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Documentary poetics arises from the idea that poetry is not a museum-object to be observed from afar but a dynamic medium that informs and is informed by history,” the poet Philip Metres writes. How have poets used their craft to document, to memorialize, to ask hard questions, to recenter marginalized voices, to uncover secrets and buried histories, to reclaim narratives, and to demand justice? What challenges arise in the course of research-based poetic projects, and what are the ethical implications of making poetry from appropriated documents and real events? In this course, we will explore poetry as a social practice “that informs and is informed by history,” drawing on works of documentary and investigative poetics written over the last hundred years. In addition to reading, discussion, and critical writing, students will have the opportunity to pursue their own documentary and investigative poetics projects.