"Truth is trouble."—Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was more than an essayist and novelist; she was a witness, a historian, and a master truth-teller. Her words unsettle, stir, illuminate, and challenge us to see what history tries to erase. This course explores Morrison’s fearless engagement with truth—about race, memory, trauma, and power—through two of her essential works: The Source of Self-Regard, a collection of speeches and essays that reveal her philosophy of the art of storytelling, and Home, a novel that excavates the buried wounds of war trauma, displacement, and Black survival.

Through close reading, writing, discussion, and critical analysis, we will examine how Morrison uses fiction and nonfiction to reclaim silenced stories and rewrite dominant narratives. What does it mean to tell the truth when the world is built on lies? What purpose of good does the truth serve? How does Morrison use language to disrupt, to heal, and to reveal? This course invites you to engage with her work not just as literature, but as a radical act of resistance. We will share our own truth using generative writing prompts to reflect on Morrison's lessons in the use of artful language.

**Note - taking this course you are encouraged to have a copy of the novel HOME. Excerpts from THE SOURCE OF SELF REGARD are included. You can rent HOME from your local library, purchase it yourself, or choose the ‘with book’ option when you register and we will send you a copy.

All classes are online June 30 - August 4 from 7:00PM - 8:30 PM CST