HIST 340 - Dave the Potter

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as AFRS 340 and AMST 340) Born enslaved around 1800 in South Carolina, David Drake was a poet and potter who–despite extreme restrictions on enslaved Africans’ literacy–learned to read and write. Tasked with making large ceramic jugs for his enslavers, Dave inscribed each with a short poem and signed his name. In some of these inscriptions, he comments on the pots’ shape and size; in others, he rebukes slavery and white supremacy. In recent years, Dave’s work has garnered growing attention: it has been featured in academic research, museum exhibits, and even a picture book for children. In this intensive, students explore the scholarly debates surrounding Dave the Potter and apply the skill of close reading to his pieces. Each student performs a ceramic art project that draws on the themes of the course: slavery, abolition, and diaspora. In the process, we discuss the ethical stakes of recovering artistic expression and resistance among the enslaved. Allison Puglisi.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: INT