English 1200
Ethnic Studies Focus
Professional Workshop
Tuesday, Nov 9
3:30-4:30
Bate 2021
Wednesday, Nov 10
4:00-5:00
Bate 2017
Joyce Irene Middleton
Carla Pastor
Gera Miles
English 1200 Ethnic Studies Focus
In this section of ENGL 1200, the class will explore what it means to
be ‘ethnic’ in America, and there are many readings in the
course textbook that will help students to read, write, and
conduct research on ethnic studies. We will look at what place
ethnicity occupies in American culture by reading EthnicAmerican writing, research, and films.
Diversity and Ethnic Studies
• ECU defines diversity in a broad
context to include representation,
integration and interaction of
different races, genders, ages,
ethnicities, cultures, national
origins, abilities, religions, sexual
orientations, gender identity,
veteran statues, socioeconomic
status, intellectual positions and
perspectives.
The university considers diversity, the opportunities afforded
by a diverse environment, and the authentic interaction
among people from various backgrounds and persuasions
to be essential elements in achieving excellence in
academia.
A proposal to focus on ethnic studies in an
ENGL 1200 course helps to promote and
implement ECU’s initiatives and strategies
on diversity.
Course Outcome Goals
• Formulate significant, analytical research questions
about ethnic studies
• Develop a strong research proposal on a variety of
subjects in ethnic studies
• Write rhetorical analyses of research essays and
visual texts in ethnic studies
• Think critically and rhetorically about ethnicity in
essays, literature, and film
• Question the varied relationships between images
and writing in ethnic studies
Course Outcome Goals cont.
• Apply research and writing to problem-solving in
ethnic studies
• Convey results in research, to a variety of audiences,
about your new learning in ethnic studies and writing
• Familiarize writers with research on race, ethnicity,
and diversity
Course Outcome Goals cont.
• Establish work plans and timelines for research and
writing assignments
• Locate and evaluate a variety of sources, including
field-based, print, and electronic sources; this activity
will also include a library instruction class
• Organize source materials, write abstracts, and
bibliographies
• Integrate outside source materials into writing; using
quotations properly
• Cite sources accurately and responsibly in order to
avoid plagiarism
Suggested Reading List
Sherman Alexie. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Danielle Allen. Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board
of Education
Fantasia Barrio. Life Is Not a Fairy Tale
Douglas Blackmon. Slavery by Another Name
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the
Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States
Susan Bordo. Twilight Zones: the Hidden Life of Cultural Images from Plato
to O.J.
Suggested Reading List
Adam Bradley. Book of Rhymes: the Poetics of Hip Hop
Elaine Chaika. “Kinesics: the Silent Language” in Language: the Social
Mirror
Jack Chung. “Chris Rock and the Burden of Laughter” in Everything’s an
Argument: with Readings
Ian Lopez, White by Law 10th Anniversary Edition: the Legal Construction of
Race
Toni Morrison. “Recitatif”
Toni Morrison. The Bluest Eye
Jill Nelmes, ed. "Ethnicity, Race, and Cinema—African American Film" in
Introduction to Film Studies
Suggested Reading List
PBS Frontline Video: Race: the Power of an Illusion (parts 1, 2, and 3)
Richard Rodriguez. Brown: the Last Discovery of America
Richard Rodriguez. Hunger of Memory
David R. Roediger, ed. Black on White: Black Writers on What It Means to Be
White
David R. Roediger. “How Race Survived U.S. History: from Settlement and
Slavery to the Obama Phenomenon.”
Suggested Reading List
Tricia Rose. The Hip Hop Wars
T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting. Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young
Black Women
Ronald Takaki. A Different Mirror: a History of Multicultural America
Beverly Tatum. Why Do All of the Black Kids Sit Together in the Cafeteria?
Bonnie Tsui. American Chinatown: a People’s History of Five Neighborhoods
Tim Tyson. Blood Done Sign My Name
Rebecca Walker. Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self
Frank H. Wu. Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White
Philip Q. Yang. Ethnic Studies: Issues and Approaches
TWO APPROACHES TO ENGL 1200
THAT FOCUS ON ETHNIC STUDIES
I Carla’s Approach
II
Gera’s Approach
Carla’s Approach
Approach I
Project 1: Diversity and Cultural Identity
Interview/Observation Study
• This project briefly introduces you to methods of field
research and writing that are used in a variety of areas,
including the social sciences, business, marketing, and
education. It also asks you to focus careful, critical attention
to ethnic diversity on ECU’s campus. You will attend at least
two activities hosted by a cultural organization that you are
not a member of. Once there, you will observe and document
the rituals, values, and communication styles of the members
of that organization.
Project 1: cont.
You may attend an activity hosted by any of the
following student organizations, or you may choose
a different on-campus student organization
approved by me:
ECU Student Organizations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Style of Motion (Break Dancing Group)
Black Students Union (BSU)
Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA)
East Carolina Universities African Students' Organization
(ECU ASO)
Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Student Union
(GLBTSU)
German Club (DE Club)
Hmong Students Association (HSA)
Japan league (JL)
Phi Sigma Iota: National Foreign Language Honor Society
(Phi Sigma Iota)
ECU Student Organizations cont.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Student Association of Latino Spanish Affairs (S.A.L.S.A.)
