The Concept of Race in Society and History

Semester and Year	FA 2011
Course Number	IDSEM-UG1660
Section	001
Instructor	Kimberly DaCosta
Days	Mon,Wed
Time	11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement	SOC, GLOBAL

Notes/Restrictions

Same as SOC-UA 970 002.

Description

This course offers a comparative sociohistorical analysis of race. Using a wide range of empirical and theoretical materials, we problematize what is too often considered settled: what constitutes race. We explore historical and cross-national variations in the bases of racial division, as well as the mechanisms through which racial domination is (re)produced. We begin with the prevailing assumption that race is a biological fact. By showing how even biologists reject the notion of race on scientific grounds, we open the way to exploring race as a social construct--one that has changed over time, and varies across societies. Rather than study the history of particular groups, we explore mechanisms of racial domination, including classification, prejudice, discrimination, segregation, ghettoization, and violence. We read selections from sociology, anthropology, history and literature on ethnoracial division in the US, Western Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Readings may include works by Stephen Gould, George Fredrickson, Virginia Dominguez, Carl Degler, DeVos and Wagatsuma, Barbara Fields, Pierre Bourdieu, Loic Wacquant, Ann Stoler, Zygmunt Bauman, Nancy Scheper Hughes and Colson Whitehead.

Syllabus

IDSEM-UG1660

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)