Course Info: CSI-0201

CourseCSI-0201 Meth, Opioids, & Trump
Long TitleMeth, Opioids, and the Trump Crisis
Term2019S
Note(s) Satisfies Distribution
Textbook information
Meeting InfoFranklin Patterson Hall 104 on W,F from 9:00-10:20
FacultyApril Merleaux
Capacity25
Available4
Waitlist0
Distribution(s) Power, Community and Social Justice
Cumulative Skill(s)Multiple Cultural Perspectives
Independent Work
Additional InfoStudents are expected to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.
Description

Since 1990 overdose deaths in the United States have increased five-fold, resulting in what is best described as an overdose crisis. Many of the states with the highest prescription opioid overdose deaths-and the greatest harms from crystal meth-also vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. In this course we will consider the historical contexts for the parallel rise of Trumpism and the overdose crisis. Trump appealed to economically and socially dislocated voters' xenophobia, using stereotypes about Mexican drug dealers to call for a return to law and order policing and immigration exclusion. The course moves beyond Trump's rhetoric to explore the cultural, historical, and economic aspects of addiction, substance use, and overdose deaths. Topics include: economic decline, demographic transformation, and whiteness; policing; drug courts; pharmaceutical company power; histories of pain management, addiction, harm reduction, and movements to end the war on drugs.