HIST-LIT 90GP: Race & Ethnicity in Twentieth-Century American Thought

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In the area below, provide basic, standard course information ahead of registration period to help students make informed course choices. Click the EDIT button and input your responses by over-writing the field description below each bolded heading. Consult the IT Help knowledge base or reach out to FAS Academic Technology at atg@fas.harvard.edu for assistance.

Course goals:

There are three major objectives of this course. The first is to provide students with a general--though not comprehensive-- overview of the history of race and ethnicity in the 20th century United States. The second is to introduce students to major thinkers on topics of race and ethnicity in the 20th century, and to illustrate how their ideas responded to and against one another, and developed over time. The final objective is for students to develop their own critical acumen for thinking, reading, and writing about race and ethnicity in the United States.

Course format:

Class will be primarily discussion-based, with some lecture from the instructor to provide historical context when needed. Reading in preparation for class and participation in class discussion are crucial. Students will need to complete short reading responses in advance of at least half of the class-periods. Besides this, there will be a midterm paper that asks students to respond to a question via a comparison of two major texts from the syllabus, then a final paper in which students develop their own question and seek to answer it via comparative readings of course materials.

Typical enrollees:

This is designed for any student interested in the history of race and ethnicity in the United States, and especially the cultural and intellectual history of those who have sought to understand, recreate, abolish, and/or resist race and ethnic categorization in the United States. 

When is course typically offered?

Fall 2024

What can students expect from you as an instructor?

I am very much a socratic instructor. My questions are, of course, partially intended to see if the class has read the materials or not, but the primary purpose is to get students thinking critically and talking with one another about the essential questions raised by the assigned readings. I will offer contextualizing historical lectures when necessary.

Assignments and grading:

See description of assignments in "Course Format" section. The percentage breakdown is as follows:

5%: Introduction/Outline for Midterm Essay 

20%: Midterm Essay (5 – 6 pages) 

5%: Thesis/Question & Outline for Final Essay (1 – 2 pages) 

30%: Final Essay (9 – 11 pages)

25%: Response Posts (Six required throughout the semester; due 11:59 P.M. night before class)

5%: Leading Class Discussion

10%: Participation (Attendance/Course Discussion Contributions/Reading Quizzes/Final Paper Presentation)

Sample reading list:

W.E.B. DuBois' Souls of Black Folks

C.L.R. James' Beyond a Boundary

Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon 

Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands

Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony

William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury

Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain

Selected Readings, Stuart Hall

 

Enrollment cap, selection process, notification:

Interested students should petition to enroll on my.harvard. In your petition, say a few words about your interest in the course (including concentrations you are considering if you are undeclared), any requirement the course may satisfy, and whether you have taken any other History & Literature seminars. Please contact the instructor if you have any questions. You will be notified by the instructor if you have been admitted to the course.

Absence and late work policies:

 Attendance, preparation, and active participation in class are mandatory. As we are only meeting twelve times this semester, students are allowed one unexcused absence from class. With the exception of emergencies, sickness, or religious holy days, students will lose a half-grade in their participation grade for each subsequent absence. In addition to leading discussion and reading responses, reading quizzes may be issued at instructor’s discretion, and will count towards the participation grade.

All written assignments must be turned in on time and will lose a half-letter grade for each day late. If there are extenuating circumstances that you know will cause to you to turn in a paper late, you must let the instructor know at least a week in advance of the due date.