Summer Institute for K-12

Immigrant Dreams & Contemporary African Diasporic Literatures
June 23 – 27, 2008 9am – 4:30pm daily
University of Minnesota – Minneapolis Campus
Dr. Njeri Githire, Department of African American and African Studies,
University of Minnesota

This week-long institute is designed to explore themes of immigration,
race, gender and culture as represented by writers of the African
Diaspora who have moved to Western metropolitan centers in search of a
better life. We will read short stories, novellas, personal narratives
and essays, interspersed with visual excerpts from selected films and
other visual representations of a world of exile, hinged at the
intersection of dreams and reality. We will examine the ways in which
individuals endeavor to articulate their identity and sense of belonging
in the face of conflicting discourses of “otherness” and assimilation.
How do experiences of racism and exclusion shape individuals’
perspectives on citizenship and social membership? How do these problems
impact on transnational relations between former colonies and former
colonizing centers? We will probe storytelling mechanisms using
grandparents-to-grandchildren narratives to explore the ways in which
human stories inform our sense of place. How do these narratives provide
individuals with the tools to navigate culture shock and cross-cultural
transitions and alleviate immigrant home-sickness?

Selected writers will include André Alexis (Trinidad & Tobago/Canada),
Calixthe Beyala (Cameroon/France), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti/USA),
Nathalie Etoké (Cameroon/France), Andrea Levy (Jamaica/England), Alain
Mabanckou (Congo/France/USA), Gisèle Pineau (Guadeloupe/France),
Abdourahman A. Waberi (Djibouti/France) … just to mention these.

About the Institutes:

Register Online at http://igs.cla.umn.edu/outreach/registration.html

Fees: $75 includes all books and readings, 30 CEUs, and lunch daily.

Location: Course meets daily on the University of Minnesota –
Minneapolis campus. Details will be mailed to participants before the
start of the institute.

Academic Credit (graduate or undergraduate) available.

Limited Travel and Housing Scholarships available on a first-come,
first-served basis.

Questions? Please contact Molly McCoy, Outreach Coordinator at the
Institute for Global Studies at outreach@umn.edu or 612-624-7346.