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Academic Year 2004/2005

Crime and Violence in the 20th-Century United States
CHUM 313 FA
Crosslistings:
AMST 340
HIST 340

How are particular behaviors categorized as "criminal"? How do statist agendas, new methods of surveillance and changes in police methods redefine the criminal--and how do new crimes force changes in these structures of power? When has it been reasonable for the state to appropriate violence against citizens? This course will address the history of crime and policing, with a special emphasis on theoretical perspectives and comparative examples that permit us to understand crime as a "normal" aspect of social, political and cultural relations in the United States.

MAJOR READINGS

Hannah Arendt, EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM
Kathleen M. Blee, WOMEN OF THE KLAN
Michel Foucault, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH
Linda Gordon, HEROES OF THEIR OWN LIVES
Humbert Nelli, THE BUSINESS OF CRIME
Sanyika Shakur, MONSTER

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two short papers or a final paper.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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