Capstone Directed Study
Syllabus for Spring 2001 Semester for
Sandra Jefferson
117 Manners Avenue, Brockton, MA 02301
(508) 580-1198
E-mail:
Major: Business Management
Minor: Women’s Studies
Planned Graduation Date: May 2001
Women’s Studies Advisor: Dr. Terri Hasseler
Course Title
African-American Women’s Memoirs
Course Description
This course will make use of various texts to explore the struggle of racism and sexism against African-American women in a country that once capitalized from the enslavement of African-American people. In particular, African-American women struggle to find their own self-worth in America, which consciously practices sexist and racist beliefs towards them. Some of the texts are memoirs of African-American women who individually address their personal struggle in a culture who has too long sent the message that they are flawed. These accounts not only exemplify the hostile treatment directed towards them, but also illustrate how they have channeled the mistreatment to maintain their sense of womanhood against all odds. Memoirs are primary sources that present the facts and destroy the myths of Black womanhood in America. Memoirs are the nonverbal voices against sexism and racism aimed towards Black woman and is required readings in discovering and fully understanding the psychohistory of Black women in America. Other texts include essays, interviews, historical information, and novels. These texts all address a spectrum of topics having to do with race and racism in America. The selected texts will allow me a personal understanding of what it means to be stigmatized for being not only the “wrong” sex living in the United States, but also the “wrong” color. My objective from this directed study is to illustrate that the experiences of African-American women demonstrate that they are not allowed complete autonomy in a state characterized by equality of rights and privileges.
Selected Primary Texts
Black Macho & the Myth of the Superwoman
By Michele Wallace
Straight, No Chaser: How I Became a Grown-up Black Woman
By Jill Nelson
Coming of Age in Mississippi
By Anne Moody
Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery
By Bell Hooks
Killing Rage: Ending Racism
By Bell Hooks
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
By Harriet Jacobs
Willow Weep For Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression
By Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America
By Rebecca Carroll
Selected Secondary Sources
All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But some of us are Brave
Edited by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith
Life Notes: Personal Writings By Contemporary Black Women]
Edited by Patricia Bell-Scott
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology
We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century
Edited by Dorothy Sterling
The Black Woman in America
By Robert Staples, PhD
Directed Study Assignments
There will be one paper for each selected primary text listed above. The papers will be approximately two pages, double-spaced with one-inch margins, and in MLA format. These papers are designed to be reading papers on the assigned books. They will highlight the particular themes from the texts, or selected passages from the texts, that I find to be relevant or imperative to the subject of African-American women in America. The paper is also open to pose any questions or considerations not addressed by the text.
The final paper will be approximately 15 pages in length, double-spaced with one-inch margins, and in MLA format. It will be designed to merge all of the concepts and theories from all of the reading books as well as any relevant secondary sources to cast a critical eye against the racially motivated mistreatment against African-American women in the United States. This paper will strive to make evident my previously stated objective.
Tentative dateline for assignments
The papers will be either hand-delivered or e-mailed to Dr. Terri Hasseler, my women’s studies advisor, on the assigned dates. Additionally, a monthly meeting with my advisor will be scheduled. The dates and assignments are as follows:
February 2nd- Black Macho & the Myth of the Superwoman
February 12th- Straight, No Chaser: How I Became a Grown-up Black Woman
February 26th- Coming of Age in Mississippi
March 9th- Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery
March 20th- Killing Rage: Ending Racism
April 2nd- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
April 16th- Willow Weep For Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression
April 23rd- Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America
May 4th- Final paper due