Dissent and Democracy: American Literature to 1900 (AMER-0047)

Spring 2026 · AMER 0047 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

Literature survey focused on "dissent" and "democracy": two major thematic and formal concerns of early American writing. Readings include exploration narratives, settlement propaganda, sermons, autobiographies, political pamphlets, philosophical essays, poetry, short fiction, and novels. Brings together Native American, white European American, African American, Latinx, and Asian American voices to think about the construction of literary history, the politics of representation, and why this matters today. Authors studied include Phillis Wheatley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Emily Dickinson, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Sui Sin Far, and Zitkála-Šá.

Course codes: AMER-0047, AMER 0047, AMER0047, AMER-47, AMER 47, AMER47, ENG-0023, ENG 0023, ENG0023, ENG-23, ENG 23, ENG23, CVS-0031, CVS 0031, CVS0031, CVS-31, CVS 31, CVS31

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