“American Inequality” is an upper-division, historical reading seminar investigating the role of race in 20th century United States history. Using new and recently published works, our analysis centers the lives of African American, Chicano and Latino, Native American, and Filipino populations, in particular their migrations and adaptations; encounters with racial ideologies and structures; and struggles for equality.
In studying a past too frequently marked by oppression, we strive to create a classroom that models a healthy, pluralistic society. As such, our class seeks to embody the qualities of a colectiva, a community formed on the belief that we can learn more as individuals if we learn from and with each other, in an open and empathic manner. Our goal is to create an atmosphere of learning and mutual respect that nurtures our own and each others’ understanding. To do this, our colectiva respects the knowledge, questions, and analytical skills each of us brings to class, and uses these as the basis for our shared learning.
