HIST 440A (01) - Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Racial Justice

This course examines Martin Luther King's life, philosophy, and career on the front lines of the civil rights movement. In our study of King as well as the larger black freedom struggle, we seek an understanding of how certain questions related to racial justice played out in American history. We focus on issues of civil disobedience, just and unjust laws, love and hate, violence and non-violence. Students will read many of King's famous writings such as the Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as his lesser-known speeches - among them king's 1967 address denouncing the Vietnam War. More generally, this seminar introduces students to the rudiments of historical thinking and asks broader questions about the role of individuals in history and how social change happens. Course meets the History major requirement for Group I.