History 206 - They Not Like Us: Race in the Medieval Mediterranean

When did race begin? This course explores answers to this question by focusing on the multi-faith and multicultural Mediterranean between the eighth-fifteenth centuries – prior to the rise of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the ideas it spawned about race that have violently shaped the present. We will study how the Christian and Islamic societies of southern Europe, Mediterranean Africa, and the Near East invented racial frameworks when and as it suited their needs. Over the course of the semester, students will be introduced to the literary, historical, and art historical frameworks and sources for the study of premodern race in such spheres as the law, religion, gender, enslavement, violence, and status. Through close reading of texts, images, and objects, we will consider the contingencies and complexities of race-making within and across the communities of the medieval Mediterranean. The course will also examine the legacy of premodern race in shaping modern ideologies, curricula, and politics. Why have groups from the Ku Klux Klan to far-right extremists to ISIS invoked the medieval past as a homogeneous, racially "pure" space? No prerequisites, open to students of all majors. Two class meetings per week. 

Fall semester. Professor Murrell.

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Close analysis of historical evidence, which may include written documents, images, music, films, or statistics from the historical period under study. Exploration of scholarly, methodological, and theoretical debates about historical topics. Extensive reading, varying forms of written work, and intensive in-class discussions.