The French Club (French Club)
The Spanish Club (Spanish Club)
ECU Swing Dance Club
Pagan Student Association ECU PSA
Greater Works Campus Ministry
ECU Campus Ministry International ECU CMI
ECU College Republicans
Project 2: Historical Context and
Significance Project
Select two items from the North
Carolina Collection that discuss race
and racial relations in North Carolina.
One item must be at least 50 years
old and the other written within the
last 5 years. The items can be taken
from the popular media or academic
field, but both must be from a similar
media form.
Project 2: Historical Context and
Significance Project cont.
Write an article about these items for inclusion in
an educator’s guide to the library’s resources for
the study of racial relations in North Carolina. In
other words, you should imagine that the audience
for this guide are educated professionals (teachers,
school administrators or educational policy
makers) who are interested in locating resources
to further their students’ understanding of past
and current racial relations in North Carolina.
This article should be 1200+ words, should
include a visual, and should explain the items and
their significance in understanding racial relations
in North Carolina.
Project 3: Majority and Minority
Culture in the Media Project
Investigate how the media portray majority
cultures in relation to minority cultures in
advertising, news industries, films, and
video games. Look at stereotyping. Write
an informative article for the The Daily
Reflector informing their readers about
your findings. Your letter should be
approximately 1200 words.
OR….
Project 3: Majority and Minority
Culture in the Media Project cont.
Write an issue-based argument that supports
or opposes the portrayal of majority
cultures in relation to minority culture in
advertising, news industries, films, or video
games. Write an article for the The Daily
Reflector informing their readers about your
findings. Your letter should be
approximately 1200 words.
Project 4: Proposal Letter about Diversity on
ECU’s Campus
Write a formal letter to ECU’s Chancellor with a proposal
to improve diversity on campus. This proposal should
integrate at least 5 secondary sources and should reflect
your understanding of diversity from your research, class
readings, and class discussions. Your letter should indicate
that you are aware of other ECU initiatives to improve
diversity on both of the campuses, but must focus on your
specific plans to improve ECU’s diversity initiatives. Your
letter should be approximately 1200 words.
Gera’s Approach
Approach II
• Associated Topic Paper Progression
• Explain a Concept
(define it)
• Argument
(take a position on it)
• Propose a Solution
• (fix it)
• Goal: Student is an expert on their chosen subject by
the end of the semester
A Pool of Possible Topics
• Student paper topics will be limited to concepts
important to Ethnic Studies
• Topics outside the suggested list must be
pre-approved by the instructor
Ideas for Students focused on the American Landscape: Race & Ethnicity
RACE
Racial Aesthetics (Skin bleaching, Eyelid and Nose surgery)
Racial imagery in American Comics/Cartoons/Race-building Propaganda
Images of Enmity in War Propaganda
Race-based medicine
Racial “types” in American Movies and their presentation
ETHNICITY
Ethnic cleansing
5th column
Ethnogenesis
Hispanic paradox (Hispanic Epidemiological Paradox and Latino Epidemiological
Paradox)
Physiognomy
Ideas for Students focused on the American Landscape
CULTURE
Jim Crow
Passing
Whiteness
Gang culture
Profiling
Primitivism of the Native
Americanization/Assimilation
Colonial Mentality
RELIGION
Creationism
Evolutionism
Judaism (Race, Religion, or Ethnicity?)
Anglo-Saxon Protestantism
Rhetoric and Ethnic Studies Research
Progressive Increase in Writing and Research Difficulty from
the Concept Paper to the Solution Paper
Reading Assignments Mirror the Rhetorical Style of the Paper
Being Written by the Student
Example of Paper Topic Progression
• CONCEPT DEFINE/ANALYZE/PROCESS: Skin Bleaching (Could be Scientific,
Social, or Cultural)
• ARGUMENT POSITION: Dying to be White: The Harmful Effects of
Skin Bleaching in Jamaican Society
SPECULATIVE: Light is Beautiful: Reasons for the
Aesthetic Privileging of Light Skin in
East Asian Culture
• SOLUTION PROPOSE A SOLUTION: Skin Bleaching Awareness: Raising SelfEsteem Among Victims of a
“Colonial Mentality”
Alternatives to Skin Bleaching (Natural
Skin Whitening)
Textbook
American Voices: Culture and Community, 6th Edition
(And, most likely, the last edition)
Suggested Readings for Concept Paper
Jorge R. Mancillas, Bilingualism: Assimilation is More than ABCs
Anna Quindlen, The Mosaic Vs the Myth
Miriam Schulman, Affirmative Action or Negative Action
Suggested Readings for Argument Paper
Fox Butterfield, Why They Excel
Linda M. Hasselstrom, A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun
Cynthias Tucker, Double Standard on Drug Sentences
Suggested Readings for Solution Paper
Katherine S. Newman, Dead-End Jobs: A Way Out
Patrick O’Malley, More Testing, More Learning
Nicholas G. Jenkins and Amit Rind, National ID Cards Would Be the
Dragnet We Need
Ethnic Studies Film Series
The main goals of the film series are to:
• Encourage linguistic and cultural
exchange at ECU
• Present different views on current world events
• Promote global diversity on campus, ethnic
studies, and intergroup dialogues
• Support the international community at ECU
• Enjoy seeing films from around the world
• Think about representations of ethnicity in
popular films
Admission is FREE!
All students, faculty, staff, and
friends are welcome.
EXTRA CREDIT MAY BE
OFFERED
for STUDENTS in ETHN studies
classes who come to each of
these film screenings and then
write about their responses to
the film focusing on themes of
ethnicity.