Comparative Studies of Race, Slavery, and Diaspora

This seminar examines the concept of race, processes of racialization, and theory and methods for the interdisciplinary and comparative study of race, slavery, and diaspora formation. Drawing on readings from across the humanities, but with a focus on literary studies, this course emphasizes comparison in three distinct ways: comparison of processes of racialization; comparison of academic disciplines in their approaches to race and enslavement; and comparison of racial formations across discrete historical periods and geographical areas. In its focus on theory and methods, this seminar encourages students to contemplate and formulate questions about knowledge production common to all academic disciplines.