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Courses

Through the Comparative Race Studies Program (CRPC), the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture (CSRPC) provides students interested in the study of race and racialized ethnic groups with the opportunity to take courses and participate in programs that illustrate how race and ethnicity and their structural manifestations impact and shape our lives on a daily basis. CSRPC is an interdisciplinary research institution dedicated to promoting engaged scholarship and debate around the topics of race and ethnicity. The focus of Comparative Race Studies is to expand the study of race and racialized ethnic groups beyond the black/white paradigm and to promote the study of race and processes of racialization in comparative and transnational frameworks.

Beginning in Autumn 2009, students will have the opportunity to major or minor in a new undergraduate degree program in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, which includes African American Studies, Asian American studies, Latina/o studies, Native American studies, and African studies.  Courses currently listed under CRPC will be transferred over to the new major and renamed CRES.   A description of the new major and minor, the requirements, and a list of courses offered can be downloaded here.

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Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies Courses 2011-2012

The courses listed below include those on the 200-level, which are specifically intended for undergraduates, and on the 300-level, which are for advanced undergraduates and for graduates. Many of the department's other offerings at the 400- and 500-levels are open to qualified undergraduates with consent of the instructor. Information about many course offerings was not available at the time this publication went to press. For more current information, students should consult the quarterly Time Schedules, or the Student Affairs Administrator.

Winter 2012

CRES 10200. Introduction to World Music. (=MUSI 10200)

Background in music not required. Students must confirm enrollment by attending one of the first two sessions of class. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. This course is a selected survey of classical, popular, and folk music traditions from around the world. The goals are not only to expand our skills as listeners but also to redefine what we consider music to be and, in the process, stimulate a fresh approach to our own diverse musical traditions. In addition, the role of music as ritual, aesthetic experience, mode of communication, and artistic expression is explored. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 11000. Introduction to East Asian Civ-3 (=HIST 15300, EALC 11000, SOSC 23700)

Taking these courses in sequence is not requried.  This sequence meets the the genderal education requriement in civilization studies.  This is a three-quarter sequence on the civilizations of China, Japan, and Korea, with emphasis on major transformation in these cultures and societies from the Middle Ages to the present.  Winter.

CRES 16101-16102-16103. Introduction to Latin American Civilization II,  (=ANTH 23102, LACS 16200/34700, HIST 16102/36102, SOSC 26200)

This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies, and need not be taken in order. This course introduces the history and cultures of Latin America (e.g., Mexico, Central America, South America, Caribbean Islands). Autumn Quarter examines the origins of civilizations in Latin America with a focus on the political, social, and cultural features of the major pre-Columbian civilizations of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. The quarter concludes with consideration of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and the construction of colonial societies in Latin America. Winter Quarter addresses the evolution of colonial societies, the wars of independence, and the emergence of Latin American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth century. Spring Quarter focuses on the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the challenges of economic, political, and social development in the region. This course is offered every year. Winter.

 CRES 20002. Jewish History and Society II. 100 Units.

CRES 20122. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and the Problem of Democracy. 100 Units.

Ralph Ellison's acclaimed novel, Invisible Man (1952) is, among other things, an extended reflection on the relationship between literary fiction and the idea and practice of democracy. In this course we will focus on Invisible Man as well as Ellison's collected essays, in order to understand Ellison's effort to articulate novel-writing and politics. Among the questions we will explore is whether a novel that spoke so well of the problem of democracy in a society that was still legally segregated can continue to speak for our post Civil-Rights world. K. Warren. Winter.

 CRES 20140. Qualitative Field Methods. 100 Units.

This course introduces techniques of, and approaches to, ethnographic field research. We emphasize quality of attention and awareness of perspective as foundational aspects of the craft. Students conduct research at a site, compose and share field notes, and produce a final paper distilling sociological insight from the fieldwork. O. McRoberts. Winter.

 CRES 20802. Introduction to African Civilization II. (= ANTH 20702, CHDV 20702, HIST 10102, SOSC 22600)

African Civilization introduces students to African history and cultures in a two-quarter sequence.  Part Two takes an anthropological focus, concentrating on Eastern and Southern Africa, including Madagascar.  We explore various aspects of colonial and postcolonial society.  Topics covered include the institution of colonial rule, ethnicity and interethnic violence, ritual and the body, love, marriage, money, youth and popular culture.  J. Cole. Winter.

