Spring 2015

Contours of a Colorblind Culture

Listed in: Anthropology and Sociology, as SOCI-334  |  Black Studies, as BLST-336

Faculty

Ron Lembo (Section 01)

Description

(Offered as SOCI 334 and BLST 336 [US].) The passage of civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965 was a defining moment in American race relations. By comparison to what preceded it, the post-civil rights era amounted to a great social transformation, leading many to assert ours is now a “colorblind” culture. This course will use the idea of colorblind culture to examine the changing role of race and racism in the contemporary United States.  We will examine specific claims that United States culture is, or is not, colorblind, while exploring the social structural, institutional, and broader cultural factors that shape present-day race relations.

Requisite: SOCI 112 or equivalent. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 20 students. Spring semester. Professor Lembo.

SOCI 334 - L/D

Section 01
Tu 01:00 PM - 03:30 PM MERR 401

ISBN Title Publisher Author(s) Comment Book Store Price
Citizen Rankine Amherst Books TBD
Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions Wilson Amherst Books TBD
Fatal invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Recreate Race in the 21st Century Roberts Amherst Books TBD
Fire Next Time Baldwin Amherst Books TBD
Not Even Past: Barack Obama and the Burden of Race Sugrue Amherst Books TBD
Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought Steinberg Amherst Books TBD

These books are available locally at Amherst Books.

Offerings

2024-25: Not offered
Other years: Offered in Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024