Police Violence in Global Perspective

Catalog description

Why is police violence such a persistent problem in cities around the world? In this course, we will address this pressing question by examining how state violence affects everyday life across different urban landscapes - from human rights abuses in Johannesburg, to the legacy of structural racism in Los Angeles, and extra-judicial killings in Sao Paulo. Each week, we will travel to a new city to explore how police violence works, why it keeps happening, and what it means for the people enduring it. Along the way, we will watch international films, dig into podcasts about real-life cases, and read works from politics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and literature. You will write two short essays where you will unpack specific cases of police violence and sharpen your perspective on these issues. By the end of the course, you will have built a strong analytical toolkit for understanding power, violence, and resistance in everyday situations.