Power, Authority, Justice & Virtue in Melville, M.L. King, Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin and Jesmyn Ward
Power, Authority, Justice & Virtue in Melville, M.L. King, Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin and Jesmyn Ward
This course will focus on Melville’s perspective on what authority means and how anyone with authority then blends it with the power that person has. We see the first Bartleby, then in Benito Cereno, and lastly in Billy Budd. What, then, may or may not happen when questions of virtue and justice enter into the picture?
Schedule:
5 Class sessions
Thursdays: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
May 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th & June 6th.
Location: Union Street Gallery classroom
Readings:
Bartleby, the Scrivener (To be read by the first class session), Benito Cereno , and Billy Budd by Herman Melville (Link to Purchase book here)
Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Print-out provided)
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852 (Print-out provided)
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (Link to Purchase Book Here)
The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward (Link to Purchase Book Here)
Selected poems from Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes (Print-out provided)
About the teacher:
Mike Raftery has over 50 years of teaching experience. He graduated from Iona College with a B.A. in English with a minor in Theology. He received his M.A. from the University of Chicago where he studied humanities, literature, and history.
*Please note: For this class to run there must be a minimum of 8 participants with a max capacity of 15 participants.