Sociology 113: Multicultural America
4:30 – 5:45 p.m.
TTh 3718 HBLL
Fall 2011
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Phone:
Email:
Andrea Hardeman
JFSB 2173
10:00 – 10:50 a.m. T
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Th
And by appointment
422-1453
professorhardeman@gmail.com
Teaching Assistant
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Marcus Hicks
SWKT 172
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. MTWThF
mrdorkisfig@gmail.com
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Understanding Diversity: An Introduction to Class, Race, Gender & Sexual Orientation, by Fred
L. Pincus: Lynne Rienner Publishers (2006)
A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, by Ronald Takaki: Little, Brown and
Company (2008, revised edition). [$12.23 on Amazon]
COURSE OUTLINE:
1) Course Description: This course is designed as an introduction to issues of diversity and the
various ethnic and racial groups that make up a multicultural America. In order to
understand what it means to live in a multicultural nation, the first third (roughly) of the class
will cover the basic concepts of diversity to give us a common understanding of the ways that
we can think about and discuss diversity in the United States. We will spend the second third
of the class looking at the history of our multicultural nation; it is essential that we
understand the past as many of the current issues that we confront directly relate to what
happened in the past. Finally, the latter third of the class will focus on the newer trend of
multiracialization in the United States. Segments of the multiracial population include
transracial adoption and interracial marriage; this population is growing fast and is changing
the ethnic and racial makeup of our society. We will also discuss immigration, as well as race
issues in the LDS Church.
2) Focus of the Course: The focus of this course is not so much on facts about multicultural
America (although that will certainly be important for grounding our discussion in a
historical and social context), but rather on sociological thinking. My goal is to get you to
think about how the things we learn in class not only affect your own lives now, but also how
it will affect your lives in the future.
3) My Teaching Philosophy: Instead of emphasizing what is taught, and how it is taught,
emphasis will be placed on student learning. In other words, the most important aspect of
teaching is what the students will learn and what students need to do to achieve significant
learning. I see my role in the classroom as more of a facilitator or discussion leader than a
lecturer.
4) Learning Objectives: This class fulfills the Global and Cultural Awareness requirement.
“Since one of the aims of a BYU education is to enlarge the intellect through exposure to ‘the
broad areas of human knowledge,’ awareness of others, in particular traditions and cultures
outside one’s own, is an important and necessary part of a student’s education. The Global
and Cultural Awareness component is founded upon the Lord’s injunction for us to ‘become
acquainted with…languages, tongues, and people’ (D&C 90:15)…Inherent in the notion of
global and cultural awareness is the perspective that we are all spiritual offspring of the same
God, that in addition to our common humanity we also possess a nascent divinity….
Furthermore, seeing the world through others’ eyes helps students gain empathy and charity
toward diverse cultures.”
Each course at BYU has a set of expected student learning outcomes. The outcomes
emphasized in this class are as follows:



Students will acquire informed awareness of either a) a culture outside their own, or
b) the interplay of cultures, languages, and/or nations.
Students will experience thoughtful reflection on the above, as demonstrated in a
structured, guided manner. Evidence of reflection implies written or spoken analysis
that will include a consideration of the student’s own responses to the culture or
global issue, often involving comparison, and will demonstrate informed awareness.
Students will develop greater empathy and charity, and begin to gain a global
perspective, by learning to see themselves from another’s point of view.
5) University Statement on Fostering an Enriched Environment: “The Mission of Brigham
Young University – founded, supported, and guided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints – is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. That
assistance should provide a period of intensive learning in a stimulating setting where a
commitment to excellence is expected and the full realization of human potential is pursued.
To this end, the University seeks qualified students of various talents and backgrounds,
including geographic, educational, cultural, ethnic, and racial, who relate together in such a
manner that they are ‘no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God.’ It is the University’s judgment that providing educational
opportunities for a mix of students who share values based on the gospel of Jesus Christ and
come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences is an important educational asset to
BYU.”
6) Office Visit: To help me put names to faces, I ask that each student come by my office for a
brief office visit before the first exam. It will only take a few minutes of your time. You can
come and discuss your expectations for the class, concerns you have about assignments, etc.
7) Grades: There will be four components of your course grade. Participation in class – 20%,
exams – 30%, town meetings – 25%, and the MMA papers – 25%.
