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Aug 27, 2025
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2025-2026 Course of Study Bulletin
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HIST - 3462 Utopian Imagination in US History
Description
In this class, we will examine the history of American utopian thought and the communities built by visionaries from the era of colonization through the present day. From praying towns to health spas to Wakanda, we will explore how people dreamed of perfection in a world that they felt constricted their potential. This course will emphasize the utopian visions of those who were marginalized, oppressed, and dispossessed by mainstream U.S. society as a means of understanding how communities responded to profound inequalities by dreaming of a more just world, and how they manifested these visions into reality. We will also use race, class, and gender as lenses for analyzing the limitations and injustices inherent to other intentional communities, and how utopianism could perpetuate the harms of settler colonialism, slavery, and racism. As we dream of a better world, we must always remember the context in which we live and the past that continues to shape our visions of the future.
Credits: 4
Course Level: Upper Division
Academic Level: Undergraduate
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