ENG 530 AD2+

The Soul of Lefferts
Photographs by Courtney Mooney
English 530: Topics in Wri@ng
Documentary Wri/ng
3 credits
Professor Deborah Mutnick
Summer Session 1
May 16 – June 27, 2016
MW 6:00 to 8:55 p.m.

Courtney Mooney started photographing
Prospect Lefferts Gardens in 2015. She
set out to capture the soul of the
neighborhood, documen@ng the legacy
of long@me residents and their cultures
in a @me of rapid, controversial development,
gentrifica@on, and displacement.
English 530, Documentary Wri/ng, is a
course on the historical antecedents,
especially the 1930s Federal Writers’
Project, for work like the Soul of
Lefferts. We will partner with Courtney
Mooney to capture the stories of her
subjects as she expands her collec@on.
Learn the history of documentary art
and par@cipate in conduc@ng oral history
interviews with PLG residents and
draXing text for a prospec@ve book
modeled aXer Richard Wright’s 12
Million Black Voices and other WPA era
narra@ve photography projects. English
530 is open to all graduate and qualified
undergraduate students!
In addi@on to a focus on the methods,
ethics, and historical value of oral history,
we will read about the role of the
interviewer, the art of listening, and the
importance of preserva@on. We will also
study the history and culture of Brooklyn
neighborhoods in light of unfe]ered
development and disloca@on.

Par@al Reading List
James Agee and Walker Evans’ Let Us Now
Praise Famous Men
The WPA Guide to New York City
Rosten Woo’s Street Value: Shopping, Planning
and PoliHcs at Fulton Mall
Richard Wright’s 12 Million Black Voices
Internship ~ 1 credit
A 1-credit internship is associated with English
530. S/pends may be available, pending
funding. Interns will work closely with the
project team, par@cipa@ng in interviews, writeups,
and public events. To apply for a s/pend,
contact Professor Deborah Mutnick at
deborah.mutnick@liu.edu.
The Book
The aim of this project is a book of photographs
and personal stories documen@ng the “soul of
lefferts.” The book will celebrate the lives and
cultural legacies of PLG residents and track the
impact of gentrifica@on on displacement and
dispossession. Although we are s@ll in the early
stages of this project, we are encouraged by
the enthusias@c response to Courtney’s images
at a recent exhibit at a local café. As a student
in English 530, you will be part of the project
team, contribu@ng to the book as you learn
about the history, theory, and prac@ce of
documentary art.

For more informa/on, contact
Deborah Mutnick at
deborah.mutnick@liu.edu or
718.488.1110