Race and Ethnicity

Judi Kessler

Fall 2006

MW, 2:00-3:15 – WH114

 

The syllabus will be modified periodically throughout the semester.  Please check the on-line syllabus for changes at least once a week

 

 

Why study racial and ethnic relations in the United States? Because “racial and ethnic diversity is basic in the history of this society” (Feagin & Feagin). From its inception, American society has been constructed and organized around racial and ethnic hierarchies. These hierarchies - or racial and ethnic ranking systems - are remarkably stable and enduring and, as such, continue to have profound social, political, and economic consequences for both dominant and subordinate racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

 

We will begin the semester with the definition and discussion of major terms and concepts, and a discussion of theories in the study of racial and ethnic relations. This will be followed by an historical overview of immigration in the context of economic and political conditions in the United States.  We will then embark on in-depth studies of three racial groups in this country - Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. We will end the semester by examining the global dimensions of racism.

 

Goals – upon completion of this course, students will:

Required Readings:

 

1. Racial and Ethnic Relations, Seventh Edition

Joe R. Feagin & Clairece Booher Feagin

(2003, Prentice Hall)

 

2. Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy over American Indian Mascots

Carol Spindel

(2000, New York University Press)

 

3. Apple Pie & Enchiladas: Latino Newcomers in the Rural Midwest

Ann V. Millard & Jorge Chapa

(2004, University of Texas Press)

 

4. Handouts – to be distributed in class

 

Contact Information:

 

Office:  Wallace Hall, Lower Level, Room 3
Email:    jkessler@monm.edu
Phone:   457-2165
 

Course Evaluations:

 

The course grade will be determined as follows:

 

Exams (3)                                 45%

Media Response Papers (2)           20%

Reading/Video Response

Papers (2)                                 20%

In-class Participation:

a. Proactive discussion

participation                                5%

b. In-class Presentations              10%

 

Students must submit all required work in order to be eligible to pass this course.

 

Exams will be a mix of essay questions and definition.  If you miss an exam without notifying the instructor beforehand, by phone or face-to-face (email not acceptable), you forfeit the opportunity to reschedule and will receive no credit.  Rescheduled exams are at the instructor’s discretion and only by prior arrangement.

 

You will write two short reading/video response papers during the course of the semester. Details for these assignments will be discussed in class.

 

You will submit two media response papers, based on news reports that deal with a problem, issue, or event that is relevant to course topics/issues. Click here for instructions.

 

Media & Reading/Video Response Papers must be submitted 1) in hard copy and 2) to turnitin.com (an on-line service that analyzes for plagiarism). Click here for turnitin student registration and set-up instructions. If you find that you are unable to submit an assignment by the date due, please contact me ahead of time to discuss a possible extension – otherwise, points will always be deducted for late submissions.

 

Regular class participation, in the form of proactive questions and comments, will result in full participation credit; partial credit will be awarded, depending on student’s level of participation; no credit will be given for little or no proactive participation.  Spotty attendance will affect your participation grade.  Students are expected to attend all class meetings and keep current with the readings. In addition, students are expected to come to class prepared to participate by having completed the assigned readings before class and having brought the week’s assigned readings to class.

 

In-class semi-formal oral presentations of selected readings will constitute two-thirds of your class participation grade.  Detailed instructions for these assignments will be provided.

 

Sleeping in class is not permitted.  If you feel sleepy, you should take a short break outside class until you are able to stay awake.  If you fall asleep in class I will ask you to leave until you feel you are able to maintain consciousness.

 

As mentioned above, all written work must be submitted to turnitin.com. Students found to have engaged in plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty, will fail this course. Violations subject to the dishonesty charge include, but are not limited to:

1) Cheating on tests, assignments, etc
2) Plagiarism (using words, ideas, or any work of another without giving appropriate credit in text and on a reference or bibliography page).

3) Submitting work that has already been or will be submitted for another course.

4) Submitting work written by anyone other than the student, including work purchased from commercial research services.
5) Improper collaboration between students, i.e., not doing one’s own work on outside assignments.

6) Falsifying attendance.

