RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS
Spring 2012
Course activities placed at CSUB's Blackboard testing site at:
https://bb.csub.edu/
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Office: DDH-AA205 |
Teaching Assistance: Ms. Vanessa Martinez
Office:
DDH-AA204 |
Course
Contents
This course is designed to provide students with a broad introduction to the field of race & ethnic relations in the United States. The historical and contemporary experiences of various ethnic and panethnic groups in the United States -- the so-called five pan-ethnicities: European Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, and Asian Americans -- are sociologically analyzed in the Healey textbook. Various sociological concepts are introduced and defined to explain the origins and history of the interactions between these groups, from colonial times to the present. In short, we attempt to learn and understand -- mediated by sociological theory -- the history and dynamics of modern peoplehoods in the United States. The Healey book does so with various degrees of success, which is fine: there has been and currently is noconsensus for anything resembling a universal theory of modern peoplehood; there is not even agreement over the nature and historical record of racial and ethnic relations in specific countries, such as the United States -- much less on the history of peoplehood in all its forms, in different regions of the world and peridod of history. Dr. Santos lectures will focus on expanding the scope and range of the course's content to encompass the modern world-system over the course of various centuries.
Still, the emphasis of this course will then be placed on how race, ethnicity, & nationhood were and are socially (re)constructed in the U.S., and how these categories relate to various social structural processes such as free and forced prior and present migrations, colonial incorporation and modern imperialism, class stratification and social struggle, the role of the state, the patterns of sociocultural dynamics in peoplehood, and the role of gender relations. We seek to elucidate the contexts in which the modern social categories of peoplehood originated and how they have evolved, how they were affected by -- and in turn affected -- the broader political, economic, and cultural processes of U.S. history.
Learning Objectives
Below are the GRE Requirement's general mission, goals, and objectives, which this course aims to achieve. The chapter learning in the Healey textbook may be found by clicking the link to the "Healey Chapter Outlines and Learning Objectives" folder in the course's Blackboard account.
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Gender Race & Ethnicity
Mission, Goals, & Objectives
Mission of the GRE Requirement: Students will develop an awareness, appreciation, and recognition of the social constructions of gender, race, and ethnicity in order to understand the diversity of human experience and values, particularly those contributions to knowledge and civilization made by members of historically under-represented groups. Fundamental to this requirement is the concept of cultural pluralism, which encompasses ethnic, cross-cultural, and intercultural studies as well as studies of the relationship(s) between dominant and non-dominant social groups. Goal 1. The course should have, as its principal focus, some aspect of the lives, roles, contributions, perspectives, and experiences of the particular group(s) discussed whether they be women or more specific ethnic and racial groups. Discussion of these groups needs to be set within a broadly defined context, one that might not be limited by national boundaries. Objective a. Students
taking the
course should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the broad
processes of multicultural/global issues related to issues of gender,
race, and/or ethnicity.
Goal 2. Relevant
scholarship on the course topic, in historical context, should be an
important part of course readings and discussions. Attention to past
and present theoretical approaches should be incorporated into the
course readings and discussions.Objective b. Students taking the course should be able to compare and contrast issues of gender, race, and/or ethnicity across different cultures. Objective a. Students
taking the
course should be able to compare past and present discipline-specific
theories related to gender, race and/or ethnicity.
Goal 3. The course
should
incorporate viewpoints of individuals whose lives may differ in terms
of gender, race, and ethnicity.Objective a. Students
taking the
course should be able to compare and contrast viewpoints of individuals
whose lives differ in terms of gender, race, and/or ethnicity.
Goal 4. The course
should
identify the structure and dynamics of domination and subordination.
The course should include critical analyses of how cultural and
societal assumptions about gender, race, and ethnicity function in
individuals' lives.Objective a. Students
taking the
course should be able to identify the structure and dynamics of
domination and subordination in gender, race and/or
ethnicity.
