Crafting Race in 19th-Century Britain

Catalog description

This course explores how the idea of race was developed, deployed, and reinforced through nineteenth-century British culture, from novels to museums to ballet. Students investigate how literature and art produced and replicated arguments about race that justified or fought against oppression. Alongside literary texts, students will also work with advertisements, paintings, filmic adaptation, and theatrical practice. We take an intersectional approach, thinking not only about race, but also the connections between gender, class, sexuality, and disability. What are the roots of problems we think of as modern, like whitewashing in media? How has racial thinking been passed down through time and across oceans? Ultimately, our investigation aims to provide insight to modern issues of race through a better understanding of cultural history. Note: we will have one field trip during class time (Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History) Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or ( 76-107 and 76-106 ) or ( 76-108 and 76-106 ) or ( 76-108 and 76-107 )