Ellison at NYU: Reading Invisible Man on Diversity and Inclusion

Catalog description

In 2020 NYU celebrated the 50th anniversary of Ralph Ellison’s appointment as its Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities; he was the first African American to hold this prestigious university chair. And 2022 will mark the 70th anniversary of Ellison’s most celebrated novel, Invisible Man. This course belatedly commemorates the first event and anticipates the second by reading Ellison’s masterwork and the university archive for what each can teach us about past and present institutional efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. All along the narrative arc of Invisible Man, from its unnamed protagonist’s earnest speech at the absurd battle royale to his abandonment of a tokenized role as black spokesperson for the Brotherhood, today’s student readers encounter--in a very 1950s plot--a number of still-relevant scenarios ripe for analysis. How do we interpret the moments and metaphors of inclusion, integration and assimilation that recur throughout the text? And what do we make of the novel’s end, wherein Ellison’s hero has seemingly abandoned the whole enterprise, choosing instead to self-exile in a hole underground? What do Ellison’s own letters, notes and syllabi from the archives reveal about his attitudes and approach to his distinguished academic appointment? Are there lessons to be drawn from Ellison's case that might help us better read current university policies and prerogatives? Ellison’s documents are here considered alongside more recent books on diversity and the university by Sara Ahmed, Pamela Newkirk and Fred Moten and Stefano Harney. Our discussions of these readings allow students to carefully develop their own understandings of the promises and pitfalls of diversity and inclusion efforts, and encourage them to critically reflect on how these strategies impact their own educations at NYU.