Can race be heard? What makes a “black voice”? This course will examine how the black voice develops and is structured as something audible in American culture. From Justin Timberlake to Iggy Azalea, contemporary controversies over cultural appropriation have made us question the ethics of white artists capitalizing upon a proprietary “black” voice. But what does it mean to call a voice black, or say Obama “sounds white”? In this course, students will wade through several key historical moments including the post-Reconstruction rise of local color, dialect debates during the Harlem Renaissance, hipsters in the 1950s, and sonic absurdities in the contemporary. The aim of the course is to learn how sound collaborates with or at-times belies knowledge and assumptions on race derived from a language of sight and skin color. Students will read, watch, and discuss material from a variety of genres and mediums including poetry, sketch comedy, cartoons, stand-up, essays, sociology, and the novel. Key figures include Mark Twain, Paul Dunbar, Charles Chesnutt, Joel Chandler Harris, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Norman Mailer, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paul Beatty, Steve Harvey, Dave Chappelle, and Aaron McGruder. Key criticism and theory includes John Edgar Wideman, Franz Fanon, Houston A. Baker, Geneva Smitherman, kwarren, and Jennifer Lynn Stoever. (B, H)