Course Name: HIST 38595 Race and Diversity in the Mediterranean World
Description:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to how the social construction of race was formed and understood in the early modern period. By combining critical race theory with the intellectual history of the early modern Mediterranean basin, students will trace the history of ideas, literature. religious thought, and art from the fourteenth- to sixteenth centuries in order to analyze how the early modern concept of race served as a precursor for modern concepts of racial identity formation.
In terms of geography, the Mediterranean basin is an area of cross-cultural movement linking Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Therefore, understanding how diverse groups met and interacted in this space can demonstrate to students how race and identity are framed in multi-cultural environments. Since this course will focus on the Mediterranean, primary areas of study will include areas of cross-cultural exchange primarily: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, and parts of France and North America.
Aside from a primary reader, students will be exposed to a variety of course materials including written sources both primary and secondary, and art. Since this course will be taught on Kent States Florence campus, out class can take advantage of on-sight experiences through the study of visual culture in order to show how racial conceptions were captured in early modern art. Students may analyze both secular and non-secular works in order to observe social construction of race in early modern Italy: therefore, both museum and church visits would be beneficial for the class.
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: Sophomore Standing