EPIIC topic for 2022-23: "Power and Prejudice: Race and International Relations"

IGL is proud to announce its EPIIC topic for 2022-23, "Power and Prejudice: Race and International Relations". EPIIC meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-5pm; it is a yearlong course, 4 SHUs.

EPIIC

EPIIC is a carefully integrated, yearlong multidisciplinary program. Through its innovative and rigorous curricula and projects, EPIIC prepares young people for informed activity in their communities, whether locally, nationally, or globally. At EPIIC's core is the year-long, multidisciplinary course on a global theme, in 2022-23 it will focus on Power and Prejudice: Racism and International Relations. Undergraduate and graduate students of diverse nationalities, viewpoints, experiences, and interests participate in this rigorous colloquium that stresses critical, analytical, and normative thinking. Students are encouraged to confront the ambiguity and complexity of the theme through a multi-disciplinary examination of the issues and controversies that the topic reflects. They are taught the subject under investigation by a broad range of distinguished academics and practitioners and as active participants in defining the issues through classroom discussions, extensive readings, and independent research. There is an emphasis both on individual progress and on the collaborative effort -- in essence, on growing as an intellectual team. Students produce tangible outcomes of their studies through their individual research papers or projects, the international symposium, and the Inquiry simulation for high-school students in early April, as well as hosting delegations of international students. The Norris and Margery Bendetson International EPIIC Symposium is an annual multi-day public forum featuring scores of international practitioners, activists, academics, public intellectuals, and journalists. EPIIC's symposia -- consisting of presentations, panel discussions, topical forums, informal gatherings, multimedia and dramatic presentations, and workshops -- are intellectually wide-ranging and accessible. The perspectives of the participants are intentionally diverse, often competing, and at times adversarial, providing a continuum of viewpoints on the issues being discussed.

Power and Prejudice: Race and International Relations

The influence of race on the theory and practice of international relations is an issue of vital importance. Race is not solely a domestic issue. Races do not make civilizations; civilizations created race. And race reflects one’s status in a hierarchy of power. Race was the reason for the inclusion of the first human rights provisions in the United Nations Charter and more resolutions deal with race than any other subject. Racialized security practices in the U.S. affect both domestic and foreign policy and impact global politics. Historical evidence indicates that systemic racial biases have influenced America’s military interventions abroad, and these foreign interventions have contributed to the militarization of police practices in the United States. The questions to be explored in the course include the following: What is the meaning of race as a conceptual and classificatory category? How useful is race as an analytical tool to understand world politics? What are the definitive and ambiguous roles played by race in international relations? How does race shape international threat perceptions? How does race intersect with global challenges such as climate change, migration, human rights, terrorism, poverty and inequality, humanitarian intervention, and international criminal justice?