Inventing Race in America

What is "race"? Where does it come from? This course argues that categories of racial difference-far from being fixed or natural-have emerged from within writing. We trace the emergence of "race" in America from the late 16th century to the present day by reading 17th-century British colonial writing, 18th-century racial scientists, Jefferson, Crevecoeur, Melville, Faulkner, Mukherjee, and Silko.