ENGL 238
Racial Formations and Transformations in America: 1945-Present
Last Offered Spring 2012
Division I Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed AMST 238
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Class Details

Sociologist Howard Winant has argued that World War II heralded a significant “break” in racial order: that is, it signaled the beginning of marked shifts in how people–and the State–perceived, thought about, and managed race and racial inequality. Subsequent decades in the United States witnessed the end of segregation, passage of Civil Rights, liberalization of immigration policies, and the rise and dominance of “multiculturalism” in social, political, and academic spheres. These landmark events and shifts contributed to a narrative of progress as the defining story of race in post-war America. However, as Winant cautions, the “break” neither resolved nor abolished racism and racial hierarchies. Our class will examine how this narrative of racial progress has been constructed, as well as the ways in which it has been critiqued and complicated. In doing so, we will also pay attention to: shifting perception(s) of race/racial difference in global and transnational contexts, representations of race in cultural texts and discourse, cross-racial connections and formations, and inter-articulation of gender, sexuality, and class formations with race. This course reflects the goals of the Exploring Diversity Initiative through its comparative approaches to study of race and in its emphasis on the centrality of racial formations to the structure and logic of national life.
The Class: Format: discussion/seminar
Limit: 25
Expected: 20
Class#: 3238
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: active in-class participation, 3-4 short response papers, final project (8-10 pages) and an in-class workshop/presentation of final project
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: American Studies majors
Distributions: Division I Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under AMST; meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under ENGL
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ENGL 238 Division I AMST 238 Division II

Class Grid

Updated 7:13 pm

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