The Scholar and Social Change: Writing between Research and Political Urgency

While scholarship has a fraught relationship with timely action, some scholars understand and position their intellectual activities as promoting real-world change to bring about a more equitable and just future. By better understanding a seemingly intractable problem, we should be better able to empower others with actionable knowledge. And by better reflecting on the socio-political role of scholarship, we should be able to bridge the gap between knowledge and action. To that end, this course is devoted to scholarship that reflects on the state and the university as institutions beset by powerful interests working against the people's interests and the pursuit of knowledge. In mainly seminar-style class discussion, we will connect urgent affairs of the day to academic literature on institutional racism, settler colonialism, capitalism, and the coalitions that resist them. Readings will include works by canonical and contemporary scholars who reflect on political action, the university, and the state. Research will include Supreme Court cases, government reports, United Nations resolutions, and national, local and campus newspapers. Case studies are drawn from anti-pipeline protest, liberation movements, divestment campaigns, and historical and contemporary activism at WashU. Graded assignments will include scholarly essays, workshops, a bi-weekly notebook, and a group panel discussion.. NOTE: THIS COURSE DOES NOT SATISFY THE FIRST-YEAR WRITING REQUIREMENT.
Course Attributes: BU Hum; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; EN H

The Scholar and Social Change: Writing between Research and Political Urgency

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 2072

Section 01