SOAN 229 - Race: Anthropological Perspectives

FDR: SS4 Social Science - Group 4 Distribution
Credits: 3

“The fictions of race are a lived reality,” explains theorist Katherine McKittrick. Evolutionary, historical, and cross-cultural perspectives show that races - as discrete, internally homogenous biological subdivisions of humanity - don’t exist, but persistent beliefs in the reality of race, along with socio-economic and structural forces, impact lived experiences differentially, profoundly, and often devastatingly. This
course surveys dynamics of race from diverse perspectives including prehistoric and modern human variability, classic and contemporary anthropological research, and critical race theory. We draw on intellectual work within and overlapping with anthropological positions - including those of Franz Boas, W.E.B DuBois, Ella Deloria, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Nikole Hannah-Jones - and explore ways in which the creation of race/racism happened historically “on the ground,” varied cross-culturally, and persists in healthcare, law, immigration, economic opportunity, and education. We conclude with considerations of calls for justice and determination to foster joy through music, faith, and community.