RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS

Spring 2001 

Course web site: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/

Course testing at CSUB's WebCT web site: http://webct.csub.edu/

Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos santos_class@csub.edu Office: DDH-AA205 Office Hours:  2:00pm - 4:00 pm Tu-Th

Teaching Assistants:  Ms. Brenda McChesney[chapter debate reports] Brenda_McChesney@csub.edu Ms. Jackie Rogers [web reading reports] jackie_rogers2@csub.edu

• Joseph F. Healey, 1998. Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class . The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change. 2nd ed.. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge.

• John Kromkowski, 2000. Annual Editions. Race and Ethnic Relations 00/01. Guilford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

• Various Authors. Web Readings on Dr. Santos' Web Site.

[To access Dr. Santos' web readings click the link above or click the frame button "Readings" to your left. These readings are password controlled; enrolled students will receive the access codes in class.]

COURSE CONTENT

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 European Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, and Asian Americans -- are systematically analyzed based on the Healey textbook. Various sociological concepts are defined to explain the origins and history of the interactions between these groups from colonial times to the present -- in short, we attempt to understand the history and dynamics of modern peoplehoods in the United States, an understanding mediated by sociological theory.

A note of caution: there has not been a consensus on a universal theory of modern peoplehood, including theories of nation, race, and ethnicity; there is not even agreement over the historical record of racial and ethnic relations in a specific country, such as the United States. So much less can we find agreement on the history of peoplehood in all its forms everywhere in the modern world-system. But the Healey's textbook is an excellent attempt at analyzing in some depth the broad historical sociology of race and ethnicity in a single country, the United States.

The emphasis will 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 migrations, conquest and imperialism, class stratification and struggle, the role of the state, patterns of cultural dynamics, and gender relations. We seek to elucidate the contexts in which the modern social categories of race & ethnicity originated and how they have evolved; and how they were affected by -- and in turn affected  -- the broader political, economic, and cultural processes of U.S. history.

The exploration of various topical issues and trends of peoplehood in the United States are will be pursued via the Annual Editions anthology of articles, and the large selection of readings and links placed in the course's web site.

Lectures/Videos:

Dr. Santos' lectures will be partly based on the textbooks and partly on other sources; they supplement the texts. Attendance to the lectures 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.

Activities Based on the Healey Textbook

For every covered chapter in the Healey textbook students will be asked to do two types of assignments: (a) file an email essay report on the "Current Debates" section found at the end of the chapter -- this report is generated from within the course's web site; and (b) take the chapter test, using the WebCT system at Cal State Bakersfield.

• Chapter Debate Reports:The Healey book contains 13 chapters, of which we will cover the first 11. At the end of each chapter of the Healey textbook, there is a section entitled "Current Debates", accompanied by a few numbered questions (Chapters 8 & 9 have two such sections; for these two chapters, please do the first Current Debate section and ignore the second one). On the web site for the course, you generate and file the report using the "Debate Reports" frame button to your left. Spaces are provided in the report form to answer the first four numbered questions (ignore any fifth or higher numbered question). The length of each of the short-essay answers should be a about half a page. Before you send the report, make sure you entered all information correctly, especially your "official" email address [stick to one email address, even if you access the web site from various computers]. When you send it, two copies of your chapter report will automatically be sent out: one to Dr. Santos' email address and the other to your "official" email address. The deadline for each chapter debate report is the Sunday midnight at the end of the week that chapter was assigned.

• Chapter Tests:  For each chapter assigned, students must take a multiple-choice test (on the web) of twenty questions on the week it is assigned (same Sunday midnight deadline applies). To access and take a chapter test, click the frame button "Tests & Quizzes" to your left (found also at Dr. Santos' initial web page; alternatively, you may simply click and bookmark the URL address for CSUB's WebCT: http://webct.csub.edu/). See testing details below.

Extra: If you wish to improve a possible low chapter test score, you may take a second chapter test, so long as you do so before the assigned chapter deadline. The chapter score that will be recorded will be the average of the two test scores.

The Annual Editions anthology of articles contains 43 articles organized in 10 "Units."  Each week, one Unit will be assigned. For each Unit, students need to freely choose two articles to read and take a quiz on. The quizzes are short and multiple-choice. To take an article quiz, click the frame button "Tests & Quizzes" to your left and follow the access instructions given below. The deadline for each chosen article quiz is the Sunday midnight of the week the article's Unit was assigned. Remember, you must take two such article quizzes a week.