CRES 24001-24003. Colonizations I-II (=HIST 18301-18302,SOSC 24001-24002, ANTH 24001-24002).

This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This three-quarter sequence approaches the concept of civilization from an emphasis on cross-cultural/societal connection and exchange. We explore the dynamics of conquest, slavery, colonialism, and their reciprocal relationships with concepts such as resistance, freedom, and independence, with an eye toward understanding their interlocking role in the making of the modern world. Themes of slavery, colonization, and the making of the Atlantic world are covered in the first quarter. Modern European and Japanese colonialism in Asia and the Pacific is the theme of the second quarter. The third quarter considers the processes and consequences of decolonization, both in the newly independent nations and the former colonial powers. Instructor(s): E. Fransee, M. Leighton, D. Slater, J. Chu. Winter.

CRES 26500. History of Mexico, 1876 to Present. 100 Units.

This course is concerned with the theory and the historical evolution of the modern human rights regime. It discusses the emergence of a modern “human rights” culture as a product of the formation and expansion of the system of nation-states and the concurrent rise of value-driven social mobilizations. It juxtaposes these Western origins with competing non-Western systems of thought and practices on rights. The course proceeds to discuss human rights in two prevailing modalities. First, it explores rights as protection of the body and personhood and the modern, Western notion of individualism. Second, it inquires into rights as they affect groups (e.g., ethnicities and, potentially, transnational corporations) or states. J. Sparrow. Winter.

CRES 29700. Reading and Research: Comparative Race Studies.

PQ: Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 29800. BA Colloquium: Theory and Methods in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies.

Required for students in interdisciplinary programs who are interested in researching topics that focus on race and ethnicity. This is a required yearlong course. Students are required to enroll in CRES 29800 in Spring Quarter of their third year. They attend the seminar during Spring Quarter of their third year and during Autumn and Winter Quarters of their fourth year. They submit a completed thesis during Spring Quarter of their fourth year. This course is designed to introduce students to a range of qualitative research methods and to help determine which method would fit a research project of their own design in the field of race and ethnic studies. It functions as a research workshop in which students identify a research topic, develop a research question, and explore a range of methods that may or may not be appropriate for the research project. Students read each other’s work and work through ideas that can serve as the proposal for a BA project. M. Medford-Lee. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 29900. Preparation for the BA Essay.

PQ: CRES 29800; consent of the faculty supervisor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Must be taken for a quality grade. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Spring 2011

CRES 10200. Introduction to World Music. (=MUSI 10200)

Background in music not required. Students must confirm enrollment by attending one of the first two sessions of class. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. This course is a selected survey of classical, popular, and folk music traditions from around the world. The goals are not only to expand our skills as listeners but also to redefine what we consider music to be and, in the process, stimulate a fresh approach to our own diverse musical traditions. In addition, the role of music as ritual, aesthetic experience, mode of communication, and artistic expression is explored. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 16101-16102-16103. Introduction to Latin American Civilization I, II, III. (=ANTH 23101-23102-23103, LACS 16100-16200-16300/34600-34700-34800, HIST 16101-16102-16103/36101-36102-36103, SOSC 26100-26200-26300)

This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies, and need not be taken in order. This course introduces the history and cultures of Latin America (e.g., Mexico, Central America, South America, Caribbean Islands). Autumn Quarter examines the origins of civilizations in Latin America with a focus on the political, social, and cultural features of the major pre-Columbian civilizations of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. The quarter concludes with consideration of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and the construction of colonial societies in Latin America. Winter Quarter addresses the evolution of colonial societies, the wars of independence, and the emergence of Latin American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth century. Spring Quarter focuses on the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the challenges of economic, political, and social development in the region. This course is offered every year. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 17602. Introduction to Asian/Pacific Islander American History. (=HIST 17602)

Looking through a broad interdisciplinary lens, this course examines the trajectory of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America. How did nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century “sojourners” become “citizens?” What constituted the public’s shift in perception of Asians from unassimilable alien to ostensible “model minority?” We interrogate not only what it means to have been and to be an Asian in America but also what role Asian Americans have played in striving for a multiracial democracy. Conscious of the tendency to homogenize all Asians in the historical imagination, the course is explicitly comparative, incorporating the diverse and disparate experiences of East, Southeast, and South Asians, as well as Pacific Islanders in America. We also investigate and compare the histories of African Americans, Native Americans, ethnic whites, Latinas/os, and Arab Americans to highlight the Asian American experience. M. Briones. Spring.

