Fahd Mughal
fahdm@my.yorku.ca

This course explores historical and contemporary philosophical examinations of issues raised by the concepts of race, racism, and racial identity. Such concepts present important questions for philosophers, namely, what is race? Is race a biological or social reality? What is racism (anti-blackness, islamophobia, antisemitism)? What is white ignorance? What role does race play in our modes of embodiment, expression and (self)knowing? How is race phenomenologically experienced? How do racialized identities intersect with identities of gender, sexuality, and class? What role (if any) does race and racism play in various forms of political power and emancipatory political processes? How we answer these questions has a significant impact on how we understand ourselves, others and how we define a diverse society. When considering important contributions made by philosophers on these topics, we will engage with traditional philosophical questions that intersect with several areas in philosophy including ontology, epistemology, phenomenology, and political theory. A special focus will be given to the status and meaning of race, racism, and racial identity from the perspective of the emergent sub-field of ‘Critical Philosophy of Race’.

Technical Requirements for this course:

All reading materials, assignments and examinations will be available and submitted on the eClass website for this course. This means students are expected to have access to eClass to fully participate in this course. Please ensure you have a stable internet connection; this will be particularly important when writing your exam online. Since office hours will be held virtually, students should ensure they have access to Zoom. Here is a useful link for information on eClass:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

All readings will be made available through the eClass website for this course. There are no textbooks or course-kits required for this course.

Participation 10%

Weekly Reflections 20%

Midterm 30%

Paper Outline 10%

Final Term Paper 30%

This class meets once a week for three hours in person.

Primary course objectives are to understand and evaluate concepts and arguments of philosophers on race, racism, and racial identity as well as to demonstrate critical reflection on these topics. Students will exercise and develop their analytical skills through the identification of arguments, increase their reading comprehension by engaging with philosophical texts and improve their writing skills with frequent writing assignments.

Late Policies and Extensions:

Late work will only be accepted without penalty if a reasonable extension is requested before the due date.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:

Students are required to familiarize themselves with the University Senate Policy on Academic Honesty and to maintain a high standard of academic honesty. You are encouraged to review the York U Library SPARK Academic Integrity tutorial: https://spark.library.yorku.ca/academic-integrity-what-is-academic-integrity/