The Alchemy of Race and Racism (Spring) (L3125B)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

On this module you’ll explore how race and racism can be understood, traced and resisted across different places, time periods and social contexts.

You’ll begin by reflecting on key concepts, including:

  • race
  • racialisation
  • racism.

You’ll examine how these ideas work in practice and which definitions are more or less helpful.

In the first half of the module, you’ll explore how ideas of race developed and became embedded in social and political structures. We’ll look at examples from Europe and the Americas. This includes the emergence of different forms of ‘Otherness’ and the development of ideas about ‘Whiteness’ and ‘Europeanness’.

In the second half of the module, you’ll examine how racism operates today. Case studies include ‘doing race’ through genetics and ancestry testing and the criminalisation of certain bodies and their movement.

Finally, you’ll consider how racism can be resisted. We’ll explore resistance through everyday relationships and social struggles and wider approaches to justice, including reparations and abolitionism.

Over the course of the module, you’ll also cover:

  • racism across positionalities, including making race & doing race
  • making of race as a system and systematic racism
  • making of racial subjects, covering both the Americas and Europe
  • reflections and exchanges.

Teaching

100%: Practical (Workshop)

Assessment

100%: Practical (Portfolio)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We鈥檙e planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We鈥檒l make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: