Humanities and Fine Arts 191HFA1 - FYS - Race in America

Race is a social construction that has had a persistent and pervasive influence on the American experience. More than one hundred years ago scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois described racism in this way: African Americans lived behind a veil that white society had constructed to blur their experiences and hide their humanity from whites. In "Race in America", we seek to understand why this veil was woven, its length and breadth, and how its continued presence has impacted our understanding of reality. We will dive into the origins of race, how it is constructed, how it evolves over time, and how that construction impacts American national identity, politics, public policy, and the lives of hundreds millions of people.

Open to first-year Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track students and first-year HFA Majors.