Critical Social Inquiry 0242 - Striving Towards an Anti-Racist College: Practice and Activist Research Methods

In this course, we will explore the histories of organizing to dismantle the racist underpinnings of colleges and universities in the U.S. Drawing on a range of resources, students will explore the challenges of documenting institutional racism in Higher Education by exploring social contestation on several selected campuses, including Hampshire College. We will pay particular attention to the range of demands, agreements, and anti-racist plans developed as a result of campus activism. Key components of our examination include: utilizing an intersectional lens, exploring how race intersects with gender and sexual identities, as well as strategies for building multi-racial solidarities. Students will learn to utilize a range of historical and social science methodologies. The aim is to produce a group project that accesses Hampshire Colleges current Anti-Racist Inventory/Plan and makes suggestions for future institutional actions. Keywords: history, ethnography, race, ethnicity, diversity

In/Justice Students should generally expect to spend 7 hours a week on work outside of class time.