In this course, we’ll think about how literature works to create concepts of identity and belonging, by reading major U.S. authors connected to our own University. In short and excerpted works by Thomas Jefferson, Edgar Allan Poe, William Faulkner, and Rita Dove, we will chart the construction and contestation of categories such as “American,” “Virginian,” “southern,” and “The University of Virginia.” Students will get an introduction to the significance of UVA in U.S. literary history, as well as getting hands-on experience in Special Collections, which houses one of the most important collections of American literature in the world.