University of Nebraska–Lincoln



SOCI 217: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity University of Nebraska-Lincoln Spring 2019 Course Syllabus Instructor: Shawn Ratcliff, M.A. Contact: sratcliff@huskers.unl.eduOffice: 736 Oldfather Hall Class Time: M/W/F 11:30-12:20pmClass Locations: HAH 102Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 12:30-1:30 or by appointment38061906604000-52387558420001619392221000Required Materials Gallagher, Charles A. ed. 2018. Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. 2017. Racism without Racists. 5th Edition External readings as necessary (See Canvas and class handouts) COURSE DESCRIPTIONOver the course of United States history, definitions of race and ethnicity have developed and shifted. Race does not exist in any identifiable physical or biological sense yet we still struggle with classifications of race and determining how many “races” exist. Despite the social construction of race, racial classifications lead to real effects in the lives of people as individuals and as members of society. Learning about the development of race and ethnicity in the United States allows us to not only ask “how” race matters but also “why” race still matters. This course does not seek to compare different racial/ethnic group experiences but instead will draw on an intersectional approach on race/ethnicity and social institutions to better understand structural dynamics to inequality. COURSE OBJECTIVESCreating, and honing, the ability to critically analyze topics regarding race and race relations from a sociological perspective. To understand how history has informed definitions of race, and how race works within social institutions over time. To develop interpersonal communication skills through in-class and small-group discussions, as well as develop strong writing skills through written assignments. To better understand how white supremacy, both as a movement and social structure, has shifted over time and shaped racial and ethnic dynamics in the United StatesCOURSE POLICIESAttendance Policy: Attendance in this class is highly recommended. This is a large lecture and it is difficult to take attendance everyday, however I assume that students are attending class. Sporadically through the semester I will take attendance, sometimes through pop-quizzes and sometimes through an attendance sheet. It is my experience that not attending class leads to lower grades and students are more likely to fail the course. Not to mention, attendance includes having done all the readings prior to class and being able to contribute to class discussion. Course instruction will consist of a mixture of lectures, class discussion, small group work, films, and additional class activities. Your attendance grade is calculated cumulatively, therefore I do not need to be informed if you are sick and not coming to class. If something comes up in the semester and you will need to miss multiple classes, please e-mail me (sratcliff@huskers.unl.edu) to work out an agreement. Recording Policy: So as to create a classroom environment in which everyone may feel comfortable participating in discussions, no audio or video recordings of class will be made without the prior knowledge and consent of the instructor and other students in class. Information presented in this class is a form of intellectual property and should not be recorded, disseminated, or shared with others without consent of the owner (i.e., instructor). This also includes taking pictures of slides or activities in-class. I reserve the right to ask any student who engages in this activity to leave the classroom and meet with me regarding the incident. Students with disabilities for which reasonable accommodation would include making such recordings should work with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office and the instructor to make arrangements. Classroom Conduct: Unless you have informed me ahead of time, I expect you to arrive to class on time and to not leave early. Please turn off all cell phones prior to the beginning of our scheduled class time. Texting or taking phone calls during class is not permitted. I expect you to be prepared upon arrival to class; this includes being attentive and participating in class discussions. Laptop usage is explicitly prohibited in class. Research indicates hand writing notes increases understanding of material and memory compared to electronic note-taking (Mueller and Oppenheimer 2014). Should you have requests through SSD, you need to contact the instructor of the course to work out a plan of action. All SSD guidelines will be honored to provide adequate opportunities for success for all students. Due to the nature of this course and course content, we may discuss topics where individuals have conflicting viewpoints. I encourage all students to participate in class discussions and critically engage with the material learned in this course; however, respectful discussion is a requirement in this course in both class participation and written assignments. Diverse viewpoints yield dynamic and enlightening discussions but it is important to maintain respect despite divergent opinions. All faculty, staff, and students are responsible for understanding and complying with harassment policies. For more information please visit . In addition, response-based writing assignments will also be used as a platform to voice your opinions and to promote engaged learning of the course material.Academic Integrity: All work that you turn in should be your own work. When you place your name on an assignment or exam, I interpret this to mean that you have received no unauthorized assistance on an assignment or test. Unauthorized assistance includes, but is not limited to: cheating on an exam, turning in assignments/exams as your own work when it is not, and plagiarism (presenting someone else’s published ideas as your own, we will discuss proper academic citation in this course). These acts will not be tolerated and will be handled according to university policy. For more information, visit (Section 4.2)Americans with Disabilities Act: Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the instructor for a confidential discussion of their individual needs for academic accommodation. It is UNL policy to provide flexible and individualized accommodation to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be registered with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office, 132 Canfield Administration, 472-3787 voice or TTY. For further information regarding UNL policies in this regard, please visit or call (402) 472-2322. SSD works with students to develop academic accommodations to meet their needs, including for mental health, such as depression and anxiety. