Us Versus Them: Racial Division, Changing Communities, and the Future of American Democracy

Harvard FAS

Why does deep structural inequality persist in communities and a nation that champions progressive democratic values? This course explores the future of American democracy through a sociological-psychology lens, examining how the interplay of group identities, attitudes and beliefs influence and are shaped by urban environments, neighborhood boundaries and demographic shifts. Taking the Boston-Cambridge area as laboratory, students will look beyond the Black-White divide to analyze how…