Reed College
Reed College

Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies

Courses

Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies 300 - Junior Seminar

Full course for one semester. This course for CRES majors explores the way race and ethnicity can be analyzed from interdisciplinary perspectives, considering categories of 'race' and 'ethnicity' a) both together and in relation to each other, and b) as designating or emerging out of separate politics of difference and otherness. Course topics may change from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit when topics vary. Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing and completion of or concurrent enrollment in the CRES disciplinary courses requirement.

Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies 470 - Thesis

Full course for one year.

What makes a course a CRES course?

As of Fall 2022, in order for courses to be approved as CRES foundational or CRES designated, they must clearly indicate in the course description how they meet these criteria.

CRES foundational courses treat specific categories of race and ethnicity as the central object of inquiry and teach approaches (including theories and methods) to the study of race and/or ethnicity within given disciplines. CRES foundational courses are designed to provide foundational training for the CRES major, and are cross-listed in both the department and in CRES.

For a list of all CRES foundational courses, see the CRES listings in the Course Catalog. For a list of all CRES foundational courses taught this year, go to the Schedule of Classes and select "CRES" under Subject.

CRES designated courses examine questions of race and ethnicity for half of the semester or more. Topics might include the history and politics of racial and ethnic categories; the construction of race and ethnicity in social, economic, and cultural organization; and the experiences of marginalized and oppressed peoples.

For a list of all CRES designated courses taught this year, go to the Schedule of Classes and select "Comp Race & Ethnicity Studies" under Theme. Note that only courses that are in affiliated fields (anthropology, dance, linguistics, literature, history, music, religion, sociology, and theatre) satisfy CRES requirements without a petition.

CRES Designated Courses that satisfy CRES Requirements

These departments have committed to teach at least one CRES course every other year; major departments (anthropology, dance, English, history, music, religion, sociology, and theatre) at least one every year. The below list is representative, and the CRES courses offered in departments will vary from year to year. Students should check current course listings and consult faculty advisors and department chairs when planning their program of study.

Group I

Dance: Any non-applied Dance course and

  • Dance 241 - Dancing Latin/x America
  • Dance 260 - Dances of Bali, Indonesia
  • Dance 351 - Dance Traditions of Southeast Asia
  • Dance 362 - Dance Ethnography (J-Sem) {Prereq: Dance 201 or consent of instructor}
  • Dance 363 - African Diaspora Dance Studies (J-Sem) {Prereq: Dance 201 or consent of instructor}
  • Dance 365 - Contemporary Global Dance (J-Sem) {Prereq: Dance 201 or consent of instructor}

Literature: Any English (not creative writing) or Literature (original or in translation) course and

  • Chinese 327 - Chinese Inhumanities: Construction of the Other in Chinese Literature
  • English 205 - Decolonization & the Novel in Africa
  • English 205 - South Asian Women Writers
  • English 213 - Ethnopoetics
  • English 303 - Jews Across the Americas
  • English 333 - Postcolonial Hauntings {Prereq: 2 Eng/Consent}
  • English 333 - Place, Space, and Memory in Modern Fiction {Prereq: 2 Eng/Consent}
  • English 356 - Studies in African American Literature {Prereq: 2 Eng/Consent}
  • English 370 - Modernity and Memory in the Indian Ocean {Prereq: 2 Eng/Consent}
  • French 363 - Francophone Literature {Prereq: French 210 or placement}
  • French 364 - Black Women in Francophone Literature {Prereq: French 210 or placement}
  • French 365 - Laughter and the Other in Francophone Literatures {Prereq: French 210 or placement}
  • French 366 - Introduction to Haitian Lit {Prereq: French 210 or placement}
  • French 368 - Mind in the World: Cognitive Approaches to North African/Diaspora Literature {Prereq: French 210 or placement}
  • German 358 - Representing Genocide
  • Russian 325 - Multicultural Russia
  • Russian 365 - Ukraine and Russian Literature

Music: Any non-applied Music course and

  • Music 142 - Latin American Popular Music
  • Music 150 - Cultural Study of Music
  • Music 221 - Music History I: Unexpected Encounters in Early Modern Europe
  • Music 249 - Race, Sexuality, and Empire on the Operatic Stage
  • Music 254 - Africa and Black Music
  • Music 266 - The Music of Duke Ellington
  • Music 360 - Music and the Black Freedom Struggle

Group II

Anthropology: Anthropology 211 and

  • Anthropology 300 - African Technoscience
  • Anthropology 306 - Central American Indigenous Histories
  • Anthropology 343 - African Pasts, African Futures
  • Anthropology 345 - Black Queer Diaspora
  • Anthropology 355 - Anthropology of Colonialism
  • Anthropology 362 - Gender and Ethnicity in China and Tibet
  • Anthropology 363 - Race and Transnational China
  • Anthropology 371 - Race and Caste
  • Anthropology 379 - Critical Interventions in American Indian Studies
  • Anthropology 387 - African Bodies: Medicine, Labor, Modernity
  • Anthropology 398 - Race and Migration
  • Anthropology 443 - Race and Modernity

History: Any History class and

  • History 256 - Migration Histories in the British Imperial World
  • History 284 - LatinX History in the United States
  • History 286 - History of Immigration & Migration in the United States
  • History 315 - Defining and Defying Difference: Race, Ethnicity, and Empire
  • History 334 - Race, Politics, Decolonization
  • History 340 - Empire & Identity in Modern Europe
  • History 367 - Sources and Methods in Early African American History
  • History 369 - Race and the Law in American History
  • History 375 - Hannah Arendt and the Origins of Totalitarianism
  • History 381 - Race & Ethnicity in the United States Since 1865
  • History 383 - Race & Oral History in the United States
  • History 388 - Race and Ethnicity in the Andes

Linguistics: Linguistics 212 and

  • Linguistics 338 - African American English

Religion: Any Religion course and

  • Religion 215 - Religion, Ethnicity, and Race
  • Religion 226 - Islam in America
  • Religion 259 - Jews Across the Americas
  • Religion 327 - Erasure and Location of Muslims in "Western" Humanities 
  • Religion 335 - South Asian Religious Nationalisms {Prereq: Religion 131 or 132 or consent}

Sociology: Sociology 211 and

  • Sociology 280 - Social Movements
  • Sociology 326 - Science and Social Difference
  • Sociology 342 - Sociology of Asian America
  • Sociology 343 - Sociology of Race and Racism
  • Sociology 346 - Race, Violence, and Power
  • Sociology 348 - Race, Economy, Public Policy
  • Sociology 362 - Contemporary Culture & Inequality
  • Sociology 371 - Military and Society

Additional CRES courses

Some departments offer CRES designated courses, but since these departments are not affiliated they are not guaranteed to be taught every other year and do not automatically satisfy CRES Disciplinary Group I or II requirements. Students may petition the committee to have them satisfy those requirements if these courses are aligned with their overall program of study.

  • Economics 364 - Economics of Population, Gender, and Race
  • Political Science 371 - Identity Politics
  • Psychology 325 - Stereotyping and Prejudice