CIS 276 - Racial Justice Seminar

In this class, we explore philosophical and theoretical definitions of racial justice and their implications in three different fields of study and in contemporary American life. To accomplish this task, the course is divided into five sections. In the first section, we look at explorations of racial justice by philosophers and social science theorists. In the course’s signature annual lecture, we will invite a leading scholar to lead a discussion about the changing contours of racial justice discourse. In the subsequent three sections of the course, we will examine the implications of what we learned in the first section on research in three different fields. For this first iteration of the course, we will examine racial justice in sociology, health, and artificial intellegence. Our examinations will not just be about scholarship in these fields. They will also be about contemporary racial justice problems studied in each of these disciplines. In the section about sociology, we will study racial justice and housing inequalities; in the section about health, we will study racial justice and health disparities; and in the section about computer science, we will study algorithmic bias. In the final section of the class, we reflect on what we learned. In the final section of the class, we reflect on what we learned.

Satisfies Sociology major requirement.
Satisfies Social-Scienctific Thought requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
This course is part of a series of initiatives by The Vann Fund. The course is restricted to second-year students.