Participation in Class
Reaction papers
Reading guides
Throughout the Term
3 Papers are Required
Periodically
20%
(10%)
(10%)
Exams
3 Exams in the Term
Week 6 (1st book)
Week 10 (2nd book)
December 13th 5:45-7:45p
30%
(10%)
(10%)
(10%)
2nd Half of Course
Due at Town Meeting
At Town Meeting
For 5 Town Meetings
25%
(15%)
(5%)
(5%)
Exam #1
Exam #2
Exam #3
Town meetings
Paper
Presentation
Participation
My Multicultural America Throughout the Term
25%
nd
Paper Part I
Due Week 4 (Sep. 22 )
(5%)
Paper Part II
Due Week 14 (Dec. 1st)
(20%)
___________________________________________________________
TOTAL
100%
Final Grade Calculations
A = 93-100
C = 73-75
A- = 89-92
C- = 70-72
B+ = 86-88
D+ = 67-69
B = 82-85
D = 63-66
B- = 79-81
D- = 62 and lower
C+ = 76-78
8) Participation in Class: You will be expected to participate in class, especially given the fact
that the success of this class is largely determined by the quality of discussion that is
generated during class. The class will be much more rewarding if we have everyone
discussing the readings and sharing their ideas. In order to accomplish this, I have assigned
reaction papers and reading guides as incentive to complete the reading before class starts. I
have consciously eliminated as much reading as possible to make the reading load reasonable.
Some weeks will be lighter than others, so use those weeks to get ahead.
9) Reaction Papers: You will be required to write three 1-2 page (double-spaced) reaction
papers throughout the term. There are three different sources you must access in order to
write your reaction paper:
1. Class films
2. Local cultural events
3. Guest lecturers
Each reaction paper MUST cover one of the above topics. By the end of the semester, you
will have written a reaction paper on each of the three topics listed above. Local cultural
events include plays, dance performances, ethnic minority club meetings (e.g. Black Student
Union and Musokai Karate). You can find information about club meeting times at
http://clubs.byu.edu. I am not concerned about the format or the writing style of the paper; I
am more concerned about the content of the writing and how much thought went into the
paper. With that said, you still need to proof read your paper and use correct grammar. Your
reaction papers should NOT be a mere summary, but rather demonstrate that you can apply
class principles to real life experiences. The deadlines for the reaction papers are listed on the
syllabus. I will not accept late papers so plan ahead and get them done early. One final note,
you will be given full credit for turning in reaction papers (as long as they are the appropriate
length and well thought out). If your reaction paper is not well thought out, you will not
receive full credit. Remember that these papers are worth 10% of your final grade (for
example, if you have a B but don’t turn in any reaction papers, your grade for the course will
drop to a C).
10) Reading Guides: Reading guides are short 1-page guides that have several questions for the
particular reading we will be covering in class. All of the reading guides will be located on
Blackboard well before the assigned class reading. You will need to download the reading
guide, fill it out, and bring it to class before the assigned reading. I will then periodically
collect these reading guides and grade them. I reserve the right to collect reading guides
throughout the semester as often as I feel necessary. The more I feel that people are not
doing the readings the more inclined I will be to collect the reading guides. The guides will
cover the main points from the assigned reading for that day. The idea is not to make your
life miserable, but to make sure everyone is keeping up with the reading, which will allow us
to move away from lectures on the reading material and spend our valuable time discussing
the readings as a class. In addition, the reading guides will serve as study guides for the
exam. These reading guides will be incorporated into your participation percentage and will
count for 10% of your final grade. You must be present to hand in the reading guides.
Because there will be no make-up reading guides (unless it is a planned absence or an
emergency), I will drop one or two of your lowest scores on the reading guides.
11) Exams: Exam 1 will cover the first book and all class material we have covered up until that
point. Exam 2 will cover the second book, as well as the class material we have covered up
until that point. All of the questions will come from the readings, lecture, films, and
presentations by guest speakers. The first part of the exam will consist of 25 questions that
will be in any combination of the following format: true/false, short answer, fill in the blank,
or multiple choice. Before each exam, I will give you the essay questions that will be on the
exam. I do this so you can study beforehand, and in addition, this method fosters new
learning while taking the exam. The exam dates are written in bold on the course schedule
and cannot be made up. They will all be in-class exams. You cannot use your book or notes,
and you will have the entire class period to take exams 1 and 2. The final exam is scheduled
and you will have 3 hours to complete it. All of the reading guides will be posted on
Blackboard. These reading guides will be your study guide and will give you a better idea of
what will be covered on the exams. Each exam will be cumulative in the sense that you will
need to be able to apply the concepts discussed in book 1 (Pincus) to the rest of the material
covered throughout the semester. Each exam will each be worth 10% of your final grade for
a total of 30% of your class grade.
