Berkley Center

This course focused on the intersection of economic restructuring, labor market change, national security politics, and the ongoing formation of class divisions in contemporary America but added race and ethnicity to that mix. It examined recent anthropological theories of race as real structures in American society and culturally ordered systems of meaning. Students studied recent ethnographic studies of race and racisms in minority neighborhoods, public schools, criminal and immigration enforcement, government agencies, and legal systems. Drawing on book-length monographs, documentaries, and literature the class considered the experiences of African Americans, Latino Americans, Muslim Americans, Native Americans as well as immigrants, new and old, from Central America, Europe, and the Middle East. This class (ANTH-305-01) was taught by Susan Terrio as a Doyle Seminar (small upper-level classes that foster deepened student learning about diversity and difference through research and dialogue).