 

Please turn off audibles on cell phones and electronic devices during class time
  

READING, EXAM, AND ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
(all exam and assignment dates tentative)
 

Each week’s readings are to be completed by the first class meeting of the same week

 

Week 1 – 8/30

 

Feagin & Feagin (F&F), C. 1 – Basic Concepts in the Study of Racial and Ethnic Relations (pp 1-21)

 

Week 2 – 9/4, 9/6

 

Continue with F&F, C. 1

F&F, C. 2 – Adaptation and Conflict: Racial and Ethnic Relations in Theoretical Perspective (pp 22-48)

Handout: Excerpt from "Better for All the World" (261-286)

Handout: "The Frightening Agenda of the American Eugenics" (4 pages)

Documentary: Race - The Power of an Illusion (PtI)

 

Week 3 – 9/11, 9/13

 

Finish F&F, C. 2 

F&F, A Nation of Immigrants: An Overview of the Economic and Political Conditions of Selected Racial and Ethnic Groups (pp 49-58)

F&F, C. 3 (pp 59-76)

 

Week 4 – 9/18, 9/20

 

Finish F&F, C. 3

Begin reading Dancing at Halftime (pp 1-95)

 

Week 5 – 9/25, 9/27

 

Continue reading Dancing at Halftime (pp 96-175)

Begin reading:

F&F, C. 6 – Native Americans (pp 130-158)

Handout – Red Eyes (pp 99-136 in “Lies My Teacher Told Me”)

 

Week 6 – 10/2, 10/4

 

First Exam – Monday, October 2nd - study guide

 

Finish reading:

F&F, C. 6 – Native Americans (pp 130-158)

Handout – Red Eyes (pp 99-136 in “Lies My Teacher Told Me”)

Dancing at Halftime (pp 176-272)

 

Week 7 – 10/9, 10/11
 

Student presentations – to begin on Wednesday, 10/11 - instructions:

 

Wednesday, 10/11:

Handout – Red Eyes (pp 99-136 in “Lies My Teacher Told Me”) - Group 4

Dancing at Halftime (pp 1-68, 189-198) - Group 3

          Prologue/The Controversy (pp 1-27)

          Myth and Mascot (pp 28-37)

          Races of Living Things (pp 38-57)

          Starved Rock (pp 58-68)

   Dancing (pp 189-198)

 

First Media Response Paper due by Wednesday, 10/11

 

Week 8 – 10/18 (no classes, 10/16)

 

Monday, 10/18 (no classes 10/16):

Dancing at Halftime (pp 69-140; 169-188) - Group 2

          That Roughneck Indian Game (pp 69-79)

          Sons of Modern Illini (pp 80-95)

          Folded Leaves (pp 96-107)

   Chills to the Spine, Tears to the Eye (pp 120-140)

          The Wild West (pp 108-119)

          Signaling/Coloring Books/What Do I Know about Indians?/The Wistful Reservoir (pp 169-188)

 

Week 9 – 10/23 (no classes, afternoon of 10/25)

 

Dancing at Halftime (pp 141-168; 199-210; 224-272) - Group 1

          The Speakers Have It All Wrong (pp 141-156, 252-272)

          In Whose Honor? (pp 157-168)

          Scandalous and Disparaging (pp 199-210)

   A Young Child Speaking/Homecoming (pp 224-229; 247-251)

   A Racially Hostile Environment (pp 230-246)

          Video Letters (pp 252-272)

 

Week 10 – 10/30, 11/1

 

Reading Response Paper due Monday, November 6th - instructions

 

Documentary – In Whose Honor?

 

F&F, C. 7 – African Americans (pp 159-195)

Handouts

1. Packet: "Progress Without Parity/How to Narrow the Great Divide," "Racial Pressures Hit Home," "Of Race and Risk," "Chrysler Accused of Redlining," "Stealth Racism in the Rental Market," "It Helps to Have a 'white' Name," "Preface to Race Matters"

2. "The Black Middle Class: Who, When, and Where?", in Black Picket Fences, by Mary Pattillo-McCoy

 

Week 11 – 11/6, 11/8

 

Second Exam – Wednesday, 11/8 - study guide

 

Continue with F&F, C. 7 and Handouts

 

Documentary – Emmett Till 

 

Week 12 – 11/13, 11/15

 

Documentary – Why Can’t We Live Together? 

 

Week 13 – 11/20 (no classes, 11/22)
 

Begin reading Apple Pie and Enchiladas (pp 222-232, 1-46)

F&F, C. 8 – Mexican Americans (pp 196-231)

Handout: “The Peripheralization of Rural America” (Cantu)

 

Week 14 – 11/27, 11/29

 

Continue reading Apple Pie and Enchiladas (pp 47-171)

 

Second Media Response Paper due by Wednesday, 11/29

 

Video Response Paper due Monday, 12/11 - instructions

 

Week 15 – 12/4, 12/6

 

Finish reading Apple Pie and Enchiladas by 12/4 (pp 172-221)

 

In-class group work and informal presentations, 12/4, 12/6, 12/11

 

Michael Richards' rant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3RjiVcIlhY

 

Week 16 – 12/11, 12/13

 

Documentary - Postville

 

Third Exam – Friday, Dec. 15th, 10am - Study Guide