Spring 2026
Documenting African American and Youth Voter Suppression
Dates: January 27, 2026 - May 19, 2026Day/Time: Tuesday 9:00 AM - 11:20 AM EST
Level: 200-Level
Certificate: Civic Engagement, Human Rights
Instructor: Lisa Katzman, Bard College
This course will engage students in an interdisciplinary examination of the history of the disenfranchisement and enfranchisement of both African American and youth voting rights. We will consider the social and political movements, study key Supreme Court decisions: Dred Scot v., Plessy v Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education that affected civil and voting rights; amendments to the constitution, and legislation that contributed to overcoming voting rights inequities from Reconstruction through the passage of the historic Voting Rights Act in 1965. We will also examine the Supreme Court's dismantling of this landmark piece of legislation through its Shelby v. Holder ruling in 2013, opening the door to intensified gerrymandering in many states, but also to new forms of voting rights activism to counter restrictions that target the voting rights of people of color and young voters.
Credits: 4 US / 8 ECTS