在《黑人的灵魂》(1903年) 这本书中，伟大的文化批评家W. E. B. Du Bois如是说：“…二十世纪的问题在于种族分歧。”在Du Bois 写了这段话的一个世纪之后，大多数美国人应该同意，种族分歧在二十一世纪初期依然是我们最迫切的社会问题之一。在本课程中，我们将会藉着研读有色人种作家所创作或与种族事务相关的作品，以及观看讨论种族问题的影片，以探索美国种族的相关领域，并藉由写作来观察我们的生活，包括非正式或正式、私下或公开的场合，如何制约于种族相关的小说和事实。我们将思考种族认同的复杂问题，暴露较被回避或完全压抑的过去，以质疑既定的历史，并研究如何用写作和阅读来表达和面对种族的种类、阶级、看法。这些相关阅读虽奇妙却又叫人不安，而你们的写作则将增进你们和你们读者的理解范畴。

In The Souls of Black Folk (1903), the great cultural critic W. E. B. Du Bois wrote that "…the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line." A century after Du Bois penned those words, most Americans would agree that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the color line remains one of our most pressing social issues. In this course, we will explore the terrain of race in America by reading the works of writers of color and others concerned with the issue of race, by viewing films that address racial issues, and by writing to explore how the fictions and facts of race condition all our lives, social and civic, private and public. We will consider the complex question of racial identity, test the givens of history by uncovering histories that have been more elusive or more thoroughly suppressed, and explore how writing and reading can both reflect and challenge racial categories, hierarchies, and perceptions. The reading is at once wonderful and disturbing, and the writing you will do will open up arenas of increased understanding for both you and your readers.