Extra: If you wish to improve a possible low quiz score average, you may read as many extra articles within an assigned unit as you wish and take the corresponding quizzes, so long as you take these extra quizzes before the assigned Unit's Sunday deadline. You may take as many extra quizzes as you wish from articles from any given Unit (but only once per article). The previous low scores will not be erased, but you may be able to improve your average score.

Instructions on Taking Quizzes and Tests at CSUB's WebCT

To access and take an article quiz or a chapter test, click the frame button "Tests & Quizzes" to your left (found also at Dr. Santos' initial home page; alternatively, you may simply click and bookmark the following URL address for CSUB's WebCT in your browser: http://webct.csub.edu/).

Important:  Before you start, you will need to know your WebCT ID and password.  Your WebCT ID is the same as your RunnerMail Logon ID.  For example, the WebCT ID of John Smith (jsmith@runner.csub.edu) would be jsmith. Your initial WebCT password is your Social Security Number (just the nine digits; no spaces or dashes). Once logged on to MyWebCT, you may change your password at any time. We also suggest that you set up your login hint at your earliest convenience.

If you donít know your CSUB RunnerMail Logon ID or if you've changed your password and have forgotten it, contact the Student Technology Help Desk in the library (Lower Level Room 1), by phone at 661 665-6677,

Be prepared! The maximum duration for an Annual Editions quiz is 15 minutes, or roughly 3 minutes per question. The maximum duration for a Healey chapter test is 60 minutes, again roughly 3 minutes per question. This gives you ample time to carefully read the question -- it is well-known that most otherwise hard-studying folks who answer multiple-choice questions incorrectly rush and do not read the questions correctly!

For security reasons, always quit both the WebCT site and the browser (Netscape or Explorer) after you are done with testing, especially if you are using a public computer -- otherwise, someone may access your own WebCT 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.

Warning: Students are hereby forewarned that anybody caught cheating on the tests & quizzes will automatically fail the course. WebCT has a monitoring capability that automatically "flags" to instructors a variety of potential cheating cases -- including comparing student answers, times of testing, etc.

Activities Based on Dr. Santos' Web Readings

Each week, a different list of web readings is assigned (see the weekly assignments below). To access the web reading lists click here or click the frame button "Readings" to your left. To generate and file a web reading report, click the frame button "Reading Reports" to your left.

Each week, students must choose a web reading  from the assigned list and submit a single web reading report (roughly half-to-one page long). The deadline for any web reading report is, you guessed it, the Sunday midnight of the week the reading list from where it came from was assigned. Please note: To access the web readings, you will be prompted to enter a username and a password once per session; these two access codes are generic (the same for everyone) and will be announced in class. (Also note: these access codes are different from the username and password you have been individually assigned to access  WebCT testing.)

Precautionary Note: Due to campus web system freezes and malfunctions, it is highly recommended for students to first write and edit their web reading reports using a word processor, save their original text files in their own computers or floppies, and only then open the Reading Report form,  copy and paste text onto it, then send it; do not worry about how "pretty" or "clean" the text is pasted! Before or after you paste your report text onto the form, always fill out all the other form fields with information before you send it: your official email address, the assigned web reading list, and the title of the article. Two copies of your report will automatically be sent: one to Dr. Santos' email address and the other to your "official" email address.Your backup files are your proof of having done the work on time and it is your responsibility to create and manage them. Also, always end your reports with your full name.

Group Research Papers

Students will be asked to form, on the fifth week of class, groups of up to ten students each to jointly design, research, and write a single-volume research project on "the nature, history & future of race & ethnic relations" in a given country or world regions (U.S. excluded). Each student must write his or her own research paper - five-to-six pages long - for the volume. Therefore, the groups need to meet outside class time and design a project outline of possible individual subtopics to present to Dr. Santos for his approval, preferably during his office hours.

For the guidelines on how to write the research term paper click here, or click the button "Research Paper" to your left (ignore the length of the paper stated there, but follow everything else). The deadline for clearing the project outline with Dr. Santos is May 10. The deadline for the groups turning in the research volume in final, bound form, is noon, Thursday, June 14.

