There is no greater testament to the power of literature than the many historical and contemporary attempts to restrict access to it. Challenges to books in school curricula and on library shelves persist today, precisely because books often prompt us to consider experiences and perspectives that may be contrary to our own and sometimes represent actions and values that we find troubling. This course explores how books can unsettle, provoke, disturb, inspire, and empower us — and, perhaps, even be considered dangerous. Students will read a variety of books that have been challenged, censored, or banned. Our text list will include embattled classics that have been challenged from different ends of the political spectrum (from A Clockwork Orange to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Beloved); we’ll explore texts whose authors were subject to political persecution and institutional censorship in places like Russia, Egypt, and Chile; we’ll choose books from the most recent PEN America Banned Book Lists and consider how evolving social mores have affected the kinds of literature that are challenged in our own country. Students should be prepared to lean into discomfort as we read difficult works in their entirety before evaluating the objections to them and be willing to engage in critical debate as we seek to understand what calls for censorship, restriction, or cancellation can tell us about our society and ourselves. This course is for people who believe in the power of books and want to read more of them — and it is a course for people who are skeptical about why we read at all.