What is madness? Classic Western literature from King Lear to Moby Dick offer answers from obsession to mental illness to a destroyed sense of self.

What is madness? Classic Western literature from King Lear to Moby Dick offer answers from obsession to mental illness to a destroyed sense of self.

But what is madness from a Black American perspective?

As a people that celebrate our resilience under slavery and oppression, our breaking points can be overlooked, diminished, or ignored in favor of upholding strength. Nevertheless, characters across various Black American media have fallen into madness.

It's Crazy Out Here: An Introduction to Insanity in Black Literature takes a deeper look into why we go mad, how society views that madness, and how to write a mad character. We will look at philosophical approaches to madness from Frantz Fanon and W.E.B. Du Bois. We will also look at formerly enslaved characters like Sethe (Beloved) and Nat Turner, mad geniuses such as Dr. Belsidus (Black Empire), tyrants like the Emperor Jones, and modern madmen (and women) like Red (US) and OG Fontaine (They Cloned Tyrone).

By the end of the course, every student will complete a short story about a character who had gone mad. So, let's dive in- after all, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.  

All class meetings will be held via Zoom. The link to join your Zoom classroom will be provided on the morning of your class. Please check spam folders if you do not receive an email confirmation upon registration. For more information on how to download or use Zoom, please click here.

Meet Your Instructor:
Desiree Winns

Desiree Winns is an aspiring academic interested in perception, disillusionment and propaganda. Her goal is to understand why people think the way they do- especially in politics. In pursuit of this goal, Desiree achieved her bachelor's in political science from the University of Central Florida and a master's in international affairs from the George Washington University. She has published essays and short stories with midnight & indigo, khoreo magazine, and cerealization.com. In Fall 2025 she will begin her PhD in Mass Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Course Takeaways

• Learn about the relationships between social/political reality, race, and madness
• Learn how to write a character who has "gone mad"
• Write a short story about a mad character. 

Course Expectations

• A recommended list of movies/books will be provided beforehand but watching/reading is not necessary to attend the class
• Students should expect lecture, discussion questions, and workshopping 

Course Skeleton

• Week One: What is Madness? We will discuss madness from a Eurocentric and Black American perspective. Class Exercise: For our short stories, we will brainstorm situations that will eventually challenge the characters' sanity. 
• Week Two: Gender and Madness- How madness in the Black community is differently perceived/experienced by men and women. Class Exercise: We will discuss and come up with breaking points for our characters
• Week Three: Perceptions of Madness - We will discuss how society views "mad" Black people, and real-world figures who have been seen as mad. Class Exercise: Writing the story
• Week Four: Sharing Stories - We will share and workshop our stories.

We offer full refunds for cancellation with written notice up until 7 days before your class start date. From 6 days to more than 24 hours before class begins, we offer a 25% refund. If you drop a class less than 24 hours before the class begins or after it has started, you are ineligible for a refund.