Goal 5. The course
should
include the use of pedagogical techniques that encourage student
participation, to enable them to be active learners and critical
thinkers, and to examine their personal values.Objective b. Students taking the course should be able to analyze the ways in which cultural and societal assumptions about gender, race and/or ethnicity function in individual’s lives. Objective a. Students
taking the
course should be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills about
issues of gender, race and/or
ethnicity.
Objective b. Students taking the course should be able to identify how their personal values relate to and have changed regarding issues of gender, race and/or ethnicity. |
Course
Structure
Dr. Santos will lecture most classes, Ms. Vanessa Martinez a couple of times. Attendance to these two-hour classes on Tuesday & Thursdays is mandatory; absences, tardiness, and early leaving without prior approval by Dr. Santos will be penalized. From time to time, the class will watch and discuss a video documentary. The final exam (Thursday, June 7, in class) will be exclusively and randomly based on the class lectures & videos -- so always show up to class and take good notes!
Blackboard Weekly Activities:
This course is designed for students who are
already acquainted with CSUB's Blackboard, and who either possess a
computer well-connected to the internet, or can make the time to use
the campus public computers every week. All Blackboard activities for
the course are assigned on a weekly basis and all have a Sunday at midnight
deadline.
Activities Based on the Healey Textbook:
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Other Instructions
on Taking Healey Chapter Tests at CSUB's Blackboard:
Be
prepared!
The maximum duration for each chapter test is 60 minutes. After
each weekly deadline, access to any given chapter test will be closed
and no late testing will be possible. So make sure you have prepared
well, chosen a day, time & place well, and have ample time and
tranquility (with no
distractions) to begin testing; take time to read carefully
each question before you answer it - do not rush! (a common
mistake). You may take the test with the open book, but exclusively on
your own, please. Never plan to take a test in two or more
sittings; plan always to take
each test in a single session
(the computer usually freezes incomplete tests). Save your answers every time. If you change your mind on a specific answer, don't forget to save it again! And don't forget to send your quiz/test to grade when you are done (lots of students forget this last step and their scores are not computed!). Security precaution: If you are using a public computer always quit both the Blackboard site and the browser after you are done with testing -- otherwise, someone may access your own Blackboard account and "try out" some tests! This is because your access codes stay active until you quit the browser. And remember, never share your testing access codes with anyone! Cheating Warning: Students are hereby formally forewarned that anybody caught cheating on the tests will automatically fail the course. Blackboard has a monitoring capability that automatically "flags" for instructors a variety of potential cheating cases and situations -- including comparing student answers, times of testing, etc. |
Other
Course-Related Materials Found in the Course's Blackboard Account:
These instructional materials are placed in the course's
Blackboard account for the benefit of the students.
Plagiarism:
The ten Healey Chapter Tests taken together are together worth up to 60
percent of the final grade (6 points per test). The
ten Healey Chapter Debate
Reports are together worth up to 20 percent of the final grade (2 point
per report). The final exam is worth 20 points. All
this adds up to 100 points. Students may receive extra points for other activities. Students with perfect attendance will be
given 5 extra points. The
final letter grade will
be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100
points as
follows:
| 94-100 = A | 87-89 = B+ | 77-79 = C+ | 65-69 = D |
| 90-93 = A- | 84-86 = B | 74-76 = C | < 65 = F |
| 80-83 = B- | 70-73 = |
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Office Hours and Email Communication with Dr. Santos & Ms. Vanessa Martinez:
Dr. Santos & Ms. Martinez office hours are posted above. Students may communicate with both Dr. Santos and
Ms. Martinez by email
to the class email address
above. Ms. Martinez, who will be in charge of grading and managing the
written submissions in Blackboard, may also be reached directly
and privately at her own
email
address
above. Please be advised, though, that email communication has to be very
brief and
to the point. Expect a one line reply. Always sign off with your
FULL NAME, do not assume
we know who you are! You may also reach or leave messages for Dr Santos
at his office phone (above). If you
send an email
message
to Ms. Martinez requesting to talk to her, include a phone number so she
may call you back.
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May 14 - 20
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May 21 - 27
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May 28 - June 3
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June 4 - 10
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