Race in a Polarized America

GENED 1052 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Is the United States a beacon of liberal, democratic, diverse values and practices, that also has a pattern of racial injustice – or is the US at its core a white supremicist society, in which some people aspire to creating a genuinely tolerant liberal democracy?

This course addresses these questions by examining policy disputes around issues such as incarceration and policing, free speech, the role of biology in ancestry and medical care, electoral politics, activism, and movement across borders.  We will examine class, nationality, and gender differences within and across groups, and how group boundaries are made stronger or weaker.  We will consider how to reduce unproductive polarization, and how you --the new generation of citizens of the world -- can promote a better America even, or especially, when we do not agree on just what “better” entails.

Course readings range from public speeches and interviews to works in political science, sociology, economics, and a bit of genomic science.  You will learn how and where the United States has progressed in promoting group equality and fairness, as well as where it has not or has even moved backwards.  You will end the course with a deeper understanding of the core American paradox of the persistence of group hierarchy in a country dedicated to democracy, equality, and liberty, and what people such as yourselves can do to resolve that paradox.

Course Notes

This course counts for the Certificate for Civic Engagement. The Certificate for Civic Engagement recognizes Harvard College students who have demonstrated sustained participation in public service and civic involvement during their undergraduate experience.