STS 4751 - [Science, Race, and Colonialism]

(crosslisted) HIST 4751
(HA-AS)

Fall. Not offered 2015-2016. 4 credits.

S. Seth.

This course is divided into three major thematic sections. The first looks at the history of racial thinking in the West. We begin with the existence (or not) of conceptions of biological race in the early- modern period, focusing on early voyages of discovery and so-called “first encounters” between the peoples of the Old and New Worlds. In the second part of the course we will look at early enunciations of racial thought in the late 18th century and at the problems of classification that these raised, before examining the roots of “Scientific Racism.” We close with a look at Darwin, Social Darwinism, and eugenics movements in different national contexts. The last third of the course looks at science and technology in colonial contexts, including “colonial technologies” (guns, steam- ships, and telegraphs) as well as medicine and public hygiene.