12) Town Meetings: We will hold 6 town meetings in the second half of the course. Each town
meeting will address current issues dealing with multicultural America. Up to 10 students
will be active participants in each town meeting.
Some of you will sign up as “guest speakers,” and others will sign up as “board members.”
These students will be active participants in the town meetings, while the rest of the class
will act as town residents who are interested in the topic being discussed. Guest speakers
will take on a persona and will “act” as the person they represent. This most definitely
includes representing the person’s real-life point of view, and can also include things like
mannerisms, patterns of speech, dress, etc. As part of their assignment, guest speakers must
also write a 3-page (single-spaced) position statement outlining the stance of the person they
are representing.
Board members will be required to direct the conversation by asking relevant and important
questions to the guest speakers. The board members will also write a 3-page (single-spaced)
paper outlining the stances of all the guest speakers and what questions they would like to
ask them. Through this process the board member should come to some kind of conclusion
about the debate, and therefore you need at least a short paragraph on your position on this
issue.
The rest of the town’s people will participate by asking relevant questions during the
question and answer session of the town meeting. In addition, each person not directly
involved in the town meeting (i.e., not a guest speaker or a board member) will fill out a
response sheet to be handed in at the conclusion of the debate. These sheets will be worth
5% (out of 25%) of the town meeting grade. In the Grade Center (Blackboard) I will have a
slot for 5 town meetings, but you will not get a participation point for the town meeting in
which you are presenting. Therefore, only 5 of the town meeting participation points will
count (each town meeting you attend will be worth 1% of your final grade). I will offer extra
credit for those people who fill out the town meeting response sheet before the town meeting
starts. If you do this for each of the town meetings you attend (besides the town meeting you
are a member of) it will be worth a missed reading guide.
More specific directions, as well as grading rubrics (posted on Blackboard), will be given in
class. Each person in class will have the opportunity to be an active participant (either a
guest speaker or a board member) for only one of the town meetings. A sign-up sheet will be
located in the box in front of my office (2173 JFSB) during the first couple weeks of the
course. You can sign up for an open slot (on a first-come-first-choice basis). Anyone who
does not sign up will be assigned to one of the empty slots.
13) My Multicultural America Paper (MMA Paper): This paper will be completed in two parts.
For Part I, you will need to do the following 3 steps which involve the use of qualitative
methods to investigate your understanding and experiences of race and ethnicity, as well as
one family member’s and an individual of a different race’s understanding and experiences
of race and ethnicity. Step 1: Identify your own perceptions and experiences with race and
ethnicity. Step 2: Identify the perceptions and experiences of race and ethnicity of 1 member
of your family (this person CANNOT be the same generation as you) and of an individual
that is of a different race than you (this person can be the same generation as you). Step 3:
Compare your own perceptions and experiences with race and ethnicity with what you
learned in the other interviews. The end result will be a 3-4 page essay (double spaced),
which describes your personal experiences with race and ethnicity, compares them with the
experiences of a family member and individual of a different race, and analyzes these
experiences using sociological concepts.
For Part II, you will need to choose one of the racial or ethnic groups of your family,
research the history surrounding the circumstances of this group’s entry into America, and
compare and contrast their experiences to a different racial/ethnic group discussed in the
Takaki book. What challenges did they face in society? What social class was this group put
in initially? Were they able to achieve social mobility over time? If so, how was this
accomplished? How were they racialized and what types of stereotypes did the dominant
group thrust upon them? How did these stereotypes play a role in their interactions with the
larger society and within their own racial/ethnic group? In this paper, you will need to
research and write about the above-mentioned aspects both historically, as well as how these
aspects affect this group today (e.g. Is this group still in the same social class)? Have
circumstances changed for this group, if so, how? Do members of this group continue to be
stereotypes as they were in the past?). Part II should be 5-6 pages (double spaced).
REMEMBER: This is a historical-sociology paper; therefore, it is imperative that you do
more than just summarize each group’s experience. Use your sociological imagination.
Takaki wrote A Different Mirror from a historical sociological approach; thus, you may want
to consider using his writing style as an example for your paper.
Note: When you turn in Part II, you will need to turn in a revised version of Part I (e.g.
correct grammatical errors) as well. Both Parts I and II must be bound and turned in
as one paper. You will need to have a title page for both sections of the paper. Your
bound paper will be available for you to pick up at the end of the semester in the Sociology
Office (JFSB 2008). This paper will be a valuable addition to your family history and will
offer a more global perspective to the documents that you and your family may have already
compiled.
