Racial and Ethnic Relations/SOCY 240
Course Syllabus
Spring 2014
Prof. Tricarico
This course looks at race and ethnicity in modern American society, especially New York
City with its extensive and diverse experience of immigration. It relies on a perspective
that emphasizes the social construction of ethnicity and race in historical circumstances.
While racial and ethnic identities are not natural phenomena, they have real sociological
consequences for identity, culture, and social relations including the formation of groups.
Instructional Strategies
The course utilizes a mix of instructional methods. New material will be introduced in
lectures complemented by a variety of textual resources including video and the Internet;
readings assigned outside of class reinforce topics. Lecture topics are geared to research
projects. Projects are organized around questions that can be investigated using
sociological research methods like observation and interviews. A first draft will be
presented in class in a seminar format. Class presentations are intended to underscore key
teaching points. In this writing-intensive class, students have the opportunity to revise
this version and submit a second draft within one week of class presentations.
The course text is Ethnicity and Race 2d edition (2007) by S. Cornell and D. Hartmann
although the 1st edition is acceptable and can be purchased online at a considerable
saving. The book is an indispensable resource for the main themes of the course. It is
supplemented by readings and other material available on the Internet (see below).
Reading is essential for a higher level of understanding and must be incorporated into
written submissions for a maximum grade.
Student Evaluation
Research projects that result in written reports are the basis for a course grade. As many
as 6 projects are assigned which correspond to the topics in the course outline. Grades on
written reports are 80% of the course grade. The remaining 20% of the course grade is for
class participation. This component is measured by contributions to the whole group
learning experience and is based on oral presentations of the first draft. Engagement in
classroom work is negatively impacted by persistent lateness and intrusive personal
technology.
Attendance
Following college policy, students are allowed 6 hours of unaccounted absence.
Persistent lateness must be remedied (see above).
Contact
Office Hours: TBA in M121
Dtricarico@qcc.cuny.edu
Topic Outline

Common sense understandings of ethnicity and race: a baseline for scholarly
discussion
a) How does ethnicity and race matter in American society?
b) Why does ethnicity and race matter?
Read: Chapter 1 (Cornell and Hartmann)

Sociological definitions of ethnicity and race
a) Ethnicity as a belief in shared ancestry
b) Race as biology and a social category
c) Similarities of ethnicity and race
Read: Chapter 2

Theoretical perspectives
a) A social constructionist approach to ethnicity and race
b) Ethnicity and race as asserted and assigned identities
c) Ethnicity and race as categories within a society
Read: Chapter 4

The social significance of ethnicity and race
a) Macro-sociological patterns (e.g. police strategies and incarceration rates,
affirmative action in higher education, residential segregation and job
discrimination)
b) Micro-sociological patterns (e.g., interaction in public spaces, mate selection,
residential location).
Read: Chapters 5, 6, 7

A typology of intergroup relations
a) Accommodation
b) Alignment and mixing
c) Competition
d) Conflict
Read: Chapters 5, 6, 7

Assimilation
a) Definition, historical context, and major theoretical approaches
b) Dimensions of assimilation: process and sequence
c) Partial and Segmented assimilation: Race and Class
d) New ethnicities (e.g., Latinos)
e) Post-racial America?
Read: Chapters 3 and 8
Supplementary Readings:
Gordon, Milton 1964. Assimilation in American Life. New York: Oxford.
Portes, A. and Min Zhou. 1993. “The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation
and Its Variants”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 530
(November):74-97.
Tricarico, Donald 1984a. The Italians of Greenwich Village. Staten Island: Center for
Migration Studies
______ 1984b. “The ‘New’ Italian American Ethnicity” in The Journal of Ethnic
Studies (Spring):
______ 1991. “Guido: Fashioning an Italian American Youth Subculture” in The
Journal of Ethnic Studies (Spring):41-66.
______ 2001. “Read All About It! Representations of Italian Americans in the Print
Media in Response to the Bensonhurst Racial Killing” in Notable Selections in Race and
Ethnicity, edited by A.A. Aguirre and D.V. Baker: 291-319.
_____ 2008. “Dressing Italian Americans for the Spectacle: What Difference Does Guido
Perform?”, The Men’s Fashion Reader, edited by A. Reilly and S. Cosbey, New York:
Fairchild:265-278.
2010. “Narrating Guido: Contested Meanings of an Italian American
Youth Subculture” in W.J. Connell and F. Gardarphe, eds., Anti-Italianism:
Essays on Prejudice (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), 163-199.
Waters, Mary 1990. Ethnic Options. Berkeley: U. of California Press
Video Used in Class
“Farmingville” (DVD)
“Carrier” (PBS): “Divisions” (Episode 4, Chapter 3)
Race: Not Biological (Youtube)
The Amish of Ohio (PBS/Youtube)
“Italian Americans: Our Contributions” (Youtube)
“African American Lives”, I and II (PBS)
Interview with Elijah Anderson on “Cosmopolitan Canopy” (FOX Philly web
site, 12 May 2011)
8) “Magic and Bird” (ESPN/Youtube)
9) “My American Girls” (DVD)
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Project 1: Definitions
Discuss the concepts of ethnicity and race that have social scientific rigor. Rely on
Cornell and Hartmann, class notes, and support materials like the video “Race: Not
Biological”. Directly address the following points:
• What definitions of ethnicity have merit for the authors? What is their view?
• How is race a construct that is both “biological” and “social”?
• What are the commonalities and differences between ethnicity and race?
Project 2: Finding Ethnicity in Your Everyday Life
For this project, you will pair up with another student in class to conduct an interview.
Interview questions are provided below. Your paper is based on responses to questions
put to you during the interview. The interview is intended to find how ethnicity can
matter in the social world. Take into account identities referenced to nationality, religion,
and race. Also note “new ethnicities” like Latino, Caribbean, and Asian. Focus on:
•
•
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The family and especially parents, grandparents, and the wider kinship group
Friends and the peer group
Dating and marriage partners
Community including the neighborhood
1.
To what extent is ethnic identity explicitly or consciously invoked to define these
relationships?
To what extent is ethnicity implicit and taken-for-granted in these worlds?
How does ethnicity matter in these relationships or groups? Consider the role of
ethnicity a) as a credential of membership or social boundary; b) as a source of
2.
3.
4.
5.
cultural content (i.e., a script referenced to a heritage), and; c) claims of invidious
status (i.e., that one group is “better” than or superior to another in things that
matter).
To what extent does ethnicity matter less or become unimportant when measured
against your parents’ and grandparents’ generation?
In conclusion, assess how important is ethnicity in the overall scheme that is your
life by comparing it to other identities that you hold.