JAN 200 - Banned in the USA: Books Some Consider Too Dangerous to Read

Instructor(s):  Furio, Joanne
Email:  jf14@stmarys-ca.edu

Book banning is nothing new. Books have been banned in ancient Rome and Egypt, in Nazi Germany and in the U.S. before it was even a country. But recent events and the subsequent culture wars they’ve created have led to the banning of books at an unprecedented rate, more than 3,000 per school year, according to PEN America. The most challenged books are written by or about people of color or a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
 
 In this in-person class we’ll look into book banning’s history and newly enacted state laws, as well as a landmark 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case on the legalities of bans. We’ll also read books that have been deemed dangerous enough to be pulled from library shelves: the YA book The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas; graphic novels Gender Queer by Maiai Kobabe and Flamer by Mike Curato; classics like Tony Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel on banning books, Fahrenheit 451; and myriad picture books we’ll examine in class.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
None

Credits: 3-CU