79-173 Freshman Seminar: Barack Obama and the History of Race in AmericaPosted in Barack Obama, Course Offerings, History, Media Archive, United States on 2013-11-06 03:34Z by Steven |
79-173 Freshman Seminar: Barack Obama and the History of Race in America
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Department of History
2013-2014
Well before he was elected the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama challenged Americans to think anew about the history of race in this country. In this course, we will examine President Obama’s life, writings, and speeches as the foundation for a larger investigation into the history of race and, in particular, the struggle to achieve racial equality within the United States. We will read President Obama’s first biography and several of his key speeches as well as a recent history of the Civil Rights Movement. Our goal will be not only to probe the life and ideas of President Obama but to examine the larger history of race in America. Topics will include the geographic and temporal diversity of the Civil Rights Movement, the shifting meanings of “mixed-race,” race and American foreign policy, the history of racial inequality in housing, education, and employment, affirmative action, and race and immigration.