Cross-Cultural Constructions of Race

Catalog description

The concept of race as a biological category has long been debunked; instead, race is now understood as a social construct. But what does this really mean? Using a cross-cultural analysis this class explores how the category of race has been constructed, reconstructed, and maintained across the globe in the past 100 years. From the Americas to the Middle East, race is used as a political and social tool that impacts how people experience and understand the world around them. How and why are these categories created? What are peoples' experiences? Why does race matter? This class explores the emergence of race as a social construct and the ways that the concept of race has been used to extend differential rights and privileges to diverse peoples.