Making the Carceral State: The History of Mass Incarceration

Catalog description

This course will study the development of the carceral state as a system designed to criminalize, punish, and control African Americans post-slavery to the present. An examination of political, economic, and social factors will contextualize the history of mass incarceration and how institutions were structured and (re)structured to target and exclude Blacks. In this course, students will explore current reform movements and identify additional areas for change.