This class will focus on forms of social control in the United States, with a primary focus on race and urban policing. We will consider developments such as community policing and big data policing in cities like New York and Chicago and the history of policing in Baltimore and Los Angeles. We will also look at the role of policing internationally, at the U.S. border, and in colonial spaces like Puerto Rico. Of particular interest will be the relationships between policing agencies and communities of color. This course has a seminar format, relying on student-centered discussion with minimal use of lectures by the professor.
It satisfies an upper-division ES elective requirement for Ethnic Studies majors and minors; General Social Science major with a focus in Crime, Law, and Society; campus partner elective for the Legal Studies minor; and UO’s core education requirements as a US: Difference, Inequality, Agency course.