The bound volume should contain (a) a title page, (b) a table of content page, listing each student's paper -- by title and student name -- and (c) all the actual student papers, in the same order as listed in the table of contents. It is NOT required that the papers' page numbers correspond to each other, i.e., that the number of the last page of a paper corresponds with the number of the first page of the next paper; what IS required is that each paper be numbered. And all individual paper should start with the title and name of the student at the very top, immediately followed by the text (no separate title page needed). Finally, each paper may have it's own bibliography at its end, or the group may opt to create a joint bibliography at the end of the entire volume (to be included in the table of content). Appendices are fine -- for tables, charts, maps and pictures -- but they do not count as part of the minimum length of the paper (five-to-six pages of text).

The possible countries/regions to choose from (on a first come, first served basis) are those already listed in Chapter 12 of the Healey textbook, plus the following: Mexico, Central America, the Spanish Caribbean, the French Caribbean, the British Caribbean, the Andean World, the Amazonian World, the European Union, the Muslim World, the former Soviet Union countries, China & the Chinese Diaspora, India & the Indian Diaspora, Sub-Sahara Africa and the African Diaspora. In addition, three special issues are eligible as research projects are:

(1) IMMIGRATION: the late-19th-century and 20th-century origins and history of the world's (authorized and unauthorized, free and coerced, intra-continental and transcontinental) flows of so-called economic and political immigrants, the scales and directions of these flows at different times, and the possible future world scenarios of transborder human mobility;

(2) THE NATION-STATE: the rise, universal embrace, contemporary crisis, and possible futures of the modern nation-state as the paramount political and sociocultural paradigm of peoplehood in the modern world-system; and its history of contradictions with and adaptations to other forms of peoplehood (such as tribe, caste, race, ethnicity); and,

(3) ETHNONATIONALIST GENOCIDE: the 20th-century's experiences of genocide and other systematic and extreme violations of human rights in the name of country & nation, ethnic or racial purity or claims, civilizational superiority and manifest destiny. Papers may focus on "case studies" or "global period studies," or a combination of both. Beyond good factual descriptions (what happened), the papers must analyze and reveal (a) the structural (political & economic), and (b) the ideological (cultural) conditions and contexts that gave rise, sustained, rationalized, these sort of experiences in our century -- that is, why it happened; and finally, (c) at least one of the papers should focus on the possible scenarios for human rights in the 21st century.

Extra Points for Exploring New Web Sites or Dr. Santos' Links

There are two frame buttons to your left labelled "Web Links" and "Link Reports". The former button connects you to a large depository of web links collected by Dr. Santos, many of which are related to the course's subject matter. The latter button is a form (so-called "cgi" form) that feeds into itself, meaning: in it you may file a report on one of Dr. Santos' links (or better, on a new link you found on the web on your own), with the advantage that when you "send" it, it is automatically appended to the bottom of the form itself, for all to see.

This acumulating, sausage-like form allows other students to explore the links you reported on, and perhaps "bookmark" them or file their reports on them as well. Students are not required to file any link reports, but those that do will receive extra points. Students may submit their link reports at their leisure and frequency, but only those submitted by June 12 will count for extra points -- and please, no more than five reports per student. By the way, no copies of these reports are sent to anyone outside the cgi form.

Grading:

The Healey chapter tests taken together are worth 33 percent of the final grade (3 percent per chapter test). The Healey chapter debate reports taken together are worth 11 percent (1 percent per report). The Annual Editions quizzes taken together are worth 36 percent (2 percent per article quiz). The web reading reports taken together are worth 9 percent (1 percent per reading report). The research paper is worth 11 percent (10 percent for the individual paper plus 1 percent for the group effort). Extra points for exploring web sites may go up to 3 percent. The final letter grade will be assigned, on a total percentage scale of 0 to 100, as follows:
 
 

Office Hours/E-Mail to Dr. Santos:

Dr. Santos will generally be available at his office, DDH-AA205, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students are encouraged to come see him or to call during these times. Appointments may also be made. Alternatively students may communicate with Dr. Santos or any of the two T.A.'s via email  (their email addresses are above). Please be advised, though, given the huge volume of incoming reports, that email communication has to be very brief and to the point. Clearly state your business in the subject heading, always use your "official email address", and make sure to sign off with your full name. Generally, the T.A.'s will handle feedback on your email reports and Dr. Santos will handle feedback on your tests, quizzes, and research projects.