Race, gender, caste; these are just a few of the many perspectives students read about in postcolonial literature. In this class, students are tasked with analyzing a number of fiction and nonfiction texts about the effects of colonialism on a group of people. It expands upon the knowledge of colonialism from history and introduces a wide variety of perspectives and situations throughout the course.
The main focus of the class is how colonialism affects culture and the systems based in that culture. Even without prior knowledge of colonialism, the class adequately introduces students to the subject at the start of the course. Most of the texts in this class are books, with a few short stories over the semester. Alexandra Simon, class of ‘25, who took the class last semester stated that her favorite book was Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. It focuses on a young girl, Tambu, and her family in colonial Rhodesia as they try to escape poverty. This book not only explores the effects of colonialism on minorities, but also double minorities, like black women, who are oppressed within their community. The course continues to teach about many forms of oppression and colonialism, including talking about the caste system in India.
The class structure is based on discussions with other projects. Open table and Harkness discussions were frequent, which helped many students understand the books more deeply. The course not only connects its themes to the broader world but also the students’ lives. For one of their books, Things Fall Apart, a prevalent theme was how big things affect small things and how small things affect big things. The project for this book was to observe how things in your life affected you.
Overall, this course explores the many different perspectives within society. It explores the facets of postcolonialism that history classes lack the time to explore.
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