Professor Alison Lefkovitz Office Hours: MR 4:00-5:30 and by
Email alison.lefkovitz@njit.edu
Class Time: MR 2:30-3:55
Class Location: CULM 110 appointment
Office Hours Location: CULM 327
This course will examine what historians have been identifying as the civil rights revolution—the moment in the twentieth century when a host of interest groups began pursuing rights through the court system. We will begin by examining
African Americans’ campaign to gain civil rights through the courts and how political action supported and sometimes even exceeded this process. We will then examine how African Americans’ success inspired other groups—including women,
Chicanos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, gay men, lesbians, prisoners, the disabled, and others—to pursue their rights in courts as well. From there we will shift into examining the limits to the rights revolution—what it was not possible to gain through the courts or how opposition to the revolution thwarted these goals.
All these readings will serve as preparation for you to compose your own research paper on the rights revolution by the end of the semester. In this paper, you will be expected to do significant primary and secondary research, to synthesize these sources into a coherent argument well supported by evidence, and to present this material to your classmates. Finally you will reflect on their work as well.
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Code of Conduct:
--Though I hope we disagree on many different issues, I expect you to treat the class, your fellow students, and me with respect at all times.
--No cell phones, no texting, no gchatting, no facebook, etc. If students cannot conduct themselves without disruption, I will disallow computers in the classroom.
Anyone who wishes to use a laptop must sit in the front row of the classroom.
--Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable. You will be required to pass a quiz to show your knowledge of academic dishonesty before you will be allowed to turn in any other work. You will be submitting all written work via turnitin. For further information on academic dishonesty and the policy I will follow if I discover any problems, see: http://www.njit.edu/academics/pdf/academic-integrity-code.pdf
Learning Outcomes:
The Learning Outcomes for this course are as follows: a) track the changes and continuities in the American legal system related to the civil rights revolution in class discussion and written assignments b) identify how these changes came to pass in class discussion and written assignments c) demonstrate information literacy through the use of appropriate source material, original research, and the ability to cite properly d) assess interpretive approaches and biases in secondary sources e) write a research essay with an original argument using primary and secondary sources
The following assignments will gauge students’ success with these learning outcomes:
--Faithful attendance and active participation in class discussion. This includes discussing class readings and reflecting on your peers’ work. If you miss more than
4 classes for any reason, you will receive no more than 100 points in this category.
You will also need to actively participate to get points in this category. (200 points)
--Annotated bibliography worksheet. This bibliography should list 8 different primary and secondary sources in the categories I designate. A short paragraph should describe each source. (150 points)
--Prospectus. Prepare a 3-4 page prospectus of your project. Highlight your research problem, rationale, the type of evidence you will draw on as well as the methods you will use to analyze your data. Pay particular attention to the “so what” question or the relevance of your work. Explain how you plan to organize or structure your project. You’ll present the prospectus to the class so everyone has the opportunity to offer and receive feedback from your colleagues. (150 points)
--Rough draft. This draft should be at least 10 pages to allow me to help you with the final version of your paper. It should include an introduction (based on your
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proposal 25 points), an argument (italicized in your introduction 25 points), at least some of your evidence (25 points), and footnotes in the Chicago Manual of Style formatting (25 points). (100 points)
--Feedback on a classmate’s rough draft. I will assign you a partner, and you will provide the partner an oral and written assessment of their draft so far. You will suggest at least: one strength of the draft, one thing he or she should change and why, and one new primary or secondary source. You will turn in the written version to both myself and your partner. (50 points)
--Final Paper. The purpose of the previous assignments is to prepare you to write the final research paper. You have TWO options for the final project. (350 points)
*The first option is a traditional research paper, 14-16 pages. Paper topics should deal with some element of the civil rights revolution and the law and make use of primary and secondary sources.
*The second option is a shorter research paper, 8-10 pages. Paper topics should still deal with some element of the civil rights revolution and make use of primary and secondary sources. But you are also required to collaborate with another student to create a 20-25 minute podcast on your own research. The two students should have different topics but tie them together in some way. BackStory can be a guide but is not required.
Readings:
Most readings will be available on moodle. The following required text will be available at the bookstore for purchase. It is also available on reserve at the library:
--Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: Dial Press, 1968).
I reserve the right to make any changes to the syllabus that I deem necessary.
1. Introduction
Thursday, January 22
Introduction
2. The First Civil Rights Movement
Monday, January 26
--Mark Tushnet, “The Rights Revolution in the Twentieth Century” in Michael
Grossberg and Christopher Tomlins, eds., The Cambridge History of Law in America,
Volume 3 (Cambridge University Press, 2008).
Thursday, January 29
--Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
2. Civil Rights Victories in the 1950s
Monday, February 2
--Mary Dudziak, “Brown as a Cold War Case,” Journal of American History (June
2004), 32-42.
--Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
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Thursday, February 5
--Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, part 2.
TOPICS DUE
3. The Civil Rights Movement Begins
Monday, February 9
--Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, part 3.
Thursday, February 12
--Listen to BackStory: The Civil Rights Act of 1964
4. Victory and Backlash
Monday, February 16
ARCHIVE VISIT OFF CAMPUS
Thursday, February 19
--Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, part 4.
5. Race in the North
Monday, February 23
--Kevin Mumford, Newark: A History of Race, Rights, and Riots in America, chapters 6.
Thursday, February 26
--Excerpts from the Kerner Report
6. Individual Meeting Week
Monday, March 2
--Required Individual Meetings Session 1
Thursday, March 5
--Required Individual Meetings Session 2
7. The Women’s Rights Movement
Monday, March 9
--Serena Mayeri, Reasoning from Race, intro and chapter 1.
Thursday, March 12
--Reed v. Reed (1971)
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
8. SPRING BREAK
9. The Chicano and Asian-American Rights Movement
Monday, March 23
--Hernandez v. Texas (1947)
Thursday, March 26
--American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs excerpt
PROPROSALS DUE
10. The American Indian and Puerto Rican Rights Movement
Monday, March 30
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--Daniel M. Cobb, “’Us Indians Understand the Basics’: Oklahoma Indians and the
Politics of Community Action, 1964-1970,” Western Historical Quarterly 33 (Spring
2002), 41-66.
Thursday, April 2
--Interview with Jose “Cha Cha” Jimenez, “The Young Lords, Puerto Rican Liberation, and the Black Freedom Struggle,” OAH Magazine of History (Vol 26), 61-64.
11. Gay Rights and Rights for the Disabled
Monday, April 6
--Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
Thursday, April 9
--Lindsey Patterson, “Points of Access: Rehabilitation Centers, Summer Camps, and
Student Life in the Making of Disability Activism,” Journal of Social History (Winter
2012), 473-499.
12. Writing Week
Monday, April 13
In-Class Writing Day
Thursday, April 16
In-Class Writing Day
ROUGH DRAFT DUE TO MOODLE AND YOUR PARTNER
13. Education Rights
Monday, April 20
--Lau v. Nichols (1974)
--Milliken v. Bradley (1974)
Thursday, April 23
--In-class screening of sections of Hoop Dreams
PEER REVIEW DUE
14. Presentations
Monday, April 27
Presentations
Thursday, April 30
Presentations
15. Presentations
Monday, May 5
Presentations
16. Final Exam Week
FINAL PAPER DUE
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