Summer 2026
Literatures of the Roma
Dates: June 01, 2026 – July 09, 2026Day/Time: Monday; Wednesday; Thursday 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM EDT
Level: 200-Level
Certificate: Global Humanities
Global Humanities certificate requirement: Global imagination (study of art and culture).
Instructor: Anita Tarnai, American University in Bulgaria
Fascination with the Roma have resulted in a large amount of works produced over centuries by non-Roma authors. These works, in turn, have shaped societal perceptions and norms of engagement and played a central role in the fictitious and exceedingly negative stereotyping and persecution of the Roma. Little attention has been paid to the literature and art produced by authors of Romani origin to counter their exoticized and often dehumanizing images and allow for self-representation. The course provides an opportunity for students to examine stereotypes associated with the Roma as well as engage with primary resources (poetry, prose, essays, art) produced by Romani authors and also drawn from collective forms of Romani art (fairy tales and songs). Students will explore themes of “the other,” identity, class, race, gender, location (and dislocation) and time, and the often overlooked experiences of Romani slavery and the Holocaust, amongst others.
This is session 1 course. Deadline to register is May 29.
Credits: 4 US / 8 ECTS