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Mar 15, 2026
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2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog
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HS 238 Prejudice and Persecution in Western History
(4 Credits)
Prejudice has been expressed in different forms throughout Western history. We examine how prejudice is activated into actual persecution in five case studies according to specific criteria, from ancient to modern times: religion; gender; anti-Semitism; race; and sexuality. Our case studies are: ancient Roman persecution of Christians; the ‘great witch-hunt’ in late medieval/early modern Europe; hatred of Jews, from the ancient world to the Holocaust; racism in America against people of African descent, from slavery to the present; and homophobia, particularly since the late 19th century until the present. We will establish the main facts of each case, the nature of the particular prejudices or prejudices present, how these were turned into actions and policies, their impact, and, ultimately, attempt to theorize what prejudice is, how best to explain it, and why, in certain situations, it is activated into persecutory actions and policies.
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