Word: herron
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies Carol O. Herron, who came to Harvard this year to augment the department's literature offerings, this spring taught a course on Afro-American poetry. Herron, who previously studied Latin American epic fiction on a Fulbright Award in Mexico, is an expert on Milton and the epic. "My work involves showing the way in which the Afro-American epic has developed in America with African, American and European sources," she says...
Lattimore says, "Having white students in a class about Black issues often brings up topics at a simple level--it makes you look at things from the fundamentals." Citing the integrated population of concentrators, Herron says, "I don't know if it's a Harvard phenomenon or what. But, I think Afro-American studies is exciting and intellectually challenging and I think that everybody is interested...
...racial mix of students reflects the make-up of the professors in the department. Out of five professors this year, two are white and three are Black, including Herron, who is the only Black female professor at the College. Each professor brings a different perspective to the discipline, which is affected by the experiences of his or her own race, Sollors says...
From the student perspective, Dawkins says, "White professors tend to ignore the social implications of literature." Yet others say it is not color that matters, but expertise. Herron admits to "being a classicist" and adds, "I don't like prolonged periods of working with texts that are apt to bring up what is emotional in myself." Authors such as Alice Walker tend to tie themselves up with intense emotion where classic writers like Homer lend themselves to a more intellectual reading of the text, she says...
...Superficially, it seems like a very calm period racially, but in talking more personally [with students] I see problems under the surface," Herron said about her experiences at Harvard. "There seems to be a lot more racial frustration than I would have thought possible," said Herron...