Soc 327 Syllabi and  Class Materials
RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS
SUMMER 2003 Web Course
Course web site: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/courses.html


Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos
Phone: (661) 664-2191
Email button
santos_class@csub.edu
Teaching Assistant: Ms. Annette Franklin
Email button
afranklin2@runner.csub.edu

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Texts, Readings Web Site, Email Communications: 

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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.

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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
 

  • 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.
  • 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 final chapter score that will be recorded will be the average of the two test scores.
    Activities Based on the Annual Editions Anthology of Articles

    Extra Points Activities Based on Dr. Santos' Web Readings

    Students may select a web reading and submit a single Web Reading Report per week - for an extra point! - from an article selected from the assigned list of web reading each week; the readings are found at the course's web site. A web reading report ought to be a roughly one-page-long critical assessment of what you read: its strong/weak points, what you thought was most/least interesting or surprising or informative or useful aspects or arguments or facts. 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.

    To generate and file a web reading report, click the frame button "Reading Reports" to your left or click here, or go directly to the form at: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/readreport.html.

    The deadline for each extra-point 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: the deadline for that last Web Reading Report is Friday midnight, August 1. 

    Please note: To access the web readings, you will be prompted to enter a username and a password -- only 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 that these access codes are different from the WebCT ID and Password you have been individually assigned for access to WebCT testing -- read below for information on those codes.)

    Another important Note: Due to campus computer system freezes and malfunctions, it is highly recommended for students to first write and edit their web reading reports on Word, 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! And remember: 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. Two copies of your report will automatically be sent: one to Dr. Santos' email address and the other to your "official" email address you entered.

    Other Frame Buttons

    There are several other frame buttons not mentioned here but found to the left of the course's web site: they will not be used during this term and should 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.  All enrolled students have a "Runner" email account at CSUB. Your WebCT ID is the same as your RunnerMail Logon ID -- what goes before the "@runner.csub.edu".  For example, the WebCT ID of John Smith (jsmith4@runner.csub.edu) would be jsmith4. Your initial WebCT password is the last five digits of your Social Security Number. 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 don’t 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, during office hours.

    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 -- many otherwise hard-studying folks answer multiple-choice questions incorrectly because they 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, if you are using a public computer always quit both the WebCT site and the browser (Netscape or Explorer) after you are done with testing  -- 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 and situations  -- including comparing student answers, times of testing, etc.

    Grading:

    The Healey Chapter Tests taken together are worth 44 percent (4 points per test) of the final grade. The Healey Chapter Debate Reports taken together are worth 12 percent of the final grade (about 1 point per report). The Annual Editions Quizzes taken together are worth 44 percent. All this adds up to 100 points. Extra points: Web Reading Reports combined are worth up to 6 extra points. The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100 points (or a theoretical maximum of 106 with the extra points), as follows:
     

    94-106 = 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. Annette Franklin:

    Students are encouraged to communicate with Dr Santos and/or Ms. Annette Franklin via email to Dr. Santos class email address above. Ms. Franklin 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. As Dr. Santos will be travelling while the course is going on, telephone communications with him at the number above are not going to be possible after June 27. But if you send an email message, Ms. Franklin might call you.

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    Schedule of Readings

    Week
    Healey Chapters
    AE Units
    Web Reading Lists
    1
    June 23 - 29
    1 & 2
    2 & 3

    Readings on Immigration
    2
    June 30 - July 6
    3 & 4
    1 & 8
    Readings on Race & Ethnic Rels
    3
    July 7 - 13
    5 & 6
    10 & 11

    Readings on Native Americans
    4
    July 14 - 20
    7 & 8
    4 & 6
    Readings on African Americans
    5
    July 21 - 27
    9 & 10
    5 & 7
    Readings on Latinos
    6
    July 28 - August 1
    11
    9
    Readings on Asian Americans

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