AMST 55A-1
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in American Culture
TBD
Tuesdays and Thursdays
3:30-4:50
Instructor: Dr. Jillian Powers
jpowers@brandeis.edu
Office: Brown 326
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 11-3
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
– The New Colossus
A Nation of Immigrants:
The United States is a country always in the process of becoming. Migrants transform communities and
regions requiring a reassessment of the cultural, educational and political institutions of our social system.
Because of this, immigration continues to be one of the most significant forces in American society today.
However, racial and ethnic migrants experience different advantages and disadvantages. Many important
stories and experiences are lost to the large brushstrokes of national memory and current approaches to
multiculturalism like “color blind racism” and “diversity happy-talk.” Therefore, entrenched metaphors
like the melting pot or tossed salad fail to capture how different social groups fared in America at
different historical moments.
In this course we focus on the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class to understand contemporary
and historical immigrant experiences. Designed to provide students with a multidisciplinary overview of
race, ethnicity and immigration in American Culture, we will examine sociological trends, historical
material, written and oral first-hand accounts, and popular texts and objects in order to include and
examine the variety of experiences so often overlooked in the larger national conversation about
immigration.
We will use critical theory, intersectionality, and the disciplinary foundations of ethnic and
American studies to reflect on the unique experiences as well as similarities between immigrant
communities/cohorts to understand the processes of becoming American and the possibilities for future
assimilation and integration. We will use these skills to direct our critical eye upon our own immigrant
narratives. We will examine how not only the views of immigrations have changed, but also how America
itself has evolved. We will spend our time together asking; how does one become American? What does
it mean to become American? How does that look in different eras and for different populations? How do
immigrants transition and transform? What is the immigrant experience like and how does that relate to
an American national identity? And, finally, how does the history of immigration in the U.S. inform our
present and influence our decisions as a culture, nation, and as an individual?
AMST55a is partnered with the 2-credit Practicum, EL 16a: “The Immigrant Experience in Waltham: A
Service-based Practicum”. As an adjunct to this course, the practicum is entirely voluntary, but
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something that you are encouraged to consider. The practicum application (due Monday Aug 31 at 12
noon) and the practicum syllabus are on the LATTE site for this course.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Utilize scholarship in American Studies and other disciplines to construct and support your own
arguments about immigration, race, and ethnicity
- Make connections between theory and everyday life
- “Read a text” by utilizing a variety of approaches and representations of race, ethnicity, and
nationality
- Recognize and articulate more nuanced representations of immigration, race, and ethnicity and
move beyond binary arguments
- Improve critical reading and writing skills
Course Requirements:
1. Complete all readings and actively participate in discussions
2. Daily memos on course material
3. Immigration Op-ed
4. Family immigration story
5. Thanksgiving ethnographic essay
6. Family interview and essay
7. Final Paper (plus revisions)
10%
10%
5%
5%
10%
20%
40%
Participation, attendance and classroom engagement: Readings are to be completed before the class
period for which they are assigned. Attendance is a crucial aspect of class and you are expected to come
prepared, ready to engage, and willing to participate in a respectful and thoughtful manner. Three
unexcused absences will result in the deduction of a whole letter grade from your overall score (An ‘A’
will be reduced to a ‘B’). Five or more unexcused absences, you fail the course. Please send me an email
if you are unable to attend class by 11 AM that morning. There will be an attendance sheet passed out
each class period. You are responsible for signing only your name on the attendance sheet.
Memos: For each class period you will draft a short outline of the material covered to help facilitate class
discussion. Summarize the main objectives/research questions/scholarly perspectives, methodologies, and
findings and conclusions (to the best of your ability) and draft a few thoughtful questions or concerns to
discuss in class. These are supposed to be rough and will not be graded for style or writing – use these to
work on your comprehension and to pose questions that intrigue you or confuse you. If you focus on what
you find most intriguing and what you find most confusing, you will come to class prepared and ready to
engage.
Each memo should be about a page. Make sure to write the date and your name on each submission.
Email this to me by MIDNIGHT the night before class. Throughout the semester you must submit 15
memos—use your free days wisely. It is your responsibility to keep track of your memo tally—any
missing memos will negatively influence your grade.
Family Immigration Story: What is your family immigration/migration story? 1-5 pages. Due
September 3
Opinion/Oped on Current Events: Write an Op-ed or opinion piece to be submitted to a campus, local
or national newspaper of your choosing. Document your observations and reflections on a contemporary
issue of immigration and ethnicity and race (not covered on the syllabus) related to the themes and
readings in this course (immigration debates, current discussions of race in the media, local communities
and assimilation). I welcome all of your interests and thoughtful commentaries as long as they directly
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discuss issues or race, class, ethnicity and immigration. Use the readings and classroom discussions to
shape your op-ed. These should be polished and structured. 750 words. Rough Draft Due October 16th.
Final Draft due a week after comments have been returned—provide proof of submission, and if
published, proof of publication.
