SOC 1500: The Sociology of Race

This course introduces students to the sociology of race. The sociology of race examines how and why social, cultural, and historical forces combine to reproduce racism, racial discrimination, and racial inequality. What are the distinctions between race and ethnicity? What distinguishes, if at all, individual, institutional, structural, and cultural racism? What are racial formation, antiracism, pigmentocracy, and 
Whiteness? What role did W. E. B. Du Bois play in founding sociology in the US? Why has Du Bois and his theoretical contributions been erased from the history of sociology? What works best represent Du Bois’s thoughts on the meaning of race and race relations? What is the relationship between Du Bois, the Atlanta School, and the sociology of race? To answer these questions, students will examine a range of primary,  secondary, and tertiary texts and become familiar with the conceptual theories and research methods that inform the sociology of race and Du Bois’s pioneering role in the field of sociology. Students will learn to think critically about the aims of the sociology of race and the theoretical means used to achieve those aims.