515P THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF RACE, THE RACE OF ANTHROPOLOGY (4HRS)

Professor Marc Perry Office: 393 Davenport Hall PH: 244-6491

mdp@uiuc.edu

The goals of this graduate seminar are two-fold. The first pertains to a critical examination of the ways in which “race” has been historically theorized in anthropological discourse. Here the work of Franz Boas and his followers among others will be explored with regard to the relational configurings of “race” and “culture” so foundational to the discipline of anthropology. Secondly, this seminar will examine the limitations and problematics of such framings as well those of later formulations predicated on a “race/culture” tension such as more recent “culture of poverty” theses, “color-blind” discourses, and anthropologically-sanctioned “no-race” postures. This seminar will then both critically excavate anthropological conceptualizations of race and provide race-centered critiques of the discipline of anthropology. In recognizing how these discussions transcend the disciplinary boundaries of anthropology, we will explore how these issues resonate within broader fields public discourse.