Special Topics: Women's Narratives

Women's Narratives (WSMT 3000) is a space to read, listen, feel, and respond. This course explores how Black women and femmes use voice, rhythm, memory, and performance to shape culture, confront silence, and define themselves on their own terms.

We move across time and genre — poetry, song, theory, albums, and artifacts — engaging figures like Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, India.Arie, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mahogany L. Browne, Billie Holiday, and many more.

Together, we ask: What does it mean to speak as a Black woman? How is sound a form of memory, resistance, or self-love? What do metaphor, melody, and media teach us about identity? How can we read a poem like a song — and a song like a text? This class blends critical study, creative response, and collective reflection. Expect to read deeply, write regularly, listen with intention, and find joy in connection.

To the left, you can view three different group projects for the final. This link also includes the assignment description, group contract example, proposal, and additional guidance needed for students to complete the project. Below you will find a picture of students holding up their "Gardens" of women who have influenced them after reading the "In Search of Our Mothers' Garden" chapter by Alice Walker. There are also two example videos.

In Fall 2025, this course was taught concurrently with Performance of Literature PERF 2010.