This course may count towards the ANTH major, minor, and Certificate in Global Human Diversity and could appeal to students majoring in such disciplines as international studies, gender studies, and various language and area studies, as well as to residents of the Global Village and Foster International. In general, any student with an interest in concepts and constructions of race will benefit from participating in this thought-provoking class.
ANTH-E210 Human Diversity
Topic: Rethinking Race Globally
Instructor: Shane Greene
MW, 9:30-10:00
Description: Who invented the term “race” and what does it mean? Is race a legitimate way to talk about human diversity? If so, with what social and scientific understanding? If not, what other terms might we employ to substitute or complement discussions regarding racial matters? In this course we seek to address these broad questions about human diversity in terms of the legacy of the concept of race. To do so we will identify how anthropology and related disciplines have played a fundamental role in shaping our understanding about physical variation, culture, gender, and language as means to talk about differences in the human species. We will also identify the multiple ways in which such academic thought has fundamentally misconceived human difference in order to perpetuate stereotypes, justify various forms of domination, and propagate simple misunderstandings instead of recognizing the complex interactions that exist between physical variation and social constructions of human difference. We will examine ideas from past to present and read about current cases from different parts of the globe.
