White Out: A Guidebook for Teaching and Engaging with Critical Whiteness Studies

Despite hopeful—though problematic—proclamations about the end of racism after the election of our first African-American President, we are witnessing a backlash and renewed racism at this point in American and global history. Put simply, Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) has as much exigency now as ever. Critical Whiteness Studies is an interdisciplinary project—with scholars from legal studies, literature and rhetorical studies, film and visual studies, class and feminist theorists, etc.—that contributes to critical race theory. Scholars tend to posit whiteness as an ideological, political, legal, and social fiction that places so-called whites in a position of hegemony over other non-dominant groups. The project, then, functions to unmask and interrogate these fictions. As part of critical multi-cultural and race theory, the project is anti-oppressive.

Those new to CWS are often unfamiliar with much of the court cases referenced and the critical terminology used by scholars in the field. As such White Out: A Guidebook for Teaching and Engaging with Critical Whiteness Studies is designed to orient readers to the history and purpose of CWS, to key concepts and legal cases, and to established and newer texts and resources. For educators wishing to include CWS in their workshops or courses, this guidebook also includes pedagogical resources ranging a sample syllabus to sample assignments and student texts to advice for structuring a dialogic workshop or classroom.

Student contributors are: Thomas Drake Farmer, Daniel Giraldo, Abby Graves, Elaine Ruby Gunn, Faith Jones, and Connor McPherson.