CRES 20005. Colonial African History. (=AFAM 20005, HIST 20005)

In the late nineteenth century, European powers embarked on an ambitious effort to conquer and occupy the African continent. This course considers the conditions that enabled the European “Scramble for Africa” and the long-lasting consequences of the project. Primary sources, secondary texts, and fiction will present students with various perspectives on the experiences and effects of colonialism. Case studies will be drawn from French West Africa, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. E. Osborn. Spring.

CRES 20101. Colonial Autobiography. (=HIST 20101)

This lecture course examines selected topics in the African American experience from the slave trade to slavery emancipation. Each lecture focuses on a specific problem of interpretation in African American history, all framed by an overall theme: the “making” of an African American people out of diverse ethnic groups brought together under conditions of extreme oppression; and its corollary, the structural constraints and openings for resistance to that oppression. Readings emphasize primary sources, especially autobiographical materials, supplemented by readings in important secondary sources. R. Austen. Spring.

CRES 20104/30104. Urban Structure and Process. (=GEOG 22700/32700, SOCI 20104/30104)

This course reviews competing theories of urban development, especially their ability to explain the changing nature of cities under the impact of advanced industrialism. Analysis includes a consideration of emerging metropolitan regions, the microstructure of local neighborhoods, and the limitations of the past U.S. experience as a way of developing worldwide urban policy. O. McRoberts. Spring.

CRES 20173. Inequality in American Society. (=SOCI 20173)

This course is intended as a complement to SOCI 20103 for first- and second-year students who are majoring in sociology, but is open to other students who have had little exposure to current research in inequality. We cover the basic approaches sociologists have employed to understand the causes and consequences of inequality in the United States, with a focus on class, race, gender, and neighborhood. We begin by briefly discussing the main theoretical perspectives on inequality, which were born of nineteenth century efforts by sociologists to understand modernization in Europe. Then, turning to contemporary American society, we examine whether different forms of inequality are persisting, increasing, or decreasing—and why. Topics include culture, skills, discrimination, preferences, the family, and institutional processes, addressing both the logic behind existing theories and the evidence (or lack thereof) in support of them. M. Small. Spring.

CRES 21201. Intensive Study of a Culture: Chicago Blues. (=ANTH 21201)

This course is an anthropological and historical exploration of one of the most original and influential American musical genres in its social and cultural context. We examine transformations in the cultural meaning of the blues and its place within broader American cultural currents, the social and economic situation of blues musicians, and the political economy of blues within the wider music industry. M. Dietler. Spring.

 

CRES 21904. Morrison, Walker, Lorde (=GNDR 21904,ENGL 27305)

Privileging intersectional modes of analysis, this course examines the writings of three contemporary African American women writers: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. We read novels, poetry, and criticism by Morrison, Walker, and Lorde, studying how these works are both representations of experience and guides to social transformation. Throughout the course, we also read African American feminist criticism contemporary with these writings in order to better situate our writers within the theoretical tradition in which they took part and to which their literary work responded. We focus on questions of history, narrative, resistance, and memory, exploring the social, political, cultural, and literary concerns shared by these writers, while also attending to the points of divergence in their methods and views. M. McDonough. Spring.

CRES 24001-24002-24003. Colonizations I, II, III.

