ENGL 451A/WMST 490: Toni Morrison Seminar

Fall, 2004

Morrison photo

Professor Joan Korenman
Office: FA 436
Office Hours: Tues, 1:15 - 2:15; Thurs., 4:00 - 5:00
       (Other times by ambush or appointment)
Office Phone: 410-455-2040
E-mail: Here's how..

NOTE: Please do not write to ask for information about Toni Morrison unless you are enrolled in the seminar. I am delighted that students all over the world are discovering the joys and challenges of reading Morrison, but I'm afraid I do not have time to respond to questions from anyone except my own students.

Required Texts (all paperback except Love)

*The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison (Plume) 1970

*Sula - Toni Morrison (Plume) 1973

*Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison (Plume) 1977

*Tar Baby - Toni Morrison (Random House) 1981

*Beloved - Toni Morrison (Plume) 1987

*Paradise - Toni Morrison (Plume) 1998

*Love - Toni Morrison (Knopf) 2003

*Conversations with Toni Morrison - Danille Taylor-Guthrie (ed.) (Univ. Press of Mississippi) 1994

*MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.) - Joseph Gibaldi (Modern Language Association) 2003. This text should prove very helpful in dealing with the mechanics of writing a research paper (e.g., the use of footnotes, bibliography, quotations); it also offers advice on using the library, taking notes, writing drafts, avoiding plagiarism, etc.

Please Note:

This is simply a list of required texts. I will distribute the full syllabus, containing the class schedule, descriptions of assignments, and an extensive list of suggested secondary readings, in class on Thursday, September 2.

Students enrolled in the Morrison seminar should know how to use catalogusmai, the University of Maryland's online library information system, as well as online databases such as Ingenta and Academic Search, both of which are available from the UMBC Library homepage. You should also be familiar with the standard bibliographic works in literary study: MLA Bibliography, Humanities Index, Essay and General Literature Index, Women's Studies Abstracts, etc.


If you have questions and are a student in the Morrison seminar, you can reach me by e-mail: Here's how.

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