RESOURCES & SUPPLeMENTAL MATERIALS
The following resources have been compiled to support and deepen your engagement with course themes across all sessions. None are required, but each offers valuable context for the ideas, histories, and debates we'll be exploring together. While organized by class, you may find that any of these materials resonate at different points throughout the course. You'll also find a glossary of key terms to reference throughout.
Session 1: Culture Is A Battlefield
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Gramsci's Thought
BOOK
Written by E.M.S. Namboodiripad and P. Govinda Pillai, this book is a comprehensive introduction to the political and social theories of Antonio Gramsci. -
National Liberation and Culture
SPEECH
In this speech, Amilcar Cabral, leader of the liberation movement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, described the role of indigenous culture in national liberation movements. -
Which Side are you on? (1931)
SONG
"Which Side Are You On?" is a historic 1931 American protest song written by activist Florence Reece during the brutal Harlan County, Kentucky coal mining wars. It was a pro-union song challenging workers to choose between joining the union or supporting the mine owners/thugs. Read about the long history of the song here -
The Necessity of Art
BOOK
In this book, Ernst Fischer explores the social function of art, arguing that artistic production is inseparable from material conditions and revolutionary struggle. -
The Wretched of the Earth
BOOK
Written by Frantz Fanon, this is a seminal anti-colonial work examining violence, culture, and liberation in the struggle against imperialism. -
The Cultural Cold War
BOOK
Frances Stonor Saunders investigates how the CIA covertly funded cultural institutions to shape global intellectual life during the Cold War. -
Prison Notebooks
BOOK
A foundational text written during imprisonment, Antonio Gramsci outlines his theory of cultural hegemony and the struggle for ideological power. -
"The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain"
ESSAY
In this seminal essay, Langston Hughes argues against white cultural superiority, and asserts a call for Black artists to reject assimilation and embrace the richness of Black cultural expression. -
“Speech at the Second Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture”
SPEECH
Delivered in 1937, Bertolt Brecht’s "Speech at the Second Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture" argued that culture is a material, not just spiritual, entity that must be defended against fascism with material weapons, not just intellectual ones. -
" For the Sake of a People’s Poetry: Walt Whitman and the Rest of Us"
ESSAY
In this essay, June Jordan argues for a democratic, accessible poetry rooted in everyday people’s lives, positioning culture as a shared and collective practice rather than an elite domain. -
Armed By Design: OSPAAAL solidarity posters (1966–1990)
ART
A visual collection highlighting how revolutionary Cuba used graphic design as an internationalist tool for political education and anti-imperialist solidarity. -
Tricontinental Arts Bulletin: "Socialism is a Great Cultural Movement"
ESSAY
An essay examining socialism as a generative cultural force, emphasizing how art and collective creativity emerge from and contribute to revolutionary movements.
Glossary
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