Critical Thought on Race and Ethnicity (235-0-20)
Instructors
Vilna Francine Bashi
Vilna Bashi is the William and Cathy Osborn Professor of Sociology, and Faculty Fellow of the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. She is also a visual artist. She specializes in global inequality, race and ethnicity, and international migration. Bashi is the 2020 recipient of the Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association for scholarship in service to social justice. Her book The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fiction into Ethnic Factions was honored by placement on the Zora Canon, a list of the top 100 books ever written by an African American woman.
Brandon Honore
Meeting Info
Annenberg Hall G15: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
This course, Critical Thought on Race and Ethnicity, examines historical and contemporary manifestations of racism/ethnocentrism and anti-racism; as well as xenophobia/nationalism and internationalism. We explore how racism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and nationalism are related by their exclusionary ideas of ancestry and difference, and examine theory-based (as opposed to empirical) approaches to the social, cultural, political, and economic aspects of racial hierarchy. The course centers on racialization (how individuals/groups are sorted into races), global and local racial paradigms (the rules of race-making and racial assignment), and why these denigrating mechanisms are so difficult to eradicate. We also examine what antiracism looks like and how it might be achieved. Despite the challenging course content, this class is a blast!
Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, students will be able to . . .
- Define the key concepts of race and ethnicity and racialization
- Describe how the idea of race has evolved globally and how race is related to colonialism and European chattel slavery
- Explain how global conceptions of race compare to conceptions in the U.S.
- Identify and evaluate antiracist practice
- Explain why denigrating hierarchies of race are so hard to eradicate from human history
Teaching Method
Dr. Bashi uses class periods for discussion (as opposed to lecture), which requires students' absorption of the assigned material (either readings, films, etc.) in advance. Her approach is more akin to the Socratic Method than it is to lecture. You can learn more about that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOdjpByHLEQ
Evaluation Method
She asks students to complete written essays that center on students' absorption and analysis of course material, including class discussions. Sometimes, she may invite other contributions, like memoir or class presentations. Should regular course meeting discussions falter because students appear to not be prepared, she will offer pop quizzes on top of the other methods of evaluation.
Class Materials (Required)
This course will have required books/other materials.
Books:
Author: Vilna Bashi Treitler
Title: The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fictions into Ethnic Factions
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Paperback ISBN: 9780804757720
Ebook ISBN: 9780804787284
Class Notes
Yes, a significant amount of reading is required, but the writings are interesting and the discussions are even more so. Be prepared for class and a good grade is relatively easy. In fact, Dr. Bashi would rather not give grades at all. Come in to class, and come to student hours, and let's talk about all the important things that can help make our country and world a better place.
Class Attributes
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area