The course will be devoted to the reading of a primary document-Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma-about race and the constitution of national identity in the United States. After its publication in 1944, the book was to be enormously influential in the way Americans thought about race and in framing the politics, including civil rights protest, that developed in the years after World War II. The bulk of the course will be devoted to an examination of the text giving attention to the way Myrdal crafted an argument about race and about social science investigation. We look as well at the social and political context in which it emerged, the critical reception, and its increasing consignment as a document for liberal politics that set the atmosphere for dramatic changes that led eventually to the full affirmation of racial equality as a public policy goal. Class format: seminar. Requirements: class participation, short papers and final paper.