(=ANTH 18301-18302-18303, HIST 18301-18302-18303, SOSC 24001-24002-24003)

PQ: These courses must be taken in sequence. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This three-quarter sequence approaches the concept of civilization from an emphasis on cross-cultural/societal connection and exchange. We explore the dynamics of conquest, slavery, colonialism, and their reciprocal relationships with concepts such as resistance, freedom, and independence, with an eye toward understanding their interlocking role in the making of the modern world. Themes of slavery, colonization, and the making of the Atlantic world are covered in the first quarter. Modern European and Japanese colonialism in Asia and the Pacific is the theme of the second quarter. The third quarter considers the processes and consequences of decolonization both in the newly independent nations and the former colonial powers. J. Saville, R. Gutiérrez, Autumn; F. Richard, K. Fikes, S. Palmié, J. Kelly, Winter; H. Agrama, Spring.

CRES 24601. Martin and Malcolm: Life and Belief. (=AFAM 24601, RLST 24601)

This course examines the religious, social, cultural, political, and personal factors behind the two most prominent public leaders and public intellectuals emerging from the African American community in the 1950s and 1960s: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. We review their autobiographies, domestic trends within the United States, and larger international forces operating during their times. Their life stories provide the contexts for the sharp differences and surprising commonalities in their political thought and religious beliefs. The operative question is: what can Malcolm and Martin tell us about America during one of the most dynamic periods in the nation’s personality metamorphosis? We use documentary videos of each man’s speeches and of the social contexts in which they lived. D. Hopkins. Spring.

CRES 26201. New Media and Politics. (=PLSC 26201)

Throughout history “new media,” for better or worse, have on occasion transformed politics. The use of radio to share Roosevelt’s fireside chats and of television to broadcast the Civil Rights Movement are recognized as landmark moments when “new media,” intersecting with political life, changed the course of political engagement. Today’s “new media” (the internet, digital media production, and computer games) may also radically change how we think about and engage in politics. This course explores the historical and potential impact of new media on politics. C. Cohen. Spring.

CRES 26633. “Koreanness” in Narratives of Exile, Migration, and Diaspora. (=EALC 26633/36633)

Korean migration on a mass scale took place relatively late among the populations of East Asia, setting the spatial boundaries of the Korean diaspora largely around Japan, China, Russia, and the United States. The course examines a selection of literary and visual representations of the Korean diaspora in these four countries, comparing the varying ways in which the images and signification of “Koreanness” manifests itself in various forms in conjunction with a variety of other social and cultural markers. The texts are drawn from the acquired language’s narrative traditions adopted by exiled and diasporic Koreans, as well as from those narrated in Korean. Discussion accentuates the uneven and complex activation of various identity markers. In particular we examine the ethnic or national marker of being “Korean” and identifying patterns of manifestation of “Koreanness” recurrently displayed in the narratives of the Korean exile and diaspora. Works are either translated or subtitled in English. K. Choi. Spring.

CRES 27315. Exhibiting Others.

How have nations and museums exhibited cultures other than their own, and how have these exhibitions served as vehicles for constructing racial, national, and transnational identities? This course seeks to answer these questions by considering the ways “other” cultures have been exhibited in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S. across a range of venues from 1851 until today. Since the mid-19th century, nations often displayed raw materials, everyday and sacred objects, artworks, and even live human beings from their colonies at World’s Fairs and other international exhibitions. With the rise of anthropological, ethnographic, and, later, modern art museums, exhibiting “other” cultures became more pervasiveat times to advance theories of racial differences, at other times to explore the relationship between race and form. In the last few decades, many of these practices have been called into question; but exhibitions of “others” persist, as do concerns about how to stage exhibitions that productively explore cultural differences without justifying or encouraging marginalization or division. Michael Tymkiw. Spring.

CRES 27316. Great Migrations: Migration and the Transformation of the 20th Century United States.

Between 1890 and 1945 the United States experienced a period of unprecedented migration—including the mass migration of southern and eastern Europeans; rise of migration from the countries and territories of the Western Hemisphere; and the “Great Migrations” of African Americans, white Midwesterners, and white Southerners to the North and West. These movements not only transformed significant portions of the United States, they posed a series of “problems” for government officials, scholars, social workers, and nativists. In an effort to address some of the social, political, and economic “problems” migration posed to the country between 1890 and 1945, this course will examine the different ways movements originating outside and within the United States altered notions of assimilation, class, ethnicity, and race. L. Sanguino. Spring.