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to provide individualized accommodations to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be registered with SSD.Gender-Inclusive Bathrooms: The following webpage provide a list of gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus: involved.unl.edu/unl-gender-neutral-bathrooms. The closest ones are Andrews Hall 126F and 127. Lactation Rooms: There is a private lactation space in 727A Oldfather, and a family room on the ground floor (North side, room 105). Additional information about lactation spaces is available at . ASSESSMENT AND ACE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESThe goal of this course is to provide you with an overview of this particular substantive area within the discipline of Sociology. This also includes learning about the theories and methods used to conduct research in this substantive field. The course will expose you to current research and literature and to new directions the field is taking. Throughout the semester, you will practice analyzing the readings and other course materials critically, using your ever growing substantive and theoretical knowledge.This class will facilitate Learning Outcomes #6 (using knowledge, theories, methods, and historical perspectives appropriate to the social sciences to understand and evaluate human behavior) and #9 (exhibit global awareness or knowledge of human diversity through analysis of an issue).These learning outcomes will be achieved in the following manner:Provide opportunities to increase your knowledge of nationality and race relations as well as sociological perspectives on nationality and race relations.Examine racial and ethnic inequality in Nebraska, the United States, and around the world.Focus on specific racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States and understand present relationships by assessing past patterns of minority group and dominant group relations.Facilitate these goals through lecture, readings, class discussion, in-class activities, and researching a specific issue of racial/ethnic relations or inequality in the United States.COURSE REQUIREMENTSAttendance and Participation: As mentioned previously, attendance will be taken randomly through diverse avenues (sign-in sheets, pop quizzes, etc.). Please refer to the Attendance Policy section of the syllabus to understand more about how to go about contacting the instructor should you need to miss class. Attendance will total 10% of your final grade. Quizzes: Every couple of weeks, I will give quizzes to make sure that students are keeping up with the readings and engaging with the materials. These quizzes are meant to act as a preparation for the upcoming exams and make sure you are keeping up with the readings. Quizzes will, usually, have 8-10 questions depending on the material covered. If it is clear that students are not engaging with the material, I reserve the right to increase the number of quizzes (alternatively, reduce them if students are doing well with the readings). These will be online quizzes that can be found on Canvas, and will be due on the Friday of the week they are assigned (see calendar). Using an honor code, I assume that you do not use class material (e.g., notes, readings) to complete these quizzes. In order to help address possible issues, quizzes will be timed (10 minutes – approx. 1 minute per question) and I will check to make sure students do not click out of the quiz screen (and yes, Canvas will give me that information). Quizzes will account for 6% of your final grade. Group Recordings: With such a large course, it is difficult to foster detailed and strong discussion as a collective group. That is why students are broken into groups, at random, and will be asked to provide three different video recorded discussion sessions. Students may rent equipment from the library multimedia center (), free of charge, or use their computers to record the discussions (ensure it has audio and video capabilities and works). These discussions will center on specific discussion questions that will be provided in ample time to record your discussion sessions. Currently, there are two discussions that have clear assignment due dates. Your first one will be due on 02/11/2019 by 11:59pm to Canvas and will be centered on the theoretical perspectives discussed in detail. Your second one is due depending on the sign-up sheet (e-mailed out in 3rd week of class). Whatever unit you choose, the discussion will be due the following class after that unit is completed (for example, if you choose to do Race and Immigration, it will be due on 02/18/2019 at 11:59pm). Your group will be responsible for coming up with the questions for this (2nd session) discussion session. Your third (Social Movements/Social Change) discussion session is listed below on the syllabus’ course outline. Each session will account for 8% of your total grade, for a total of 24% of your final grade. There is a peer-review component of this for you to provide feedback on your fellow peers’ and your personal performance. These are taken into consideration when calculating the final grades. Book Review: Although this course provides you with much detail about historical and contemporary dynamics related to race and ethnicity in the United States, I do not have enough time to go into every single topic in great detail. Therefore, students will be asked to choose a book from the list below (other books may be considered but must be approved by the professor). Students will be asked to inform the professor of what book they will be doing the book review on by 02/01/2019 at 11:59pm. Once this is completed, you will have until the end of the semester to complete the book review. More instructions for the book review will be provided towards the middle of the semester (see Canvas for details). The books you may choose include: Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie Against Wind and Tide: The African American Struggle against the Colonization Movement by Ousemane Power-Greene. Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships and Motherhood among Black Women by Mignon Moore At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance – a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle L. McGuire The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty by Jill Quadagno The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement by Kathleen Blee The Managed Hand: Race, Gender, and the Body in Beauty Service Work by Miliann Kang The book review will account for 20% of your final grade, and will be graded off of a rubric that will be provided to you towards the middle of the semester. Exams: The course has three major exams, all of which will be taken in the UNL Learning Commons Testing Center (). Exams will be closed book and based on both lecture and reading materials. It will be open for 72 hours (3 days) and will then close. The final exam will be open the entire week of finals. Each exam will have a time limit of ~1.5 hours, and the final exam will have a 2 hour time window. ALL EXAMS ARE CUMULATIVE, MEANING ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN COVERED UP TO THAT POINT IS FAIR GAME. Each regular exam will be 10% of your final grade and the final exam will be worth 20% of your final grade. This means that exams are worth 40% of your final grade. Assignment Table AssignmentPercentageAttendance and Participation 10%Pop Quizzes6%Group Recordings24%Book Review20% Exams #1 and #220%Final Exam 20% Total100%GradingA+96%C73%A93%C-70%A-90%D+66%B+86%D63%B83%D-60%B-80%F=<59.9%C+76%Grades will not be rounded for this course. If you receive a 79.9% in the class, this means that you have earned a C+ in the class. Throughout the semester, I will offer a number of opportunities for students to achieve extra credit and increase their overall grades. As the instructor, however, I reserve the right to make grade adjustments based on overall improvement (or lack thereof) in the course. Improvement based on a student’s tremendous dedication and in exams or papers may be taken into consideration but this is based on the instructor’s discretion. Grades will not be discussed over e-mail. Please make an appointment with your instructor or visit office hours to discuss grades. Late Work Policy (READ THIS CLOSELY)Students are expected to turn in assignments on time. On Canvas, all assignments are noted with their designated due date and time. For everyday an assignment is late, 20% of the possible final grade will be deducted. This means that assignments that are worth 100 points may only receive 80 out of 100 points at maximum if the assignment is 1 day late. This begins the minute after the assignment is due. If an assignment is due at 5:00pm and is turned in at 5:02pm, then the assignment is counted one day late. Any assignments more than 72 hours late will not be considered for grading and the student will receive a 0 for that assignment. Exceptions will only be made with proper documentation and at the instructor’s discretion.Course OutlineGeneral TopicDateReadingsAssignmentsGroup AssignmentsTheoretical PerspectivesIntroduction01/07/2019Harris. “How Our Skins Got Their Color.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 1Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream” (Full Transcript)Ch. 1 from Racism without RacistsSocio-biological Theories01/09/2019Van den Berghe. “Race and Ethnicity: A Sociobiological Perspective.” Blumer. “Race and Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 1601/11/2019Chapter from “The Scholar Denied” by Aldon MorrisFitzgerald. “The Continuing Significance of Race: Racial Genomics in a Postracial Era.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 12Conflict Theory01/14/2019Zinn. “Drawing the Color Line.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 2Iceland. “Race and Ethnicity in America.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 4Lipsitz. “The Possessive Investment in Whiteness.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 2001/16/2019Ch. 2 from Racism without Racists01/18/2019Bonilla-Silva. “Racialized Social System Approach to Racism.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 5Omi and Winant. “Racial Formations.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 3Dirks and Mueller. “Racism and Popular Culture.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 35IAT Test01/21/2019Martin Luther King DaySocial Constructionism & Settler Colonialism01/23/2019Ch. 4 from Racism without Racists01/25/2019Collins, Patricia Hill. “Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images” Ch. 4 from Black Feminist ThoughtMerskin. “Winnebagos, Cherokees, Apaches, and Dakotas: The Persistence of Stereotyping of American Indians in American Advertising and Brands.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 39Quiz #1 Due01/28/2019Selod and Embrick. “Racialization and Muslims: Situating the Muslim Experience in Race Scholarship.