HON 111: Introduction to the Honors Program: Books and Ebooks

W.E.B. Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk (1903) is a seminal work in African American literature and an American classic. In this work Du Bois proposes that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." His concepts of life behind the veil of race and the resulting "double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others," have become touchstones for thinking about race in America. In addition to these enduring concepts, Souls offers an assessment of the progress of the race, the obstacles to that progress, and the possibilities for future progress as the nation entered the twentieth century.

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In Black Folk Then and Now, W. E. B. Du Bois embarks on a mission to correct the omissions, misinterpretations, and deliberate lies he detected in previous depictions of black history. An exemplary revisionist exploration of history and sociology, this essay reflects Du Bois's lifelong mission to bring to light the truths of Black history and expose the African peoples'noble heritage. W. E. B. Du Bois writes extensively about the color line, which he believed at the time of publication to be the defining problem of the twentieth century. In 1946, following the Holocaust, Du Bois revised his arguments, reshaping them into the narrative we find in The World and Africa. With a series introduction by editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and an introduction by Wilson Moses, this edition is essential for anyone interested in African American history.

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John H. Stanfield II, the leading contemporary Black sociologist of knowledge, distills decades of his research and thinking in a set of articles—some original to the volume, others from fugitive sources—that address race in the formation of epistemologies, theories, and methodologies in social science. Stanfield's contributions to the discipline, such as the adoption of restorative justice as an anti-racism solution in multiracial societies and the development of African diasporic sociological reasoning, are highlighted here. Ranging widely across theoretical, methodological, and substantive topics, Stanfield creates a reflective sociology viewed through an African diasporic lens that enriches the thinking and practice of social science.

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Eric Hayot teaches graduate students and faculty in literary and cultural studies how to think and write like a professional scholar. Hayot does more than explain the techniques of academic writing. He aims to adjust the writer's perspective, encouraging scholars to think of themselves as makers and doers of important work. Scholarly writing can be frustrating and exhausting, yet also satisfying and crucial, and Hayot weaves these experiences, including his own trials and tribulations, into an ethos for scholars to draw on as they write. Combining psychological support with practical suggestions for composing introductions and conclusions, developing a schedule for writing, using notes and citations, and structuring paragraphs and essays, this guide to the elements of academic style does its part to rejuvenate scholarship and writing in the humanities.