HS 308 - White Man's Burden: Colonialism and the Historical Origins of Racism

(3.00 cr.)

An analysis of the socially and politically constructed category of race as it developed in the wake of the Enlightenment and counter-enlightenment. Intellectual antecedents of this later "racialization of savagery" are investigated, with a focus on the treatment and literary stereotypes of such indigenous peoples as those from North America, Africa, and Asia. The insidious consequences of the "transcendental pretense," from the European colonization of the concept of human nature to the political and economic colonization of cultures and individuals, are examined from the perspective of the history of ideas.

Prerequisite: One HS 100-level course.
Sessions Typically Offered: Fall/Spring
Years Typically Offered: Varies

Interdisciplinary Studies: CU/GT/IAF/ICL