This course explores the creation of peoples and their cultures in the Star Wars universe through the borrowing of visuals and materials from racial, ethnic and cultural groups in our own world. As the fictional universe draws upon a multitude of cultures and societies worldwide, so does it bring to bear a multitude of racial and ethnic inequities, and the narratives that perpetuate them. In this course, students will explore the many media used to illustrate fictive alien 'races' alongside discussions of the real-world otherings and discriminations they embody.

Textbooks/Other Materials: all materials on Canvas

Course Requirements:

• participation (15%)
• weekly assignments as reading reviews, object summaries, or planet summaries (60%)
• final exam (25%)

Intended Audience: undergraduates, non-majors

Class Format: two 80-minute lectures and one discussion section per per week

Estimated Cost of Materials: $0

HISTART Concentration Distributions: Transregional, Transhistorical

Keywords: Star Wars, cultures, Orientalism, Indigenous, othering

This course satisfies the LSA Humanities (HU) and Race and Ethnicity (R&E) requirements.