CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA
ACADEMIC SENATE
GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE
REPORT TO
THE ACADEMIC SENATE
GE-006-089
EWS 301 – Ethnic Identity
(GE Areas C4/D4)
General Education Committee
Date: 7/9/09
Executive Committee
Received and Forwarded
Date: 7/15/09
Academic Senate
Date: 9/30/09
First Reading
10/21/09
Second Reading
BACKGROUND:
Ethnic Identity will allow students to integrate and focus fundamental concepts and
issues learned in lower division social sciences and humanities courses and apply them
to the understanding of specific ethnic identity formations in the United States. This
course is ideally suited for GE students to understand the complexity of ethnic identity
formation and work for effective solutions in addressing issues affecting ethnic groups.
RESOURCES CONSULTED:
Gilbert R. Cadena and other faculty from EWS Department including Dr. Jocelyn
Pacleb, Dr. Patricia de Freitas, and Dr. Gary Kinsey, Dr. Claudia Pinter-Lucke
RECOMMENDATION:
The General Education Committee believed that the class meets the criteria for a GE
Synthesis class and that it contains a significant and meaningful writing component and
voted unanimously to recommend GE-006-089, EWS 301, Ethnic Identity (GE Areas
C4/D4) class.
EWS 301–Ethnic Identity
G.E. INTERDISCIPLINARY SYNTHESIS (SATISFIES AREA C4 or D4)
PREPARED BY: Dr. Jocelyn A. Pacleb
DATE PREPARED: NOVEMBER 12, 2007
DATE REVISED: MARCH 2, 2009
EXPANDED COURSE OUTLINE
I.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
EWS 301 Ethnic Identity (4 Units).
An interdisciplinary approach to the retention, loss, and reshaping of ethnic identities.
Particular attention to historical and current forces shaping ethnic identities including but
not limited to: immigration, diaspora, family, gender, sexuality, ethnic communities,
labor, youth culture, and cultural expressions. 2 two-hour lecture and discussion.
Prerequisites: Completion of courses in Areas A, C, sub-areas 1, 2, & 3, and D, sub-areas
1, 2, & 3. C-Classification – C2
II.
REQUIRED BACKGROUND OR EXPERIENCE
Completion of courses in GE Area A, C (1, 2, & 3) and D (1, 2, & 3). Good academic
standing.
III.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
A. This course affords students the opportunity to integrate and focus fundamental
concepts and issues learned in lower division social sciences and humanities courses
and apply them to the understanding of specific ethnic identity formations in the
United States. This approach is ideally suited for GE students as it provides them
with the knowledge necessary to both understand the complexity of ethnic identity
formation and work for effective solutions in addressing issues affecting ethnic
groups.
B. By completing the requirement of the course satisfactorily, students will achieve the
following outcomes:
1. Students will develop an enhanced ability to apply knowledge and understanding
acquired from lower-division course-work in the area to the advanced study of ethnic
identity formations.
2. Students will develop an enhanced ability to appreciate the implications of knowledge
through an interdisciplinary perspective in which relationships between one area of
study and another area provide perspectives on ethnic identity formations.
3. Students will develop higher-order cognitive skills by reviewing and re-emphasizing
the crucial historical developments within the Humanities to appreciate the
significance of major literary, philosophic, and artistic work on and by ethnic groups.
4. Students will develop higher-order cognitive skills by applying the basic knowledge
and understanding acquired in the lower division courses to the advanced study of
one or more specific area, or to a broad cross-cultural and historical analysis of one of
the Social Sciences.
5. Students will demonstrate an understanding of how social construction shapes notions
of “dominant” and “non-dominant” culture and how specific ethnic groups have
reshaped and/or reasserted their own expressions of ethnic identity and culture in
historical and current times.
6. Students will be able to identify and analyze how ethnic identities are shaped by
historical and current macro and micro forces such as U.S international relationships,
immigration, institutions (family, education, the state, etc.), transnationalism,
globalization, etc.
7. Students will be able to identify key issues confronting an ethnic group and analyze
the interplay of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, and nationality in the
formation of ethnic identities.
8. Students will sharpen critical thinking, writing, and oral presentation skills by
pursuing an in-depth analysis of the cultural, economic, social, and political aspects
of ethnic identity formations.
IV.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Text Books:
Cornell, Stephen E. and Douglas Hartmann. Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in
a Changing World. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Pine Forge Press (1997).
This textbook on ethnic identity formation meets the educational objectives for Social
Science Area D, enabling student to critically evaluate different approaches to
studying and changing social behavior. This required text also meets the Humanities
synthesis educational objectives, specifically, requiring students to apply analytical
thinking to discern internal structures and patterns, recognize problems, and analyze
value structures. Readings from this text will be used as a foundation for material in
the course outline weeks 1-10.
Additional Recommended Bibliography:
1. Alba, Richard D. and Victor Nee. Remaking the American Mainstream:
Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press (2005).
2. Bonus, Rick. Locating Filipino Americans: Ethnicity & the Cultural Politics of
Space. Philadelphia: Temple University Press (2000).