CRES 27401/37401. Literaturas del Caribe hispánico en el siglo XX. (=SPAN 27401/37401)

This course explores some key examples of the literatures of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo) during the twentieth century, including those of its migrant and exile communities. Questions concerning the literary elaboration of the region’s histories of slavery and colonialism, militarization, and territorial displacements are at the center of our discussions. Among the authors we may read are Fernando Ortiz, Antonio Pedreira, Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Luis Palés Matos, Nicolás Guillén, René Marqués, Pedro Pietri, Reinaldo Arenas, Ana Lydia Vega, Rita Indiana Hernández, and Pedro Juan Gutiérrez. A. Lugo-Ortiz. Spring.

CRES 27705. Introduction to Black Chicago, 1893 to 2008. (=AFAM 27305, HIST 27705/37705, LLSO 22210)

A. Green. Spring.

CRES 27600. Comparative Race Studies in Context: Service Learning/Internship Credit.

PQ: Consent of director of undergraduate studies required. Open to Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies students accepted into an internship program or placement at a nonprofit organization, government agency, or other community-based context. Enrollment is limited to fifteen students. Students must make arrangements with the director of undergraduate studies before beginning the internship and submit a College Reading and Research Course Form. For summer internships, students must submit this paperwork by the end of Spring Quarter and register for the course the following Autumn Quarter. For internships during the academic year, students should meet with the director of undergraduate studies as soon as possible before the beginning of the internship and before the beginning of the quarter when credit is to be earned. This course provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their experiences working within a community context, especially in relation to structures of racial inequality in American society or in a broader global context. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 28202. African American and Jewish Political Thought. (=AFAM 28201, JWSC 26500, PLSC 28201/38201)

This course is a comparative exploration of African American and Jewish political thought with reference to the themes of authority, prophecy, membership, solidarity, liberalism, the politics of diaspora, and the politics of identity. We pay attention both to canonical texts and to contemporary debates. J. Cooper, R. Gooding-Williams. Spring.

CRES 28704. Race in the Twentieth-Century Atlantic World. (=HIST 28704/38704, JWSC 26400, LLSO 28313)

This lecture course introduces race on both sides of the Atlantic from the turn of the twentieth-century to the present. Topics include the very definition of the term “race”; policies on the naming, gathering and use of statistics on racial categories; the changing uses of race in advertising; how race figures in the politics and practices of reproduction; representations of race in children’s books; race in sports and the media. We explore both relatively autonomous developments within the nation-states composing the Atlantic world, but our main focus is on transfer, connections, and influence across that body of water. Most of the materials assigned are primary sources from films, fiction, poetry, political interventions, posters, advertisements, music, and material culture. Key theoretical essays from the Caribbean, France, England, and the United States are also assigned. L. Auslander, T. Holt. Spring.

CRES 29700. Reading and Research: Comparative Race Studies.

PQ: Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 29800. BA Colloquium: Theory and Methods in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies.

Required for students in interdisciplinary programs who are interested in researching topics that focus on race and ethnicity. This is a required yearlong course. Students are required to enroll in CRES 29800 in Spring Quarter of their third year. They attend the seminar during Spring Quarter of their third year and during Autumn and Winter Quarters of their fourth year. They submit a completed thesis during Spring Quarter of their fourth year. This course is designed to introduce students to a range of qualitative research methods and to help determine which method would fit a research project of their own design in the field of race and ethnic studies. It functions as a research workshop in which students identify a research topic, develop a research question, and explore a range of methods that may or may not be appropriate for the research project. Students read each other’s work and work through ideas that can serve as the proposal for a BA project. M. Medford-Lee. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 29900. Preparation for the BA Essay.

PQ: CRES 29800; consent of the faculty supervisor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Must be taken for a quality grade. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 34501-34502. Anthropology of Museums I, II. (=ANTH 24511-24512/34501-34502, CHDV 38101-38102, MAPS 34500-34600, SOSC 34500-34600)

PQ: Advanced standing and consent of instructor. This sequence examines museums from a variety of perspectives. We consider the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the image and imagination of African American culture as presented in local museums, and museums as memorials as exemplified by Holocaust exhibitions. Several visits to area museums required. M. Fred. Winter, Spring.

