FYSP 015 - In This Here Place, We Flesh: Underground Railroad and Sanctuary Space

FC ARHU CD WINT

4 credits
Why is the Underground Railroad a persistent symbol of sanctuary in African American Literature, Art, and Culture? Using the novel, Beloved, by Toni Morrison and the Toni Morrison Society - Bench by the Road - as the first stop, we will explore what sanctuary meant for enslaved people moving through Oberlin on the journey to freedom, for Africans who attended Oberlin since the 19th century, and present representations of the underground railroad in literature and art This course provides students with the critical historical context of 19th-century sanctuary practices for fugitive slaves the underground railroad and Oberlin’s distinct role in this history. Field trips required.