My Approach

Previous approaches to English 1100 appear to leave lots of room for the instructor to decide to make innovations involving Afrofuturism. I would implement Afrofuturism in order to take a multicultural approach, one that allows students to view the past through the lens of the future and to become aware of opportunities for them to make changes in their present. I would use new materials that focused on Afrofuturism and also texts that gave supplementary information to help students see how this topic is relevant to their lives today. For example, I would have students read work by Kendi and his suggestions on how to be an antiracist. He brings up important topics about racist policies that supplement Afrofuturist texts and help students to better understand how the novels can spur their thinking of their own ideas and maybe make some changes today. I would have students complete activities such as class discussions where we talk about what students are reading and help them see these connections between Afrofuturist texts and their world today. I would also have them complete assignments that require them to research historical events that are addressed in the books, analyze literary elements, research their own family history and look at how it impacts their future, think about the imagination gap, and write creatively. These assignments all require students to think about the texts in ways that make them relevant to their lives.  
There are several futurism approaches that impact this curriculum and instruction. One of these approaches is to look at a historical event and think about how it has impacted the present and future. This course will have a few mini-lessons on historical topics to help students make connections and see how to begin to use the future to view the past. A bigger component will be students doing research projects on a topic related to the texts. This assignment will ask students to not only learn more about the topic and teach it to the class, but individually reflect on how this event could impact their futures. Combined with the texts, this will help students rethink the past because they will be thinking about the “historical facts” (we will talk about how history is represented and gets told) alongside how the event is represented through a futuristic lens. Another approach is thinking about how a family’s history has impacted a person’s personal present and future. This allows them to view their past through the lens of the future and how personal history impacts them. A final approach is asking students to take action based on something a text raises. The course will ask that students identify a community member or group that does something related to the topics. For example, after reading Lagoon, students might notice the importance of water and respecting it. Students might find a group that tries to prevent water pollution. Or, after reading Parable of the Sower, students might notice how homelessness is addressed and find an organization that helps homeless. Students will invite this group or person to our class to teach us about what they do. Students will also be asked to create a proposal to get involved individually and try to get involved in some way. This approach allows students to see themselves making a difference in the present. This assignment asks students to connect what they are reading to their own lives and issues in the world, especially in their own community, today.  
Different cultural perspectives will be centered in different ways. With a focus on Afrofuturism, African culture will be highlighted quite a bit. However, other perspectives will naturally fit into this course when students look at historical events and their own histories. Students will see how different cultures are impacted differently by the same events. Students will work in several different genres. Film, comics, novels, and art will be used to generate classroom discussion. Students will write papers including a creative piece and an exploratory essay. They will also create a multi genre family history project. This will combine several genres such as photographs, poetry, journaling, storytelling, and others that students think are appropriate. This will help students to think about their personal past and how it impacts their future.