TOPICS: ANTHRO OF BECOMING: COMP COURSE ON RACE & RACISM in Spring 2021 (AN3091B)

Anthropology of Becoming: Comparative course on Race and Racism CM/AN 3091B: Race and Racism: An Anthropology of Becoming When it comes to race and racism the question asked could either be “Whom is different from whom?” or “What difference is it”? The latter is the focus of this course. This course is an introduction to an anthropology of becoming—a perspective we will use to compare contemporary issues of racism in different locations (e.g.: USA, France and other European countries). We will discuss why the understanding of the idea of race seems to pertain to specific locations, how and why location shapes individual and collective experiences of racism, and how and why collective connections are created and reinvented to counter racism using a cluster of resources and supports (e.g.: advocacy groups, social media). This course examines how anthropology participated in the creation of differences and nowadays tries to cope with it, a dilemma which goes beyond the discipline as it impacts our daily lives. Throughout the semester we will explore the processes of (re)framing everyday racism and its understanding, bring out what could be at stake when it comes to movement—from the circulation of key political issues to the complexity of translating theoretical concepts (e.g.: BLM, intersectionality). We will also analyze and debate the meaning attributed to change and resistance in several areas (e.g.: activism, popular culture, literature, media, academia). Finally, students will be encouraged to work in small groups for writing assignments and participate in an experiment of their own becoming as fieldwork.