This course explores the social construction of whiteness, its origin as a racial category, and how it reproduces the racial hierarchy in the United States. Being "white" is often treated as the default identity, yet its conceptualization has fluctuated across time and space. This course examines how whiteness is a complex racial identity, which has accumulated institutional advantages manifesting in various social, political, and economic power and privileges. This course does so by exploring core U.S. institutions, politics, popular culture, social media, and technology to demonstrate how whiteness functions as a group identity and is used as a source for individual meaning making. The course uses an intersectional approach to unpack the significance of whiteness in relation to class, gender, citizenship, and religion and how it informs and shapes attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, and social interactions. Students will explore a range of theories and concepts including colorblindness, "white racial frames," white nationalism, and "white spaces" as applied both in qualitative and quantitative empirical studies. This course is centered around reading, writing, and discussion, and students should be prepared to engage in challenging and difficult discussions. Course evaluation will be based on four assignments that require you to assess, evaluate, and or apply concepts and theories and conclude with a final paper.
Sociology 117; or at least two credits in Sociology.