14) Course Schedule: The course schedule as printed on the next page is a guide. It is subject to
change as deemed necessary or desirable. It is your responsibility to keep your syllabus
updated as changes are made. I will announce changes through the following two methods:
1) in class, and 2) via email. Please make sure that your email is up to date so that you can
receive the announcements via email.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES:
BYU Honor Code
In keeping with the principles of the BYU Honor Code, students are expected to be honest
in all of their academic work. Academic honesty means, most fundamentally, that any work
you present as your own must in fact be your own work and not that of another. Violations
of this principle may result in a failing grade in the course and additional disciplinary
action by the university. Students are also expected to adhere to the Dress and Grooming
Standards. Adherence demonstrates respect for yourself and others and ensures an
effective learning and working environment. It is the university's expectation, and my own
expectation in class, that each student will abide by all Honor Code standards. Please call
the Honor Code Office at 422-2847 if you have questions about those standards.
Preventing Sexual Discrimination and Harassment
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any
participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is
intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education. Title IX covers discrimination in
programs, admissions, activities, and student-to-student sexual harassment. BYU's policy
against sexual harassment extends not only to employees of the university, but to students
as well. If you encounter unlawful sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination,
please talk to your professor; contact the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895 or 3675689 (24-hours); or contact the Honor Code Office at 422-2847.
COURSE SCHEDULE FOR SOCIOLOGY 113: MULTICULTURAL AMERICA
Week Day
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Date
Topic
Readings & Assignments Due
T
30-Aug
Introduction to Class
No Readings
Th
1-Sep
Unique Individuals & Basic Concepts of Diversity
Pincus Ch 1 & 2
T
6-Sep
Basic Concepts of Diversity; Guest Speaker
Work on MMA Paper Part 1
Th
8-Sep
Game: Rafa Rafa
Read Ahead
T
13-Sep
Class
Th
15-Sep
Race
Pincus Ch 3
Pincus Ch 4 & Blackboard (Tatum); The House We Live In
(watch on byugle)
T
20-Sep
Gender & Sexual Orientation
Pincus Ch 5 & 6
Th
22-Sep
Sexual Orientation; Guest Speaker
Pincus Ch 6; MMA Paper Part 1 Due
T
27-Sep
Film on the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender
Remember that you can turn in Reaction Papers early!!
Th
29-Sep
Film on the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender
Start Takaki (book 2)
T
4-Oct
In-Class Exam #1
Th
6-Oct
A Different Mirror & The "Tempest" in the Wilderness
Takaki Ch 1 & 2
T
11-Oct
American Indians: From Removal to Reservation & From Reservation to
Reorganization
Takaki Ch 4 & 9
Th
13-Oct
Town meeting: A Color-Blind Society
Town Meeting Paper Due
T
18-Oct
Takaki Ch 3 & 5
Th
20-Oct
The Hidden Origins of Slavery & Slavery and Its Discontents
The Reconstruction of Black Servitude after the Civil War & Mexicans: The
War Against Mexico
T
25-Oct
Town Meeting: Reparations to African Americans
Town Meeting Paper Due
Th
27-Oct
World War II & Out of the War
Takaki Ch 14 & 15; Reaction Paper #1 Due
Blackboard & Takaki Ch 7
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
T
1-Nov
Town Meeting: A Policy of Bilingualism or English Only
Town Meeting Paper Due
Th
3-Nov
In-Class Exam #2
Work on Town Meeting Paper and MMA Final Paper
T
8-Nov
Film on Immigration; Immigration and the Border
Blackboard
Th
10-Nov
Town Meeting: Controlling the Border
Town Meeting Paper Due
T
15-Nov
Transracial Adoption
Blackboard; Reaction Paper #2 Due
Th
17-Nov
Town Meeting: Who Can Say What?
Town Meeting Paper Due
T
22-Nov
NO CLASS. FRIDAY INSTRUCTION.
Th
24-Nov
HOLIDAY
T
29-Nov
Town Meeting: Race as a Factor in Admissions to Schools
Town Meeting Paper Due
Th
1-Dec
Film: Nobody Knows the Untold Story of Black Mormons
MMA Final Paper Due
T
6-Dec
Blacks and the Priesthood
Blackboard
Th
8-Dec
Blacks and the Priesthood
Reaction Paper #3 Due
T
13-Dec
SCHEDULED EXAM (5:45p-7:45p @ 3718 HBLL)