Special Topics in the Humanities (370-4-22)

Topic

Race and the American Midwest

Instructors

Douglas Metoxen Kiel
847/467-4821
Harris 229

Meeting Info

Parkes Hall 215: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Race and the American Midwest

This seminar explores the role of race and Indigeneity in histories of the American Midwest. Despite popular narratives of the Midwest as purely a heartland of white homogeneity and normativity, racialized communities of color have long shaped politics, culture, and society in the region. This course emphasizes the fluid nature of ideas about race, and their interplay with the construction of place in a settler colonial society. The course materials cover a wide range of topics that are crucial for understanding both Midwestern and U.S. history writ large. From the multi-ethnic world of the fur trade, to contemporary housing inequalities, this course highlights the making of a U.S. region, and confronts mythologies of the Midwest in the American imagination.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area