RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS
SUMMER 2001 Web Course
Course web site: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/syl-327-web.html
santos_class@csub.edu |
jackie_rogers2@csub.edu |
TEXTS & WEB SITES
COURSE CONTENT
This course is designed to provide the independent learner-type of student with a broad, yet solid, 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 in 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 -- 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 a universal theory of modern peoplehood, at least not yet; nor is there even agreement over the historical record of racial and ethnic relations in countries such as the United States -- much less on the history of peoplehood in all its forms everywhere in the modern world-system. But 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 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 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 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.
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.
COURSE STRUCTURE
Self-learning, Pace and Deadlines:
This course is designed for the mature, independent learner, one already acquainted with the World Wide Web and email, and one with easy access to a computer well connected to both. It presupposes all enrolled students are willing and able to trade the time they would have otherwise spent in the classroom doing instead extensive reading, testing, and writing short essay reports on their own. Students should reserve at least a couple of hours a day for this course during the six weeks it lasts. The course is entirely web based and requires no physical attendance to any meeting, class, or scheduled testing site; each student is allowed to work at his or her own pace, pretty much on his or her own, but there are serious weekly deadlines for the workload (posted at the end of this syllabus); students may move ahead of schedule -- even weeks ahead -- but will not be allowed to fall behind those weekly deadlines.
Activities Based on the Healey Textbook
The Annual Editions anthology of articles contains 47 articles organized in 10 "Units." Each week, one Unit will be assigned (except for week 4, where two Units are assigned). For each Unit, students need to freely choose two articles to read and take a quiz on (for week four that means a total of 4 article quizzes). The quizzes are short and multiple-choice. To access and take an article quiz, click the frame button "Tests & Quizzes" to your left (found also at Dr. Santos' home page; alternatively, you may simply click and bookmark the URL address for CSUB's WebCT: http://webct.csub.edu/).
The deadline for each article quiz is the Sunday midnight at the end of the week that article's Unit was assigned, except for the articles in Unit 6, assigned the last week: the deadline for those (three chosen) article quizzes is Thursday midnight, August 2.
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 deadline. You may take as many extra quizzes as you wish (but only once per article). The previous low scores will not be erased, but you may be able to improve your average score.
Activities Based on Dr. Santos' Web Readings
Students must select a web reading and submit a single web reading report per week (roughly one page long) from an article selected from the assigned list of web reading each week; the readings are found at the course's web site. Students are free to choose which reading within the assigned reading list to read and file a report on, so long as the report is sent before the assigned reading list deadline (posted below). To access the web reading lists, click here, or click the frame button "Readings" to your left. 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 revealed to all students in class via an email. (Note: these are different from the WebCT ID and Password you have been individually assigned for access to WebCT testing -- read below for those codes.)
To generate and file a web reading report, click the frame button "Reading Reports" to your left. The deadline for each web reading report is the Sunday midnight at the end of the week that reading was assigned, except for the web readings assigned the last week (on Asian Americans): the deadline for that last web reading report is Thursday midnight, August 2.
Due to campus web system freezes and malfunctions, it is highly recommended for students to first write and edit their web reading reports separately, save their original text files in their own computers, and then open the Reading Report form and merely copy and paste text onto it; do not worry about how "pretty" or "clean" the text is pasted! Always end your reports with your full name within the text. Once you paste your report text onto the form, always fill out all the other form fields with information before you send it, especially your official email address and assigned web reading list. Two copies of your report will automatically be sent: one to Dr. Santos' email address and the other to your "official" email address.
Other Frame Buttons
There are several other frame buttons to the left of the course's web site, which will not be used during this term and may be ignored.
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! Also, if you change your mind on a specific answer, don't forget to save it again!
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.
Grading:
The Healey Chapter Tests taken together are worth 40 percent of the
final grade. The Healey Chapter Debate Reports taken together are worth
10 percent. The Annual Editions quizzes taken together are worth 40 percent.
The Web Reading Reports taken together are worth 10 percent. The final
letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, 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- |
Communications with Dr. Santos & Teaching Assistant Ms. Rogers:
Students are encouraged to communicate with Dr Santos and/or Ms. Rogers them via email to Dr. Santos' email address above. Ms. Jackson may also be reached directly at her email address above. Please be advised, though, that usually email communication has to be very brief and to the point. Phone messages may be left for Dr. Santos at (661) 664-2191. Office visits by appointment at DDH-AA205.
|
|
|
|
|
| 1
|
|
|
|
| 2
|
|
|
|
| 3
|
|
|
|
| 4
|
|
|
|
| 5
|
|
|
|
| 6
|
|
|
|