Race, Inequality, and Social Policy in the U.S.

Catalog description

This course examines the historical and contemporary intersections of race, inequality, and social policy in the United States. We explore how policies in areas such as housing, education, criminal justice, and social welfare have both reflected and reinforced racial hierarchies, while also considering efforts to challenge and transform these inequities. Drawing on scholarship from sociology, political science, history, and critical studies of race, this course interrogates how race shapes the design, implementation, and impact of social policy. Through a combination of readings, discussions, and applied assignments, students will engage with key questions: How has race structured access to social goods and protections in the U.S.? In what ways do policies contribute to or mitigate racial and economic inequality? What possibilities exist for building more just and equitable policy futures? By the end of the course, students will develop critical analytic skills for understanding and assessing social policies, as well as critical frameworks for envisioning more inclusive and equitable alternatives.