Soc 327 Syllabi and  Class Materials
RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS

SUMMER 2011 Online Course: June 20 - July 31


Course activities placed at CSUB's Blackboard 9 testing site at:
 

https://bb.csub.edu/webapps/login/


Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos
 
Phone: (661) 654-2191
 
Email button

santos_class@csub.edu

Teaching Assistance: Ms. Eva Rafik

TA email

evarafik@yahoo.com

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Textbooks:
 
Here are the two books students need to purchase - as a "bundle" - already available at the Runner Bookstore at CSUB, or may be purchased online at such web vendors as barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com , though it is the responsibility of each enrolled student to have his/her two textbooks by the first day of classes on June 22 -- the course only lasts 6 weeks and time is of the essence.
 The ISBN for the two-book "bundle" is: 9781412990721 . The price for the "bundle" should be from about $75.00 plus shipping online, to about $84.00 at the campus bookstore.
 
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Course Contents

This course is designed to provide students capable of operating as independent learners in an online-only environment 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 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 fifteen chapters in the second book, the CQ Researcher anthology. Students will be given the choice to select ten such topics to assess critically, applying the conceptual framework developed in the Healey textbook and other sociological theory 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.

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Course Structure

Self-learning, Pacing, and Assigned Activities Deadlines:

This six-week online course is designed for the mature, independent learner; one already well acquainted with and capable of using with ease the internet, email, CSUB's Blackboard 9, and who already possess - or has easy access to - a good computer well connected to all of these things. It presupposes the enrolled students are seriously willing and able to trade the time they would have otherwise spent in the classroom doing instead extensive reading, testing, and writing activities on their own. Students should plan for and reserve on their calendars 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 all assignments (posted at the end of this syllabus).

* NOTE:  Students may move ahead of schedule -- even weeks ahead, if they wish and can -- but will NOT be allowed to fall behind their weekly assignment deadlines.

Testing and Writing Activities Using CSUB's Blackboard 9:

All testing and writing activities will be performed in CSUB's online testing system, Blackboard 9, located at CSUB's web portal and at:

https://bb.csub.edu/webapps/login/

For those students who need to be introduced to this system, please go to:

http://www.csub.edu/els/item1188.html

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 Summer office hours: 8:00 am to 5:00pm, Monday through Thursday. No help available on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

I. Activities Based on the Healey Textbook:

The
Healey book contains 11 chapters, of which we will cover the first 10 chapters, at the rate of one chapter per week on the first two weeks, and two chapters per week on the last four weeks. For each chapter covered in the Healey textbook, students will be asked to do two types of assignments:

(1) TEST. For each chapter assigned on a given week, students must take at least one multiple-choice test of twenty questions on the web. To access and take a given chapter test, go the course's Blackboard account and click on the "Healey Chapter Tests" folder, then click the link to that chapter test. The deadline for each chapter test is the Sunday midnight at the end of the week that chapter was assigned.

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 recorded in those cases will be the average of the two test scores.

(2) DEBATE REPORT. For each chapter assigned on a given week, students must answer the questions found at the end of that chapter, in the section "Current Debates" listed under "Debate Questions to Consider." To do this assignment go to the "Healey Debate Reports" folder on the course's Blackboard 9 account, click the link for the given chapter, and write your numbered answers in the field provided. Do NOT attach any files to your submission, instead use the Blackboard editor.  It is actually recommended that you compose your response in Word, then copy and paste it into the editor, but do not attach the file - though you should save your Word file in case something goes wrong. The deadline for each Chapter Debate Report is the Sunday midnight at the end of the week that chapter was assigned.

NOTE on how you should answer the questions:  Each of your numbered answers should be at least a couple of paragraphs long. They should consist of cogent answers that demonstrate that you grasp the essential point being debated, takes sides and explains why, and exhibit your critical thinking skills.


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 Summer office hours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. No help available on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Be prepared!  The maximum duration for each chapter test is 60 minutesAfter 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. 

II. Activities Based on the CQ Researcher Anthology:

The CQ Researcher anthology contains 15 chapters, of which we will assign 10 chapters (see schedule below), at the rate of one chapter per week on the first two weeks, and two chapters per week on the last four weeks. For each chapter assigned in the CQ Researcher anthology, students will be asked to do a CQ Researcher Reading Assessment in Blackboard. To submit a given CQ Researcher chapter reading assessment, go the course's Blackboard account and click on the "CQ Researcher Reading Assessments" folder, then click the link to that chapter. The deadline for each reading assessment is the Sunday midnight at the end of the week that chapter was assigned.

Your reading assessments should be fuller critical thinking essays, no less than the equivalent of two (2) regular pages long - double-spaced - in Word, and no more than three such pages. Do not be merely descriptive. You should be able to identify and select the most salient, important issues raised by the article, point out the author's arguments, viewpoints, and conclusions, and assess all of them critically in light of what you have learned elsewhere in the social sciences, the Healey textbook, or your own thought processes and life experiences. End the reading assessment with what you think would be an excellent, pertinent question for follow-up research or class discussion. You will be graded for length of the assessment, analytical relevance and quality, critical thinking, accuracy, and clarity and fluency of writing.

* NOTE: Do not attach any files to your submission, instead use the Blackboard editor. It is recommended that you actually compose your response in Word, then copy and paste it into the editor, but do not attach the file - though you should save your Word file in case something goes wrong.

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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:

To prevent students from wittingly or unwittingly engaging in plagiarism, Dr. Santos strongly recommends students to carefully read and abide by the document CSUB Classifications of Plagiarism found at: http://www.csub.edu/tlc/options/resources/turn_it_in_help_page.shtml

Anyone found guilty of engaging in plagiarism will automatically fail the course and be reported to the Office of Student Discipline and Judicial Affairs for further disciplinary action.

Grading:

The ten Healey Chapter Tests taken together are worth up to 60 percent (6 points per test) of the final grade. The ten Healey Chapter Debate Reports are worth up to 10 percent of the final grade (1 point per report). The ten CQ Researcher Reading Assessments are worth up to 30 percent (3 points per quiz). All this adds up to 100 points. The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100 points as follows:
 

94-105 = 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


Email Communication with Dr. Santos & Ms. Eva Rafik:

Students may communicate with Dr. Santos and Ms. Eva Rafik via email to the class email address above. Ms. Rafik may also be reached privately at her own email address above. Both email addresses are also posted at the Blackboard course site. Please be advised, though, that email communication has to be very brief and to the point. Always sign off with your FULL NAME, do not assume we know who you are! As Dr. Santos may be traveling in July, telephone communications with him at the phone number above is not reliable, but you can leave messages there during the rest of June and he may reply. But if you send an email message to Ms. Rafik requesting to talk to her, and give her a phone number where she can reach you, she may call you back.

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Schedule of Readings
 
Week
Healey Chapters
CQ Researcher Chapters
1
June 20 - 26
1
1
2
June 27 - July 3
2
4
3
July 4 - 10
3 & 4
2 & 14
4
July 11 - 17
5 & 6
3 & 7
5
July 18 - 24
7 & 8
5 & 6
6
July 25 - 31
9 & 10
9 & 10

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