 

Autumn 2011

CRES / 10101 - 01. Problems in the Study of Gender. (=GNDR 10100,ENGL 10200,SOSC 28200,HIST 29306 ).

This course will explore interdisciplinary debates in the analysis of gender and feminism in a transnational perspective. Course readings will primarily traverse the twentieth century Atlantic world encompassing Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. We will consider how understandings of gender intersect with categories of ethnicity, race, class, and sexuality. Topics to be covered include gendered experiences of: imperialism and colonial encounters; migration and urbanization; transformations in marriage and family life; medicine, the body, and sexual health; and decolonization and nation-building. Materials will include theoretical and empirical texts, fiction, memoirs, and films.  Instructor(s): R. Jean-Baptiste. Autumn

CRES 10200. Introduction to World Music. (=MUSI 10200)

Background in music not required. Students must confirm enrollment by attending one of the first two sessions of class. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. This course is a selected survey of classical, popular, and folk music traditions from around the world. The goals are not only to expand our skills as listeners but also to redefine what we consider music to be and, in the process, stimulate a fresh approach to our own diverse musical traditions. In addition, the role of music as ritual, aesthetic experience, mode of communication, and artistic expression is explored. Instructor (s): M. Butler.  Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 10800. Introduction to the Civilizations of East Asia I (=HIST 15100,EALC 10800,SOSC 23500).

Taking these courses in sequence is not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This is a three-quarter sequence on the civilizations of China, Japan, and Korea, with emphasis on major transformation in these cultures and societies from the Middle Ages to the present.  Instructor (s): G. Alitto.  Autumn.

CRES 16101-16102-16103. Introduction to Latin American Civilization I, II, III. (=ANTH 23101-23102-23103, LACS 16100-16200-16300/34600-34700-34800, HIST 16101-16102-16103/36101-36102-36103, SOSC 26100-26200-26300)

This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies, and need not be taken in order. This course introduces the history and cultures of Latin America (e.g., Mexico, Central America, South America, Caribbean Islands). Autumn Quarter examines the origins of civilizations in Latin America with a focus on the political, social, and cultural features of the major pre-Columbian civilizations of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. The quarter concludes with consideration of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and the construction of colonial societies in Latin America. Winter Quarter addresses the evolution of colonial societies, the wars of independence, and the emergence of Latin American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth century. Spring Quarter focuses on the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the challenges of economic, political, and social development in the region. This course is offered every year. Instructor (s): E. Kouri.  Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 17602. Introduction to Asian/Pacific Islander American History (=HIST 17602).

 Looking through a broad interdisciplinary lens, this course examines the trajectory of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America. How did nineteenth- and early–twentieth-century "sojourners" become "citizens?" What constituted the public's shift in perception of Asians from unassimilable alien to ostensible "model minority?" We interrogate not only what it means to have been and to be an Asian in America but also what role Asian Americans have played in striving for a multiracial democracy. Conscious of the tendency to homogenize all Asians in the historical imagination, the course is explicitly comparative, incorporating the diverse and disparate experiences of East, Southeast, and South Asians, as well as Pacific Islanders in America. We also investigate and compare the histories of African Americans, Native Americans, ethnic whites, Latinas/os, and Arab Americans to highlight the Asian American experience.  Instructor: M. Briones, Autumn.  

Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing, or consent of instructor

CRES 20005. Colonial African History (=HIST 20005).

In the late nineteenth century, European powers embarked on an ambitious effort to conquer and occupy the African continent. This course considers the conditions that enabled the European "Scramble for Africa" and the long-lasting consequences of that project. Primary sources, secondary texts, and fiction will present students with various perspectives on the experiences and effects of colonialism. Case studies will be drawn from French West Africa, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya.  Instructor: E. Osborn, Autumn.

CRES 20121. Introduction to Afro-American Literature: 1892-1974 (=ENGL 27306).

This course will examine the political considerations and the literary and critical texts that gave rise to the conception of, and the effort to establish, a distinctively black literary practice. We will seek to understand why the idea of a black literature emerged and the way that this idea shaped aesthetic and critical practices for black writers over the course of the 20th century.  Instructor: K. Warren, Autumn.

