STSC 022 Race, Genetics and Social Policy ~NEW~
Cross-listed as HSOC 022
Offered:Spring 2010
Cowan T 1:30-4:30 pm
Freshman Seminar
What box do you check if a form asks you to identify your race? Do you fall between boxes? Do you check two or three? or none? Do you refuse to answer the question even you can check one box?
"What is your race?" is a loaded question in American society, because racial identities have social, political and economic ramifications. This course is designed to examine the meanings of race, in particular the ones that have been thought to have a scientific or biological foundation. We will examine the origins of these questions of race from the end of the 19th century to the present, and the way that the genetic science of race has shaped social policy and has changed over time. Most of our focus will be on the United States, but we will also set these questions in a transnational perspective.
