This course explores the background to the surprising 2016 election and subsequent events by looking deeply at American history, culture, and politics. The course examines the ways in which Trump's election may mark a break with the past, but also how it makes sense when examined in its proper context, in the history of racial and gender categories, the rise of social and economic inequality, and the re-emergence of far-right ideologies. Our approach is interdisciplinary, using ideas and accounts from the academic disciplines of anthropology, sociology, history, economics, and literary studies. This class seeks to understand the roots of Trumpism and its effects through a sustained examination of its context.
- Teacher: Benjamin Feinberg