Courses

The PRE Lab members offer a number of courses on race and ethnic politics. Check out some of our exciting classes below.

Politics of Nationalism

GOV 312L (Undergraduate)

Taught by

Jangai Jap

Post-Doctoral Fellow

The terms “nationalism” and “nationalist” increasingly permeate our discourse on national and global politics today. What are the origins of nationalism? How did it emerge in different parts of the world? What are the political implications of nationalism? This course provides an overview of topics in the study of nationalism.

The first half of the course is designed to introduce students to some of the most prominent explanations for the emergence of nationalism as well as the background knowledge and tools with which to evaluate these theories. We will discuss the importance of conceptualization in understanding complex social phenomena and confront commonly utilized terms such as: state, nation, nationalism, minorities, identity, ethnicity, religion, race, and multiculturalism. Students will also be introduced to case studies that speaks to the theories introduced, including Zionism and nationalism in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

In the second half of the course, we will focus on the effects of nationalism on political identities, patterns of political violence, and state policies toward minorities. In studying these implications, we will give particular attention to how nationalist sentiments are measured in existing empirical studies.

Latino/a/x Politics

GOV 371L (Undergraduate)

Taught by

Marcel Roman

Post-Doctoral Fellow

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latino/a/xs and/or Hispanics are the second largest ethno-racial group in the United States at a population of 61 million as of 2019. The population is highly diverse and oftentimes difficult to define. Within the group, there are significant differences by class, national origin, partisanship, religion, gender, sexuality, race, indigeneity, immigration status and other relevant characteristics.

This class begins by interrogating the construction of the Latinx group category, the commonalities that bind the group together, and relevant intragroup dissimilarities. After, we touch on a number of topics related to Latinx political behavior. Why do Latinxs identify with the group? What kinds of political attitudes do Latinxs hold? Are Latinxs naturally beholden to a particular political party? What explains intragroup differences in Latinx political attitudes and/or behaviors? What are the sources of intragroup conflict? What are the sources of political conflict with other ethno-racial groups in the United States? How do Latinxs, particularly immigrant Latinxs, understand and begin to participate in U.S. politics.

Although this course is by no means exhaustive, and the readings will not be sufficient to cover the wide array of pre-existing literature on the subject of Latinx political behavior, we will be able to learn some answers to these questions from the assigned readings.

Government Research Practicum Course

GOV 362L (Undergraduate)

Co-Taught by

AmyHLiu

Amy Liu

Co-Director

This one semester course provides undergraduate students with an introduction to the research process in the social sciences – through the lens of racial and ethnic politics. As part of this program, students will attend regular classes, understand data collection, and gain internship experience with the PRE Lab.

Race in the Americas

MAS 392 (Graduate)

Taught by

Danielle-Clealand1

Danielle Pilar Clealand

Faculty Fellow

This course explores the major paradigms, arguments and streams of thought in the field of racial politics throughout the Americas. We will focus on Black politics in Latin America and the Caribbean and Black and Latinx politics in the United States. The goal of the course is to be able to examine Black politics and white supremacy through a hemispheric lens comparing experiences, ways of identifying, activisms and racial inequalities throughout the region.

Comparative Race and Ethnic Politics

GOV 391L (Graduate)

Co-Taught by

Dr. Amy Liu

Amy Liu

Co-Director

Eric McDaniel

Co-Director

This graduate-level course introduces students to the principal concepts, questions, and answers in the subfield of race and ethnic politics. The readings and discussions will draw from both the American and comparative literatures. In this course, we will study the following four sets of topics:

  • Concept and Measurement
  • Political Behavior
  • Political Institutions
  • Group Interactions and Intersectionality

The objective of this course is fourfold. The first is to acquaint students with the theoretical literatures on race and ethnic politics. The second is to familiarize students with the process of dataset construction. The third is to train students to carry out various types of writing assignments that political scientists – or social scientists more broadly – are frequently required to perform. And the fourth is to enable students to move towards a working paper – if not a dissertation project.