For nearly a decade, activists and organizers have focused attention on the violent history of American policing, police targeting of communities of color, and the role of policing in maintaining structures of power. This course will put this ongoing social movement into context and consider the history and current state of policing, surveillance, and carceral control in the United States. It will encourage students to think historically about how American policing has changed over time and how categories of race, gender, sexuality, immigration status, age, and class have shaped the surveillance of American communities. We will consider the roots of modern American policing and state surveillance and the role of police departments in shaping urban geographies and defending the racial borders in American cities. We will examine the long history of state violence and police brutality, attempts to reform police departments, and more radical proposals for police and prison abolition. Finally, we will consider what the history of policing and surveillance can tell us about our own contemporary moment as protests against violent, racist policing continue to arise in communities across the United States. Course assignments will include academic scholarship, journalism, multimedia exhibits, oral histories, podcasts, and films. The final project will require students to create a public multimedia presentation about protests and social justice organizing concerning carceral control or another issue. Collectively, these presentations will chronicle a wide range of efforts to make our communities more just.