Course code:

HS3105

Level:

M - Intermediate

Class size limit:

16

Typically offered:

Yearly

This course focuses on policing in communities of color. We will examine the long and continuing history of destructive and violent policing toward Black people in the United States. We will also situate that history in the context of other ongoing crises including the decades long war on drugs and the disproportionate mass incarceration of people of color in US prisons. The course will especially focus on the efforts of organizations such as Black Lives Matter to reduce the high level of deaths of black people at the hands of police as well as their advocacy for the “defunding” of police. We will also examine strategies to reduce both implicit bias and explicit bias among police officers, as well as efforts to reduce the distrust of police in communities of color by training police in effective skills for de-escalating tense situations. We will examine recent efforts by the United States Department of Justice to improve policing by the use of restraining orders. As a point of comparison, we will spend some of our time reviewing recent or ongoing work conducted in Europe to develop and implement training programs for police officers with the aim to reduce unnecessary and unlawful violence toward Roma people. In addition to the readings, students can expect presentations from and discussions with guest speakers who have been recently working to address the harms of police violence, both in the US and abroad. Student evaluation will be based on class participation, a series of short written responses related to readings, a longer form essay or short fictional story related to a single reading, the drafting of an Opinion Editorial piece regarding the effectiveness of “defunding” the police, and a written response to a case study that is coauthored with a partner.

Prerequisites:

None

Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.