3. Dinnerstein, Leonard and David Reimers. Ethnic American: A History of
Immigration and Assimilation. New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row (1982).
4. Espiritu, Yen Le. Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and
Identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press (1992).
5. Garroutte, Eva Marie. Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America.
Berkeley: University of California Press (2003).
6. Gracia, Jorge J. E., ed. Race or Ethnicity?: On Black and Latino Identity. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press (2007).
7. Grounds, Richard A., George E. Tinker, and David El Wilkins, eds. Native
Voices: American Indian Identity and Resistance. Lawrence, Kan.: University of
Press Kansas (2003).
8. Halualani, Rona Tamiko. In the Name of Hawaiians: Native Identities and
Cultural Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (2002).
9. Lee, Jennifer and Min Zhou, eds. Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity, and
Ethnicity. New York: Routledge, (2004).
10. Leonard, Karen Isaksen. Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican
Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press (1994).
11. Maira, Sunaina Marr. Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New
York City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press (2002).
12. Mohanty, Satya P., Linda Martin Alcoff, Michael Hames-Garcia, and Paula M. L.
Moya, eds. Identity Politics Reconsidered. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
(2006).
13. Philip, Cheri. Asian American Identities: Racial and Ethnic Identity Issues in the
Twenty-First Century. Youngstown, N.Y.: Cambria Press (2007).
14. Rumbaut, Rubén G. and Alejandro Portes. Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in
America. Berkeley: University of California Press (2001).
15. Sánchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity
in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945. New York: Oxford University Press (1993).
16. Song, Miri. Choosing Ethnic Identity. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity (2003).
17. Sowell, Thomas. Ethnic America: A History. New York: Basic Books (1981).
18. Spickard, Paul R., Joanne L. Rondilla, and Debbie Hippolite Wright, eds. Pacific
Diaspora: Island Peoples in the United States and Across the Pacific. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press (2002).
19. Steinberg, Stephen. The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in America.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2001.
20. Ty, Eleanor and Donald C. Goellnicht. Asian North American Identities: Beyond
the Hyphen. Bloomington: Indiana University Press (2004).
21. Waters, Mary C. Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America. Berkeley:
University of California Press (1990).
V.
MINIMUM STUDENT MATERIALS
Assigned text books, readings, note paper, pen, pencil, and other common student
materials. Use of computer with software for multimedia group presentations.
VI.
MINIMUM COLLEGE FACILITIES
Classroom designed for lecture format and breakout groups. Access to VCR/DVD equipment and
projector (smart classroom preferable).
VII.
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Theoretical Perspectives on Ethnic Identity and Cultural Formations
a. Theories on Race and Ethnicity
b. Alternative Views of Ethnicity: Primordialism and Circumstantialism
c. Social Construction
2. Diaspora and Immigration
a. Global Economic Restructuring, U.S. Colonialism, and Imperialism
b. Immigrant Labor Migration and Restrictive Immigration Laws
c. Relationships between “Settlers” and Indigenous Groups in North
America
3. Transnational Identities
a. Gendered Migrations
b. Remittances and Split-Households
c. Family Reunification
4. Institutionalized Discrimination and Identity
a. Segregated Ethnic Communities
b. Ethnic Enclaves
c. Housing Covenants
5. Gender and Ethnic Identity
a. Transforming Gender Roles and Identities
b. Men’s Work and Identity
c. Women’s Work and Identity
6. Ethnic Identity Transformations
a. Historical and Current U.S. International Relations
b. Nationality
c. Transnational Identities
7. Emergent Ethnic Identities and Cultural Formations
a. Youth Culture
b. Class Identities
c. LGBT Identities
8. Ascribed Ethnic Identities
a. Interethnic tensions
b. Intraethnic tensions
c. Power and Inequalities
9. Performance of Ethnic Identity
a. Art
b. Literature
c. Music
d. Theatre
10. Identity and Culture as Forms of Resistance
a. Cultural Nationalism
b. Identity Politics
c. Social Movements
VIII. INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
Integration of lectures, small and large group discussions, group and individual projects,
independent library and on-line research, reading, guest speakers, films.
IX.
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT
A. Evaluation of Outcomes:
1.
Course Requirements:
 Class Attendance and Participation: 10%
 Bi-weekly Discussion Assignment based on Readings: 15%
 Midterm Exam: 20%
 Group Project Presentations: 25%
 Final Paper: 30%
2.
All assignments will be required to incorporate required readings to
demonstrate their understanding of class content and materials
B. Assessment of Learning Outcomes
1.
Content analysis of papers and projects
2.
Questionnaire to determine if stated educational outcomes were met
including:
 In what ways did this course draw upon one or more fields in the
social sciences as covered in lower division courses?
 To what extent did this course provide a deeper understanding of a
particular area in the social sciences?
 To what extent did the course provide the ability to apply concepts
from the social sciences to different problems and situations?
 To what extent did this course promote critical thinking, problem
solving and reasoning skills?
3.
Data gathered will be used both to revisit educational objectives and
revise course as appropriate.