This course will examine the life work of W. E. B. Du Bois, focusing on his four polyphonic, multi-generic autobiographical texts, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Darkwater (1920), Dusk of Dawn (1940) and The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois written in the last years of his life. It will explore a variety of theoretical frameworks for interpreting Du Bois writings, recent Du Bois criticism, and contemporary theories of race and racism that have been inspired by and/or generated in the wake of Du Bois's work. In short, this will be a literature and a race theory course in equal measure. Throughout the quarter we will situate Du Bois's contributions within historical and political context, and will consider questions of genre, form, literary value and political efficacy. Two overarching concerns will guide our reading: 1) Du Bois's evolving understanding of the problematic that he dubbed the "race concept," and the relationship of his various autobiographical self-fashionings to his work on this problematic; and 2) the place of gendered representations and theories of gender power in Du Bois's thinking about racial belonging and effective anti-racism.