Anthropology of Race and Racism

Catalog description

Is "race" real? This course examines the concepts of race and racism from the perspective of four-field anthropology. Relying on ethnographic, biological, linguistic, and archaeological data, the course will introduce students to what anthropologists know about human diversity, as well as how the concept of "race" was developed to classify that diversity and justify social inequality. The course introduces students to basic concepts of anthropology by highlighting the variability of the race concept across time and space. Students will learn to understand race as a biocultural concept - one that is socially constructed, but that has very real biological and material consequences. In the first section of the course, students will learn why the concept of race does not reflect a natural or biological reality. In the second section of the course, students will gain an understanding of the cultural and interpersonal processes shaping racism and race. The third section explores how and why race and racism are so durable and pernicious in reinforcing structural social inequality. Students will learn how the persistence of racism, racialized structure, and race-thinking affect human well-being, including significant disparities in economic and health outcomes.