AMCS 3718: Culture and Identity: Beyond Black Panther: Race and Identity in American Science Fiction and Fantasy
What defines speculative fiction written by children of African immigrants in the U.S.?
The 2018 film Black Panther was groundbreaking in representing Black people within science fiction and superhero media, allowing Black audiences to see themselves in ways mainstream franchises like The Hunger Games and The Avengers rarely offered. But what about children of African immigrants specifically — where are their voices in American speculative fiction?
This course examines multimedia and cross-genre works by contemporary children of African immigrant authors, including Nnedi Okorafor's Shuri: The Search for Black Panther, Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone, and R.F. Kuang's Babel. We will explore how these authors use imagination to address real-world issues, analyze shared themes across their works, and consider what these texts reveal about identity, home, and belonging in America today.
"I am excited about discussing Tomi Adyemi's bestselling text Children of Blood and Bone, which has been adapted to a highly anticipated film and is set to premiere in theaters on January 15th 2027! I'm excited to watch the film with the class and bring it into our discussions about race and American speculative fiction in the 21st century in the era after Marvel's blockbuster 2018 film Black Panther."
- Course Instructor Rebecca Amonor
Rebecca Amonor is a PhD candidate in English at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is a Lynn Harvey Cooper Fellow in American Culture Studies and a McDonnell International Scholars Academy Fellow. Her research focuses on 21st century literature written by authors raised by African immigrants in America, exploring themes of home, identity, race, belonging and diaspora. Rebecca completed her undergrad at Yale where she double majored in English and African American studies and also received a certificate in Chinese.
