Drew University Moodle

What are “race” and “ethnicity” exactly? Defining the concepts present a real challenge. This class explores what race and ethnicity mean, beginning with historical ideas about human difference. Comparing American beliefs and practices to those found in other societies, we will pay special attention to the particular notions and hierarchies of race and ethnicity that emerge in different times and places. The course also investigates the roles that institutions like the media, the arts, the state, and the sciences play in shaping our understandings of race and ethnicity. We will conclude by considering the predictions that scholars have made about the future of racial and ethnic stratification in the United States and around the world. Throughout the course, we will also use a global approach to the study of race and ethnicity by not only comparing U.S. experiences to those of individuals and groups abroad, but likewise by taking into account the historical and contemporary experiences of the various immigrant groups that have made this country their home.

Increasingly comparable global cities are confronting new migration realities. This urban sociology course will primarily focus on understanding how global cities have changed and adapted to the 2008 financial crisis and the rise of rightwing political movements, particularly Brexit and Trumpism. How has the global “Great Recession” altered international migration flows? How are global populist, nationalist, and xenophobic movements interlinked across urban centers of Europe, Latin America, and Asia? We will engage theories of global migration, global cities, social movements, and socio-political assimilation, while applying broad theoretical frameworks to modern global city realities, particularly the rise of right-wing nationalism and increasing xenophobia and anti-global trade policy and public opinion. Beyond understanding these new global and migration paradigms, we will study immigrants’ newfound migration, assimilation, and labor pathways in and out of their global city destinations. Throughout the course, we will use the global cities of New York City, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires as case studies, but our focus will not be solely on them.