The Origins of Racism in the West

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course provides students an opportunity to investigate the similarities and differences between premodern and modern group identity narratives. Premodern narratives of peoplehood will be analyzed alongside modern racial narratives utilizing a comparative approach to reading primary sources, coupled with a critical engagement with secondary sources on the issues of racism, race, ethnicity, and religion. The course will focus on narratives related to Western Civilization, Whiteness, Anti-Blackness, Antisemitism, Orientalism, and Islamophobia. It will also cover some of the parallels and differences between Western ideologies of racism and Antisemitism and those found in certain parts of the premodern Islamic world and the Middle East.