Instructor: Frank Gonzalez
Wed | 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM | In Person
Spring 2025
This course provides an overview of contemporary perspectives including academic but also popular lay theories and prominent contemporary political ideologies regarding race. The course will expose students to these varied perspectives and shed light on the history and context of each theory, as well as each theory’s function, logical implications, and consequences. For example, we will discuss theories of race essentialism implying race is biological, where these theories come from, their historical impacts, and why they are promoted in contemporary politics. We will discuss how race and racism manifest according to each theory (if at all, as some lay theories seek to explain away the existence of race or racism), as well as how to “solve” racism (if so desired) according to each.