santos_class@csub.edu Office: DDH-AA205 |
Teaching Assistance: Ms. Eva Rafik 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 no consensus 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, everywhere in the modern world-system. So the field is still, and will remain so for the foreseeable future, one of the most contested terrains of social science, public policy, and political discourse in most countries. But the Healey textbook, the main foundation of this online course, is an excellent way to introduce, in some depth, the broad historical sociology of race and ethnicity in one such country, the United States.
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.
Contemporary issues in race, ethnicity,
gender, and class are explored in a broader international field through
thirteen chapters in the second book, the CQ Researcher anthology.
Students will be asked to assess
critically these readings, applying the conceptual framework developed
in the Healey
textbook and other sociological knowledge the students may already
possess.
NOTE: The course's
learning objectives, as far as they are addressed in the main
(Healey) textbook, may be found by clicking the link to the "Healey Chapter Outlines and Learning
Objectives" folder in the course's Blackboard account.
Course
Structure
Dr. Santos will lecture every class. Attendance to these two-hour classes 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 2, in class) will be exclusively based on the lectures & videos; so show up to class and take good notes!
Blackboard 9 Weekly Activities:
This course is designed for students who are
already acquainted with CSUB's Blackboard 9, 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 9 activities for
the course are assigned on a weekly basis and all have a Sunday at midnight
deadline.
I. Activities Based on the Healey Textbook:
Other Instructions
on Taking Healey Chapter Tests at CSUB's Blackboard:
Again, if you need help: Contact the Student Technology Help Desk for Blackboard-related question in the library at (661) 654-2315; or, for computer-related questions, contact the Student Help Desk at (661) 654-2307. Or simply go to the E-Learning Services at the lower level of the campus library, accessible through the East entrance door (by the pond) during regular office hours. No help available on weekends, so do not leave the work for then. 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, though there is no
activity associated with them for this online version of the course:
Plagiarism:
The ten Healey Chapter Tests taken together are together worth up to
50
percent of the final grade (about 5 points per test). The
ten Healey Chapter Debate
Reports are together worth up to 10 percent of the final grade (1 point
per report). The ten assigned CQ Researcher Reading Assessments
are
worth up to 25
percent (2.5 points per item). The final exam is worth 15 points. All
this adds up to 100 points. 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 = C | |
Office Hours and Email Communication with Dr. Santos &
Ms. Eva Rafik:
Dr. Santos office hours are posted above. Ms. Eva Rafik will only
meet by appointment. Students may communicate with both Dr. Santos and
Ms. Eva Rafik by email
to the class email address
above. Ms. Rafik, who will be in charge of grading and managing the
written submissions in Blackboard (Healey debate reports and CQ
Researcher reading assessments), 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. Rafik requesting to talk to her, include a phone number so she
may call you back.
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Holiday on Thursday, April 31 |
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May 9 - 15
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May 16 - 22
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May 23 - 29
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May 30 - June 5
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