HIS4225 – Racism: The History of a Powerful Idea
Course content
The current debates on blackfacing, Liam Neeson, and Black Lives Matter have taught us that racism still matters. For a long time seen as a phenomenon largely unique to Nazism and thus as an aberration of western values, more recently scholars have acknowledged that racial thought and action fundamentally shaped politics, societies, and cultures across the modern world. Taking a comparative perspective, we will look at the social construction of race and ethnicity, with the aim of understanding the intricate ways the notion of race has functioned in various societies and political systems and affected fields as diverse as housing, educational systems, or the workplace.
In the course, students will respond in writing to assigned readings, building their skills at discerning and assessing scholarly interpretations, and will meet to discuss the readings in small working groups. It will emphasize published scholarship and it will give students a sense of the "state of the field" in key areas of research.
General topics for course units will include the following areas: problems of conceptualizing academic works on racism; colonialism and decolonization; the role of science; and multiculturalism and immigration.
Learning outcome
Upon completion of this course, students will have
- learned how ‘race’ was constructed and reshaped in changing historical contexts
- acquired knowledge of the racial histories of selected societies across the globe
- further developed the skills of the historian, including taking a strictly historical perspective
- further developed their skills in writing argumentative essays
Competencies:
After taking this course, a student will be able to:
- initiate and participate in discussions of academic texts;
- read different types of academic texts in a critical and independent manner;
- comment on and discuss remarks from other students;
- work with others in small groups;
- present about one’s own and others’ work to an entire class;
- give feedback on others’ work.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester?register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
A good ability to read and understand English is required for this course.
Teaching
The seminar will meet 10 times for two hours at each meeting, for a total of twenty classroom hours. It also will include an introductory session and a midway research and writing workshop, where students and teachers will work on developing appropriate research questions, research plans and writing plans for the term essay. The list of readings is set at approx. 650 pages to allow for a discussion of all texts of the curriculum in class. The students will find literature in addition to this, in order to write their papers.
Information of required readings and other preparations will be given in class. Resources and information will be provided via Canvas.
Compulsary assignment
The learning outcome of this course depends on active student participation. To this end, students need to attend prepared and participate in class. Different types of activities will require participation throughout the semester. Specific information about mandatory activities will be announced at the first meeting and published on Canvas. Absence of up to two seminars can be approved by agreement with the teacher(s).
The mandatory activities has to be approved as a prerequisite for taking the exam.
Examination
The course is assessed by portfolio. The portfolio must consist of the following:??
a) an individual essay of max 3500 words (bibliography and references excluded), with a theme chosen by the student under supervision;
b) an abstract of max 1300 words of the term essay. This abstract will be previously published in Canvas and discussed during a workshop in a sort of peer-reviewing among students;
c) a short text of max 450 words elaborated within working groups after an oral presentation at a seminar.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.