HDEV 407Social Constructn of Whiteness

Catalog

This upper-division course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary field of critical whiteness studies, understanding whiteness and race as social and cultural constructions with real material effects in everyday life. Through the use of films and texts from sociology, human development, anthropology, history, and ethnic studies, the course will explore the following topics associated with the historical and cultural construction of whiteness: the history of white supremacy in the U.S. and global contexts; the social and cultural construction of race, whiteness, and inequality; white racial identity development; the construction of whiteness within institutions, particularly schooling; intersections of whiteness and white privilege with other markers of difference such as gender and social class; scholarly methods used to understand whiteness; and organizing towards anti-racist action and policy.