Calculating the Incalculable?: W.E.B. Du Bois and Racialized Modernity

(4 Credits)

Du Bois invited the world to step into his perspective as a Black man in the United States when he asked, “How does it feel to be a problem?” In this course, we take up Du Bois’s question and theory to examine how the construction of race became the defining feature of the world as we know it. The primary goal of this course is to use Du Boisian theory to understand how race touches every social relationship. Each week, the course will explore how the color line affects the development of self-consciousness, group formation, economic development, colonialism, gender norms, intellectual production, urbanization, and social movements. Academic courses typically rely solely on Du Bois’s Souls of Sociology (1903), to teach Du Boisian theory. Instead, this course focuses on the diversity of Du Bois’s work by reading his primary texts including Black Reconstruction, Dusk of Dawn, and Darkwater. Du Boisian methods promote collaboration and discussion across disciplines—particularly across history and anthropology. Class discussion is geared to foster interdisciplinary conversations.