History 493M - S-Policing in Modern America

In this course we will investigate and analyze major trends in the history of policing, broadly conceived, in the 20th century United States. This course is not meant as a chronological survey of U.S. history; instead, we will take a thematic approach, each week studying an issue or set of issues through a historical perspective. We will begin with an introduction to general theoretical approaches to the study of policing and the state, then turn to study the development of several different kinds of police forces in their historical contexts; private police in labor conflicts; the Bureau of Prohibition; and the Border Patrol. The course will also explore how evolving ideologies of race, class, gender, and sexuality have shaped understandings of what qualifies as criminal behavior in need of policing.

Open to Seniors, Juniors & Sophomores only.