yolandaPIERCE
Fall 2020
@Howard University School of Divinity
Toni Morrison as Theologian
Fridays
Fall 2020
Having had the distinct honor of the late Toni Morrison as one of her professors, Yolanda Pierce returns to the classroom with a new course: “Toni Morrison as Theologian.”
The course aims to present some of the major themes in Black theology and womanist theology and how those themes inform a theological approach to the writings of Toni Morrison. The course will engage novelist Toni Morrison around five critical theological areas: Christology, Eschatology, Pneumatology, Theodicy, and Creation. The class is deliberately interdisciplinary: the required reading will be drawn primarily from literary texts, including three of Morrison’s novels and several of her essays and speeches. These works will be supplemented by secondary material from theology, ethics, and anthropology. No prior background in literature or theology is assumed, however students must be open to doing theological work with literary texts. Students will be encouraged to offer productive critiques and develop creative and imaginative theological alternatives from a Black theology and/or womanist theology perspective.