CRES 20207. Race, Ethnicity, and Human Development (=CHDV 20207).

This course is based upon the premise that the study of human development is enhanced by examining the experiences of diverse groups, without one group standing as the "standard" against which others are compared and evaluated. Accordingly, this course provides an encompassing theoretical framework for examining the processes of human development for diverse humans, while also highlighting the critical role of context and culture. (C, B).  Instructor(s): M. Spencer, Autumn.

CRES 20701. Introduction to African Civilization I (=ANTH 20701, CHDV 21401, HIST 10101, SOSC 22500)

African Civilization introduces students to African history and cultures in a two-quarter sequence. Part One considers literary, oral, and archaeological sources to investigate African societies and states from the early iron age through the emergence of the Atlantic World: case studies include the empires of Ghana and Mali, and Great Zimbabwe. The course also treats the diffusion of Islam, the origins and effects of European contact, and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  E. Osborn, Autumn.

CRES 22815. U.S. Latino Literary and Intellectual History: From Subject to Citizen. (=ENGL 22815, LACS 22815)

Reading knowledge of Spanish and French helpful. How does one go from being a subject of the king to becoming a citizen? From where does one acquire the language to think of equality? In the late eighteenth century, many revolutionary Spaniards and Spanish Americans travelled throughout the Atlantic world seeking to make the philosophy of equality a reality and gain independence of the Spanish colonies. They travelled to and from Europe and Spanish America; and on to New Orleans, Charleston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York. Through their voyages, these individuals would bring this new political language of rights to the places they visited, imbibing of this political philosophy by reading and through conversations and discussions. They produced, as well, a plethora of publications and writings that circulated throughout the Atlantic world. Through lecture and discussion, students in this interdisciplinary course learn of these individuals, their circuits of travel, and their desire to create a modern world. Our focus is on the communities, individuals, and texts that were published and circulated in what is today the United States. We begin with the late eighteenth century and work our way through the nineteenth century. Classes conducted in English; most texts in English. R. Coronado. Autumn.

CRES 24001-24003. Colonizations I-II-III (=HIST 18301-18303,SOSC 24001-24003, ANTH 24001-24003).

This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This three-quarter sequence approaches the concept of civilization from an emphasis on cross-cultural/societal connection and exchange. We explore the dynamics of conquest, slavery, colonialism, and their reciprocal relationships with concepts such as resistance, freedom, and independence, with an eye toward understanding their interlocking role in the making of the modern world. Themes of slavery, colonization, and the making of the Atlantic world are covered in the first quarter. Modern European and Japanese colonialism in Asia and the Pacific is the theme of the second quarter. The third quarter considers the processes and consequences of decolonization, both in the newly independent nations and the former colonial powers. Instructor(s): J. Saville, R. Jean-Baptiste, F. Richard, S. Palmié, A. Kolata. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 24110. Buddhism and the West (=HIST 24110, EALC 24110,EALC 34110,HIST 34110,HREL 34110).

Buddhism is a transnational phenomenon and as such can be found in vast array of cultures and times. This course, focusing on East Asian Buddhism, looks at Buddhist history in China, Korea and Japan and the interpretation and reception of these traditions by and in "the West." Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to, orientalism, occidentalism, esoteric and exoteric traditions, Chan/Son/Zen, problems of translation, the roles of culture, history, nation and nationalism in religion, etcetera. Instructor(s): J. Ketelaar, P. Copp. Autumn.

CRES 27317. America's White Ethnics (=CHDV 27317, JWSC 24500).

