Life, Literature, and Politics with Tayo Basquiat

Life, Literature, and Politics with Tayo Basquiat

This is a 3-meeting virtual class using the Zoom platform.

Wednesdays, Sept 11, Oct 16, Nov 6 

7-9 pm CT

About this class:

This is a class exploring how we create ourselves in life and in art, where the tidy separation between the private and the political breaks down and we must figure out how to respond, how to create, and how to resist or change. We'll read and discuss three books: Alexander Chee's  How to Write an Autobiographical Novel; James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men; and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's Chain Gang All-Stars.

Students are encouraged to purchase and read all three books. Please read Alexander Chee’s How to Writer an Autobiographical Novel, before the first class meeting.

Instructor bio:

Tayo Basquiat writes to pay attention and teaches to pay the bills. He lives with a passel of creatures off-grid in the high desert of New Mexico.

HND Value Statement

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Humanities North Dakota. However, in an increasingly polarized world, we at Humanities North Dakota believe that being open-minded is necessary to thinking critically and rationally. Therefore, our programs and classes reflect our own open-mindedness in the inquiry, seeking, and acquiring of scholars to speak at our events and teach classes for our Public University. To that end, we encourage our participants to join us in stepping outside our comfort zones and considering other perspectives and ideas by being open-minded while attending HND events featuring scholars who hold a variety of opinions, some being opposite of our own held beliefs.

Humanities North Dakota classes and events are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities