 'Harlem/Moscow' course. Courses have also responded to the moment: in 2020, “Pandemics of Harlem” was offered in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Harlem Semester Program offers a critical intervention in approaches to diversity, inclusion, and inequality on campus. This program takes the lead in shaping new pedagogical models that directly engage controversial issues and actively develop learning spaces where social issues can be debated openly and students’ capacity for interpersonal awareness, solidarity, and respect can change and grow. Students participating in the program gain a unique perspective on the extraordinary contributions of Harlem’s residents through the institutions and community workers who have sustained it, through frank discussions of topics such as access, prejudice, recognition, and respect.
Spring 2025 courses:
AFRS BC3532 ROMARE BEARDEN:HOME IS HARLEM. 4.00 points.
Romare Bearden: Home is Harlem, is an exploration into one of the greatest American artists finding home in Harlem. The noted painter, collagist, intellectual and advocate for the arts, spent his childhood and young adult life in Harlem. Known for chronicling the African-American experience, he found rich sources for artistic expression in the Manhattan neighborhoods above 110th Street.
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AFRS BC3552 BLACK WOMEN STYLE＆PERFRMNCE. 4.00 points.
Black Women, the Apollo, and the Politics of Style
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AFRS BC3565 APOLLO: HISTORY & CULTURE IN HARLEM. 4.00 points.
The Apollo: History & Culture, will survey the Apollo’s early history, pre-1934 when the theater opened to its present-day evolution as a performing arts center with an expanding footprint on 125th Street.
Apollo’s role is American entertainment and global influence. Early Apollo performers paved the way for some of today’s most popular entertainers. We look at the impact of performers over several decades and the ways in which performers and performances at the Apollo influenced American entertainment through music, dance, comedy and more.
Students are encouraged to attend events at the Apollo relative to our discussions for deeper exploration of the topic. Dates, times, and links for events will be provided in advance. Additionally, attendance at performances and events taking place at Harlem Semester member institutions and relevant to our topic, is encouraged.
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Related courses offered in Spring 2025:
AFEN BC3135 ZORA NEALE HURSTON: A WRITING LIFE. 4.00 points.
On her “Record of Freshman Interest” form, Zora Neale Hurston, Barnard class of 1928, wrote in response to the question of what vocation or profession she had in mind after graduation, “I have had some small success as a writer and wish above all to succeed at it. Either teaching or social work would be interesting, but consolation prizes.” No consolation prize was necessary as Hurston became one of American and African American literature’s finest writers, America’s first Black anthropologist, and a Black feminist ancestor and icon. A deep dive into Hurston’s work and writing life, this course reads Hurston as a narrative stylist and theorist in multiple genres: as poet, essayist, writer of short stories, novelist, playwright, folklorist, and memorist. The goal of this class is to read Hurston closely and widely and to identify and examine her aesthetic philosophy and stylistic choices as one of the first African American women able to have a writing “career.” We will concentrate on her work from the 1920s through the 1930s, when she was at Barnard, and a leading figure in the Harlem/New Negro Renaissance.
In her time, Hurston was adamant about writing for and about people like herself; she saw ordinary black people as keepers of a rich culture that should be celebrated and shared. In this spirit, the assignments for this course will lead to final digital projects that can be shared with the Barnard community in anticipation of the centennial of Hurston’s matriculation and graduation from Barnard (1925-1928). We will partner with the Digital Humanities Center at Barnard, as well as Barnard Archives; we will engage resources at Barnard, such as Hurston-focused issues of The Scholar and Feminist Online, and other institutions, such as Columbia’s Rare Book Collection, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Library of Congress. No prior experience with digital tools is necessary.
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AFEN BC3196 HARLEM RENAISSANCE LITERATURE. 4.00 points.
Home to Harlem focuses on the relationship between art, activism and social justice during the Harlem/ New Negro Renaissance. Exploring the cultural contexts and aesthetic debates that animated Harlem in 1920s to 1930s, the course discusses the politics of literary and theatrical production, while exploring the fashioning and performance of New Negro identity through fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork. Topics considered include: role of Africa/slavery/the south in New Negro expression, patronage, passing, primitivism/popular culture, black dialect as literary language, and the problematics of creating a “racial” art in/for a community comprised of differences in gender, class, sexuality, and geographical origin.
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Past courses include:
Home to Harlem: Art, Activism and Social Justice in the Harlem Renaissance and Beyond, with The National Black Theater and Harlem Stage
Advanced Architectural Design, with The National Black Theater
Religions of Harlem
James Baldwin’s Harlem
Queer Harlem
Ntozake Shange and Digitial Storytelling
Dances of Harlem (Sydney Mosely)
Freestyle (on African American contemporary art)