Inclusion and Exclusion. Perspectives on Humanity and Race in Modern European History of Ideas and Science

4 ECTS course offered in the Fall term

Instructors: László Kontler and Emese Lafferton

Public perceptions of unity and diversity within humankind, of ethnic and racial difference, class and gender distinctions, develop in dialogue with theoretical inquiry into the same. In turn, such inquiry is deeply context dependent, and the notion of “humanity” it yields is not intrinsic, but a malleable cultural product shaped by processes of historical, social-anthropological, scientific and political self-reflection, and of encounter with “others” in modern Europe. This course intends to survey and problematize the major landmarks of this development through a study of primary texts and relevant secondary literature.