This free online course offered through HarvardX focuses on the poetry of Walt Whitman, a quintessentially American writer whose work continues to bear heavily upon the American poetic tradition. We will explore Whitman’s relationship to the City, the Self, and the Body through his life and poetry. Distinguished guests in this module include Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, and Whitman scholar Karen Karbiener.
Before you begin, you can get a head start on Poetry in America: Whitman using the Module 3 Reading List.
We also invite you to explore the following resources to learn more about the life and work of Walt Whitman:
- The Walt Whitman Archive, a comprehensive online resource focusing on Whitman’s life and poetry
- Full-text, free online edition of Leaves of Grass (the 1855 edition)
- Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography, by David Reynolds
- Walt Whitman: A Life, by Justin Kaplan
- If you’d like to read more of Whitman’s work, both poetry and prose, we recommend Leaves of Grass and Other Writings (Norton Critical Edition).
Featured Partners
HarvardX
HarvardX is a University-wide strategic initiative, overseen by the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning, to enable faculty to build and create open online learning experiences for residential and online use, and to enable groundbreaking research in online pedagogies.
Harvard
Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally.
The Walt Whitman Archive
The Walt Whitman Archive endeavors to make Whitman’s vast work freely and conveniently accessible to scholars, students, and general readers.
Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation elevates poetry, and promotes communities of poets through Poetry magazine, readings and events, partnerships and programs.