Using American Italians and Jews as case studies, this course investigates what it means to be a white "ethnic" in the contemporary American context and examines what constitutes an ethnic identity. In the mid-20th Century, the long-standing ideal of an American melting-pot began to recede. The rise of racial pride, ushered in by the Civil Rights era, made way for the emergence of ethnic identity/pride movements, and multiculturalisms, more broadly, became privileged. To some extent, in the latter half of the 20th Century America became a post-assimilationist society and culture, where many still strived to "fit-in," but it was no longer necessarily the ideal to "blend-in" or lose one's ethnic trappings. In this context, it has become not only possible, but often desirable, to be at the same time American, white and an ethnic. Through the investigation of the Jewish and Italian examples, this discussion-style course will look at how ethnicity is manifested in, for example, class, religion, gender, nostalgia and place, as well as how each of these categories is in turn constitutive of ethnic identity. The course will illustrate that there is no fixed endpoint of assimilation or acculturation, after which a given individual is fully "American," but that ethnic identity, and its various constituent elements, persists and perpetually evolves, impacting individual identities and experience, and both local/group specific and larger cultural narratives even many generations after immigration. Instructor (s): L. Shapiro. Autumn.

CRES 27318. Black Paris: Race, Politics, and Culture in the City of Light, 1917-1974 (=HIST 17806).

This course explores the rich history of black internationalism in Paris in the twentieth century. At the center of both literary and artistic movements and a colonial empire, Paris was uniquely situated to host encounters among African-American expatriates and colonial intellectuals, writers, and students, which in turn contributed to developments in the US, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Drawing on secondary sources, literature, music, film, and art, course discussions will examine key people, movements, and questions: the understanding of the African diaspora, the vogue for black exoticism, jazz and the avant-garde, the Harlem Renaissance and négritude, the work of Richard Wright and James Baldwin, and political and cultural anticolonialism. Instructor (s): C. Moore. Autumn.

CRES 27705. Introduction to Black Chicago, 1893 to 2008 (=HIST 27705, LLSO 22210).

This course surveys the history of African Americans in Chicago, from before the 20th century to the present. In referring to that history, we treat a variety of themes, including: migration and its impact, origins and effects of class stratification; relation of culture and cultural endeavor to collective consciousness, rise of institutionalized religions, facts and fictions of political empowerment, and the correspondence of Black lives and living to indices of city wellness (service, schools, safety, general civic feeling). This is a history class that situates itself within a robust interdisciplinary conversation. Students can expect to engage works of autobiography and poetry, sociology, documentary photography, and political science as well as more straightforward historical analysis. By the end of the class, students should have grounding in Black Chicago's history, as well as an appreciation of how this history outlines and anticipates Black life and racial politics in the modern United States.  Instructor(s): A. Green.  Autumn

CRES 29626. Colloquium: Sex and the City in International History (=HIST 29626).

This course explores the theories, methods, and sources to write a transnational history of "the erotic city." Focusing on Africa and Latin America, this course examines comparative histories of sexuality, gender, and urban geography. The late nineteenth and twentieth centuries witnessed the phenomenal growth of cities across the globe. As women and men created urban spaces, societies debated how sexual mores were to be experienced, regulated, and spatialized. The course explores urbanization in this historical moment as intersecting with colonialism, the expansion of capitalism, and decolonization. Topics to be explored include: miscegenation and race; prostitution; marriage and the law; labor and class; the body, sexual, and reproductive health; and homosexuality. Materials will include theoretical and empirical texts, fiction, legislation and court records, newspaper articles, and visual sources. Course readings encompass social, cultural, economic, and legal history. Students will produce an original research paper based on course themes.  Instructor(s): R. Jean-Baptiste.  Autumn.

CRES 29800. BA Colloquium: Theory and Methods in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies.

Required for students in interdisciplinary programs who are interested in researching topics that focus on race and ethnicity. This is a required yearlong course. Students are required to enroll in CRES 29800 in Spring Quarter of their third year. They attend the seminar during Spring Quarter of their third year and during Autumn and Winter Quarters of their fourth year. They submit a completed thesis during Spring Quarter of their fourth year. This course is designed to introduce students to a range of qualitative research methods and to help determine which method would fit a research project of their own design in the field of race and ethnic studies. It functions as a research workshop in which students identify a research topic, develop a research question, and explore a range of methods that may or may not be appropriate for the research project. Students read each other's work and work through ideas that can serve as the proposal for a BA project. M. Medford-Lee. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

CRES 29900. Preparation for the BA Essay.

PQ: CRES 29800; consent of the faculty supervisor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Must be taken for a quality grade. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

 

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