How was ‘normal’ created? This first year writing course explores how law, policy, and battles over public space created ‘outcasts’ and ‘deviants’ in US history. Topics range from government campaigns against opium dens, vagrancy laws, industrial and reformatory schools, skid rows, asylums, and working-class publics. We will examine these topics as processes of social control that powerfully define and redefine citizenship and belonging. Drawing on scholarly accounts, oral histories, movies, cultural works, and archival sources, we will ask what exactly is being regulated through these processes? How is a social problem defined and then resolved? Students will develop critical thinking and analysis through writing, practice working with and synthesizing diverse sources, and experiment with different writing styles and perspectives for multiple audiences.
Class Format:
This section will be a blend of in-person and virtual learning, with no more than 30% of the class being virtual.