ENGLISH 242S · also LIT 209S
Banned Books
Robyn Wiegman
Description from DukeHub
When are books considered too dangerous to read? This course explores this question by reading across a wide range of banned texts, from George Orwell's 1984 to Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Art Speilgman's Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel Maus. Our aim is to understand the potency attributed to literature as a form of political influence and social instruction. By the end of the term, students will have a broader understanding of the role that literature, and by extension the humanities as a whole, has played in political struggles over cultural representation, historical memory, identity, and democratic debate.
Skills
- writingdepartment: ENGLISH
- public speakingdescription: "representation" and 1 more
AI-resilient: 1 of 5
- No: Physical, lab or field work
- No: Live work with people
- No: Judgment someone is accountable for
- No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
- Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 18 seats per section
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works
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