While "race" and "ethnicity" have always played fundamental roles in shaping the course of American history and the image of American society, our understanding of the concepts of race and ethnicity has often been less than clear. Our goal in this course is to determine and examine how Americans have defined race and ethnicity at various points in our history and how these notions have been acted out in policy, practice, and theory. Examples of the social and legal construction of race and ethnicity and their expression in American culture will include white-Native American relations, slavery and its legacy, the "Yellow Peril," science and race, and contemporary race relations. Evaluation will be based on class participation and three written assignments: an annotated bibliography, an historiographical essay, and a final research paper. Enrollment limited to 18. Priority given to American Studies senior majors, and then to History majors.

Hour: Wong