While "race" and "ethnicity" have always played fundamental roles in shaping
the course of American history and the image of American society, our
understanding of the concepts of race and ethnicity has often been less than
clear. Our goal in this course is to determine and examine how Americans have
defined race and ethnicity at various points in our history and how these notions
have been acted out in policy, practice, and theory. Examples of the social and
legal construction of race and ethnicity will include white-Native American
relations, slavery and its legacy, the "Yellow Peril," science and race, and
contemporary race relations.
Format: seminar. Evaluation will be based on class participation and three
written assignments: an annotated bibliography, an historiographical essay, and
a final research paper.
Prerequisites: prior work in American Studies and/or History. Enrollment limit:
18 (expected: 18). Preference given to senior American Studies majors, then to
History majors.