Spring 2026 American Studies BC4400 section 001

Crime, Sex, Race and the Politics of Pur

The Politics of Purity

Call Number 00771
Day & Time
Location
R 10:10am-12:00pm
To be announced
Points 4
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Daria Reaven
Type SEMINAR
Course Description

The politics of what and who counts as worthy, good, or pure mediates possibilities for political and legal life. This course takes as its central question: how do certain ideas around purity and innocence come to appear natural? By considering a wide range of topics including carceral studies, immigration, race-making, settler colonialism, gender and sexuality and cultural studies, we will uncover the ways that cultural objects circulate and do political work. How are notions of race, crime, and purity produced, policed, and lived? And finally, how might we live otherwise—against innocence?

Web Site Vergil
Department American Studies @Barnard
Enrollment 0 students (16 max) as of 9:05PM Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Subject American Studies
Number BC4400
Section 001
Division Barnard College
Open To Columbia College, Engineering:Undergraduate, Engineering:Graduate, GSAS, General Studies, Professional Studies
Section key 20261AMST4400X001