What is race? Should race be conceptualized culturally, historically, ontologically, legally, discursively, psychologically, or performatively? How are racial categories reified? The goal of this course is to give students a set of conceptual tools for thinking critically about race and to examine how race is produced and maintained in society. The class will be focused on tracing debates about racial formation and the nature of racism. We will read key texts by Frantz Fanon, Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, Fred Moten, Saidiya Hartman, José Muñoz, Charles Mills, Hortense Spillers, Frank Wilderson, Iyko Day, Sylvia Wynter, Glen Sean Coulthard, Patrick Wolfe, Cedric Robinson, and others. Topics covered will include postcolonialism, settler colonialism, the afterlife of slavery, whiteness, performativity, intersectionality, feminism, and queer of color critique. Particular emphasis will be placed on the emerging literature on racial capitalism and debates in critical ethnic studies. [Track C]