Racism and Science (HIST 251)

• College: College of Arts and Sciences
• Department: Humanities
• Credit Hours: 3
• This course has a lecture with 3 hours.

This course will estabish a historical context for the scientific study and debate over race. This course will examine the origins and development of race and racism from the Enlightenment to the present. The course will examine how scientific ideas about race were shaped by slavery, nationalism, colonialism and imperialism. Topics will include the origins of the classification of humans into racial groups; the debates over polygenesis, Social Darwinism, eugenics and the Bell Curve theory. This course meets General Education requirements: Cultural Enrichment, Global Consciousness and Race/Ethnicity/Gender. Prerequisites: English 150. Typically Offered Fall Odd Years.