Histories of Race: Science and Slavery in an Age of Enlightenment
FREN 275
Spring 2022 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
COL 281 |
The concept of race was first "invented" during the 18th century by anatomists, natural historians, and, ultimately, the century's classifiers. This class will come to grips with the birth of this concept in two ways. First, we will read excerpts from travelogues to Africa and the Caribbean (as well as short excerpts from natural history) in order to chart the slow and halting creation of the concept of race as it crystallized in European thought during the 18th century. Having studied this "proto-raciology," the class will then examine 16 unpublished manuscripts that were submitted to a contest on the source of "blackness" organized by the Bordeaux Royal Academy of Sciences in 1739. These include essays submitted by priests, anatomists, and partisans of climate theory. Students in this class will actively engage with these materials by producing glossary definitions that will be published along with the entire collection of essays. The ultimate goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the concept of race that will inform their reactions to this question as both a historical concept . . . and an ongoing problem that affects all of us in the present. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RLAN |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ARHA)(CBST-MN)(COL)(FRST-MN)(FRST)(RMST)(STS) |
Major Readings:
Buffon, Histoire naturelle (1749-)
Bougainville, "Sur Tahiti" (1771)
Maupertuis, La Vénus physique (1745)
Montesquieu, De l'esprit des Lois (1748)
Voltaire, La philosophie de l'histoire (1763)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Frequent oral presentations
Two short papers
One term paper
Glossary entries: in French and in English |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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