SOC 3300 The Long Civil Rights Movement
This course considers the struggle for racial equality in the United States through sociological and historical lenses, with special attention to the 1950s-60s civil rights movement and its relevance to us today. It begins by considering the long-term roots of US racial inequality and early resistance. It then addresses the 1950s-60s movement, with a particular eye to widespread misconceptions about the emergence, dynamics, and outcomes of this phase of the struggle. It considers the movement's relationship to modern inequality and to modern movements such as Black Lives Matter, and ways that both the movement and a powerful counter-reaction to it continue in American politics and society today. Students will develop richer understandings of past and present inequality and of efforts to mobilize for change.
Course Types
Core Curriculum - Society; Core Curriculum - Advanced Studies in the Arts and Sciences; SOC elective; ANT elective
- Students will gain historical knowledge of the social construction of race, US racial inequality, and anti-racist struggles from the 1400s to the present day.
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of how their own experiences and identities have been shaped by systems of race and racial inequality.
- Students will apply theories for understanding racism and anti-racism to present-day conflicts and inequalities, including analyzing potential solutions.