HSY4700

Contours of Racial Thought

(ART)

Andrew Markus

12 points + 2-hour seminar per week + First semester + Clayton

Synopsis: Covers conceptualisation of /race0 in Western culture since Middle Ages, exploring conceptual difficulties in designating study in context of changing ideas of insider/outsider,'us0//Other0, examining specific /moments0 in development of European thought: basis of anti- Semitism in medieval period; ideas of purity of blood in 15thC. Spain; Valladolid debates and uses of biblical/ Greek thought;17thC.justifications of slavery in American colonies;18thC.taxonomies of human types; polygenesis and the /American school0; Gobineau and the new racial paradigm; impact of romantic thought; Ernest Renan, Franz Boas and concept of /culturalism0; racial thought in late 20thC.

Assessment: Seminar paper (1000 words): 10% + Research essay (5000 words): 60% + Take-home examination (3 hours): 30%