AFRC533 - RACE, SCIENCE & SOCIETY

This course is cross-listed when the subject matter is related to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. Courses recently offered are, "Political Culture and American Cities, Social Movements and Social Change, Critical Race Theory. See the Africana Studies Department's website at https://africana.sas.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.


This course provides a sociological perspective on race, ethnicity and immigration in the United States by examining key theories, debates, and empirical examples of social patterns related to race and ethnicity. The courseexamines two central sociological concerns: (1) the nature and persistence of racial/ethnic categories, and (2) how these categories relate to systems of social stratification as well as political and economic dynamics. The course will begin with a general overview of the major theories that drive the literature on race and ethnicity. We will then explore the topics of racial and ethnic identity construction, racial ideology, and the impact of race in social stratification systems. In this course we will also cover an important sub-field of the study of race and ethnicity - immigration - by critically exploring theoretical perspectives on assimilation and its variants. This course incorporates both classic studies of race and ethnicity as well as newer research and contemporary debates.