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JERVETTEWARD
Teaching
Food & Identity in Literature
A Website By
Black Studies Department Students
The City College of New York (CCNY)
Through food and literature, we are able to learn about our own identities and cultures, and we are able to explore the identities and cultures of those not like ourselves. Food may be considered a necessity, and literature may be considered a luxury; however, the combination of the two can be viewed as a worthy indulgence. This course looks at the role of food in African American literature and explores the ways in which the two have influenced each other in shaping Black identity. In addition, we consider the ways that culture and identity have been shaped by food in narrative works. As a culmination of the Fall 2025 course, the students created individual projects about food that can be explored via "The Bookshelf" on the website below. The website is the joint class project that led to the students-hosted "Rent Party" where students presented their projects, shared food from their various cultures, and raised funds for the ongoing reestablishment of the CCNY Black Studies Department.
Our Voices This Time
A Short Film By
African American Literature Students
Mississippi State University (MSU)
Our Voices This Time is a short film, released April 28, 2020, inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, and produced by students in Dr. Jervette R. Ward's African American Literature Class at Mississippi State University. This film is different from the original vision and plan, mainly due to the Coronavirus constraints, but students learned a lot from our inspiration, James Baldwin, about what it means to write and produce work in imperfect times. We hope this film will inspire you to explore Baldwin's work and learn more about his writings on race, America, and facing the challenges of the moment. Follow @OurVoicesDoc on Twitter (no longer in use) and Instagram to learn more about this project. #OurVoicesThisTime
Pine Manor College Hungry Hungry Gator Cookbook
A Fundraiser Cookbook By
Writing on the Job Students
Pine Manor College (PMC) — now part of Boston College (BC)
The Pine Manor College Hungry Hungry Gator Cookbook was created by the 2012 Fall Semester Writing on The Job Class taught by Dr. Jervette R. Ward at Pine Manor College. This cookbook embodies the college's multiculturalism and the diversity of the student body. The proceeds from the Launch Party and the cookbook sales were donated to the 2012 Red Cross Super Storm Sandy Relief Fund.
Click on the images in the slideshow below to view sample pages from the cookbook, and click this link to download the entire cookbook. If you download the cookbook, please consider making a donation to the CCNY Black Studies Department where Dr. Ward now teaches Food & Identity in Literature.
The following are a sampling of the courses taught by Dr. Jervette R. Ward.
These courses include both graduate and undergraduate levels.
 Through food & literature, we are able to learn about our own identities & cultures, & we are able to explore the identities & cultures of those not like ourselves. Food may be considered a necessity, & literature may be considered a luxury; however, the combination of the two can be viewed as a worthy indulgence. We look at the role of food in literature & explore the ways the two have influenced each other. We consider how culture & identity have been shaped by food in narrative works. |  The Black American literary experience is connected to the larger Black literary diaspora. We explore the vastness of the Black diaspora & connect the African, European, & American Black literary experience via historical & theoretical lenses. In particular, we focus on the Black American Expat experience. |  The Black female literary voice was long considered silent, but if one listens, there are voices straining to be heard. Harriet Jacobs, Elizabeth Keckley, Ida B. Wells, Zora Neale Hurston, & Anne Moody narrate their own history & create a series of “herstories” that build upon each other. In this course, we explore how these five women “write themselves into existence." The study of their autobiographical works provides a unique approach to the genre of narrative nonfiction. |
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 We study works of literature written by women & analyze film adaptations of the literature. We consider how each film represents a director’s interpretation of the work rather than simply a visual version of it. The course explores the multicultural aspects of the female experience by looking at African American, Asian, Hispanic, British, & Southern American literature. Both the “classics” of women’s literature & the modern-day concept of “chick-lit” are explored. |  The South is a mystical place, yet a real place. It is beautiful, yet ugly. It is warm, yet frigid. The South is a land of contradictions. It is a land of sweet tea and magnolias, yet it is also a land of Strange Fruit. It is Grit and Grind, and it’s Southern Hospitality. This course is a theoretical and critical study of literature of the American South in terms of race, social class, gender, region, and language. |  This course looks at how race & racial constructs are represented in media; however, it is imprudent to consider race without also considering gender & class, so we look at the intersections of all three constructs in media & popular culture. |
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