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 11Davis. “Defining Race: Comparative Perspectives.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 8Lisa Wade. “The US Census and the social construction of race.” ()01/30/2019Gallagher. “Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post-Race American.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 13Reyna. “Looking “Illegal”” Contexts ()Intersectionality02/01/2019Crenshaw. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics.” Identify Book for Book Review (Quiz on Canvas)02/04/2019Littlefield. “The Media as a System of Racialization: Exploring Images of African American Women and the New Racism.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 36“Young Women of Color and Shifting Sexual Identities.” Contexts ()02/06/2019Ch. 3 and Ch. 8 in Racism without Racists02/08/2019EXAM #1Historical Trends and Social InstitutionsImmigration02/11/2019Waters. “Ethnic and Racial Identities of Second-Generation Black Immigrants in New York City.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 45Steinberg. “The Melting Pot and the Color Line.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 42Group Discussion #102/13/2019Major US Immigration Laws, 1790-Present (Migration Policy Institute) FitzGerald and Cook Martin. “Culling the Masses: The Democratic Origins of Racist Immigration Policy in the Americas.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 4102/15/2019Cornelius. “Impacts of Border Enforcement on Unauthorized Mexican Migration to the United States.” ()Marrow et al. “Is unauthorized immigration an economic drain on American communities? Research says no.” Contexts ()Neighborhoods02/18/2019Chapter from Connolly in A World More Concrete02/20/2019Bullard. “Environmental Jusitce in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 24Massey and Tannen. “A Research Note on Trends in Black Hypersegregation.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 2202/22/2019Lincoln Journal Star. “Report: Blacks can Afford only one-third of Rental in Lincoln.”Kleman. “Crime is Even Lower in Diverse Immigrant Neighborhoods.” ContextsQuiz #2 Due02/25/2019Drotning. “Education Changes Neighborhood Segregation.” Contexts ()Ch. 6 in Racism without RacistsEducation02/27/2019Grant. “Black Females “Place” in Desegregated Classrooms” Soc. of Education03/01/2019Kumasi. “Critical Race Theory and Education: Mapping a Legacy of Activism and Scholarship.” Beyond Critique: Critical Social Theories and Education03/04/2019Ch. 7 from Racism without RacistsGallagher. “Ten Things You can Do to Improve Race Relations.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 51Employment03/06/2019Braverman. “Kristen v. Aisha; Brad v. Rasheed: What’s in a Name and How it Affects Getting a Job” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 31Waldinger. “When the Melting Pot Boils Over: The Irish, Jews, Blacks, and Koreans of New York.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 3203/08/2019del Rio, Coral, and Olga Alonso-Villar. 2015. “The Evolution of Occupational Segregation in the United States, 1940-2010: Gains and Losses of Gender-Race/Ethnicity Groups.” Demography 52:967-98803/11/2019Ch. 5 from Racism without RacistsSES/Wealth03/13/2019Shapiro, Meschede, and Osoro. “Transformative Assets, the Racial Wealth Gap, and the American Dream.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 7Newman and Ellis. “There’s No Shame in My Game”: Status and Stigma among Harlem’s Working Poor. Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 3303/15/2019Hunter. “Buying Racial Capital: Skin-Bleaching and Cosmetic Surgery in a Globalized World.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 14Lui et al. “Policy Steps toward Closing the Gap” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 50SPRING BREAK (03/16/2019-03/24/2019)03/25/2019Herring and Henderson. 2016. “Wealth Inequality in Black and White: Cultural and Structural Sources of the Racial Wealth Gap.” Race and Social ProblemsCriminal Justice03/27/2019Alexander. “The New Jim Crow.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 28Pager. “The Mark of the Criminal Record.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 30Book Review Due03/29/2019Tiger. “Race, class, and the framing of drug epidemics” Contexts ()Weitzer. “American Policing Under Fire: Misconduct and Reform.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 29Quiz #3 Due04/01/2019Chapter from “Locked Out” by Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen04/03/2019Kramer, Remster, and Charles. “Black Lives and Police Tactics Matter.” Contexts ()Ch. 11 in Racism without Racists04/05/2019EXAM #2Race, Social Movements, and Political ChangeBlack Liberation04/08/2019Eyes on the Prize (Part 2) - Discussion #204/10/2019Opening Statement of We Charge Genocide04/12/2019Eyes on the Prize (Part 8) - on the Prize (Part 12) - from “The Resistance: The Rise of the Anti-Trump Movement” by Doug McAdam04/17/2019 Chapter from “From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor White Supremacy and Right-Wing Movements04/19/2019History of the Ku Klux Klan (SPLC) - #4 Due04/22/2019Boutcher, Jenkins, and Van Dyke. 2016. “Strain, ethnic competition, and power devaluation: white supremacist protest in the U.S., 1948-1997.” Social Movement Studies04/24/2019Landrieu. “”Truth: Remarks on the Removal of Confederate Monuments in New Orleans.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 17.Blee and Yates. “The Place of Race in Conservative and Far Right Movements.” Rethinking the Color Line Ch. 1904/26/2019Ferber. “White Supremacists go to College: New Tactics, Same Old White Supremacy.” Mobilizing Ideas ()Yazdiha. “What the Alt-Right Tells us about the Strategic Uses of (Racial) Identity.” Mobilizing Ideas ()Group Discussion #3FINAL EXAM ................
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