Race in America

This fall, I’ve been asked to teach a college history course entitled Race, Ethnicity and Gender in American Culture. Each time I teach any history course I try to make it relevant to current events hopefully providing some opportunity for understanding how we arrived at our current place in time. Past themes have included an examination of how we remember the Civil War, the ongoing American flirtation with authoritarianism masked as rugged individualism and the dynamic definition of freedom.

As I prepare for my fall classes this moment seems different, larger. So in the interest of sparking reflection, and selfishly looking for new approaches to keep students engaged, I’m soliciting ideas for methodologies to deliver the aforementioned class. Do you have a book or video you think appropriate? A project or paper topic you had or wished your professor had given you? I look forward to your insight.