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Race Ethnicity and Identity Modules

Module Details for SOU33021 Race Ethnicity and Identity (Part 1 MT)


Module Code

SOU33021


ECTS weighting

5 ECTS

Semester/term taught

Michaelmas Term

Learning Objectives
  • Develop foundational knowledge on the concepts of race and ethnicity and how they differ.
  • Understand how race and ethnicity influence identity formation.
  • Understand how racism operates at interpersonal and structural levels in society.
  • Develop and be able to articulate a well-informed argument about race, ethnicity and identity in written and spoken format.
  • Understand what it means to be raced, that all human groups are raced and be able to see how your race influences your identity.


Module Content

The module explores how race, ethnicity and identity are constructed and how these concepts affect the modern world. It will provide students with an overview of various approaches to understanding the concept and origins of the notion of 'race'. It will also examine the processes of racialization, group identification and categorisation. Students will learn about counter-narratives and how to analyse media representations of race and ethnicity and situate race and ethnicity within social, political and economic processes.

Race activists say it’s not enough to be a non-racist, you have to also be antiracist. What does this mean for us today and how are these positions different? The tutorials in this module will address this contemporary debate by examining why the notion of race is problematic, and if it is possible to imagine a space 'beyond race'. We will touch on the idea of whiteness, racism, xenophobia, anti-Traveller and Roma racism, Islamophobia and Afrophobia


Recommended Reading List

Students are required to do at least one reading for the lecture and one for the tutorial. You are also expected to read around the topic – both from the list of recommended readings and on media stories on issues of race and immigration. The following resources will be extensively used.

Back, Les and John Solomos (eds.) (2008). Theories of Race and Racism. London: Routledge.
Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York: New York University Press. 
Fanning B, (2009). New Guests of the Irish Nation. Irish Academics Press
Fanning B.(2012). Racism and Social Change in the Republic of Ireland, Manchester University Press.
Lentin, Ronit and Robbie McVeigh. 2006. After Optimism? Ireland, Racism and Globalisation. Metro Eireann Publications
Omi, M. and Winant, H. (2014) Racial formation in the United States. New York:
Robin DiAngelo, (2018). White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Beacon press


Assessment Details

Assessment for the module in Semester 1 is based on an essay of 2,500 words. Students are expected to follow the style guidelines in the student handbook.