Course Description
Race in the United States is a long-fought over concept with wildly varying ideas about what it actually means. The difference of views on race in the United States have caused the fight against racism itself to become cluttered—an already difficult journey turned confusing. The goal of this class is to get you thinking clearly about race and racism in the United States. To that end, we’ll be reading about how race has been understood historically, about how we understand it in the contemporary context, about how to study it and, most of all, the implications of race on the life- chances of people in the United States.
To achieve this objective, strong critical thinking and writing skills are required. Critical analysis goes beyond mere summary of someone else’s idea; it requires an additional level of inquiry based upon a synthesis of multiple perspectives and a deeper reading of the central concepts. Regardless of your current and future interests, the capacity to critically analyze a complex phenomenon and powerfully articulate your idea in written form is indispensable. As a writing-intensive course, the assignments and exams for this course are intended to develop and strengthen your ability to clearly and concisely articulate an original argument with convincing supporting evidence