Some Guidelines
- Assess the merits and drawbacks of a policy and analyze the possible consequences. Are the
consequences equal across, race, gender and other social status factors like class (or disability,
sexuality, etc.)? Do policies like this perpetuate inequalities? Remember to be mindful to the
matrix of domination!
- You can be for or against this policy or proposal. You will not be graded on your position but on
your ability to craft an argument and construct your position using facts and data.
How to Write a Letter to the Editor:
First, look at recently published letters in the newspaper of your choosing to understand how to format
and write your letter.
- Address the letter as “Dear Editor”
- Begin by writing your interest in the issue.
- Write 2-3 sentences validating your interest/reason for writing this letter. These may be facts and
data that highlight the intensity and importance of this issue.
- Use the next few paragraphs to expand: flesh out the facts, and give some of your personal opinions
(it is ok to have “I” in your letter).
- The body of the letter should explain your position with information and further detail
- Conclude your letter by restating your position and briefly review your reasons.
- Remember to include your name and contact information.
- Proofread and make sure your paragraphs are well organized and flow nicely.
Thanksgiving Ethnographic Essay: Refer to the readings on Thanksgiving and the work we have done
up to this point. First describe in detail your thanksgiving meal, how it is prepared, who are the major
players, etc. How does your Thanksgiving celebration relate to a national American identity/an immigrant
identity? How do we know this? What details can you share that show this? 5 pages. Due Tuesday
December 1.
Family Interview & Essay: Interview someone in your family about your family immigration story. First
conduct the interview. After you have transcribed the interview, analyze the data and write an essay
describing their version of this story and how it relates to the story you shared in the beginning of the
semester. Do you see any differences/similarities? Why? What moments or memories does this person
focus on and what larger narratives of immigration and immigrant assimilation/the immigration
experience do they speak to? 5 pages. I suggest doing this early! Due December 4.
Final Paper: Revisit your family’s immigrant or migration story and ground it in the historical moment
taking into consideration the intersection of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Use outside sources, your
thanksgiving analysis, the interview, and do some historical digging of your own. Use at least 3 outside
academic peer-reviewed sources (journal articles, books, etc., if you are in doubt as to what “counts,” ask).
You can approach this in any way that inspires you. How does history, migration, identity, memory and
American myth play into your personal story? What memories and processes of socialization reflect your
niches or minoritized spaces, how do you and your family interact with these memories and narratives?
How does time, space, and place interact in the representation of your migration/immigration story? How
do history and present immigration realities influence your narrative? Your paper must:
1- Ground your story in the historical moment
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2- Show by providing “thick description” and detail
3- Analyze the particulars of your family story and critically engage with those examples of “thick
description”
4- Be well written. Expand upon your family story with data and numbers; create an insightful
final product by paying attention to voice, context, and complexity. Further details will be
discussed in class. 10 pages. Rough draft (optional) December 14, Final Draft Due
December 18th.
5- Have a works cited page complete with 3 outside academic sources (along with any course
material you find useful).
The final paper will be graded on the following criteria:
- Organization and fluency of written work
- Strength of argument
- Attention to detail, and accuracy of facts provided
- References from readings and other sources, properly cited
Late Policy: NO LATE COURSEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. All coursework must be completed on
time unless we have come to an agreement before the due date, nothing will be accepted after the last day
of class.
Evaluations
Your final grade will be determined by your performance on the above requirements. All assignments
will be graded on a standard scale of 0 to 100 (except the memos).
The final grade will be given using the letter grade system standard at Brandeis University. The table
below shows how the numeric grades will be converted into letter grades:
97-100
93-96
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
below 59
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
University Policies
Academic Accommodations: If you are a student who has academic accommodations because of a
documented disability, please contact me during the first two weeks of the semester and give me a copy
of your letter of accommodation. Federal law and university policy require provision of reasonable
accommodation for students with diagnosed learning disabilities that may affect how they participate in
the class or meet class requirements. I encourage students who believe they need such accommodation to
contact the Academic Services Office early in the term. Detailed information on policies, procedures, and
resources related to learning disabilities can be found at this link:
http://www.brandeis.edu/acserv/disabilities/index.html
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If you have any questions regarding documenting a disability, contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in the
undergraduate Academic Affairs Office (x63470, brodgers@brandeis.edu). Accommodations cannot be
granted retroactively.
University Policy on Academic Integrity: You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the
University’s policies on academic integrity. You are expected to turn in work that is completed, written,
and designed by you! This means use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases,
sentences, paragraphs, or ideas found in published volumes on the Internet or created by another student.1
I will refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Academic Affairs.
Violations of may result in failure of the course or on the assignment or in suspension or
dismissal from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in the course,
it is your responsibility to ask for clarification. Do not test me! Ask if you have any concerns before
compromising your undergraduate experience!
See: http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/ai/top10students.html
I encourage all students to visit the Brandeis writing center if you would like to improve your writing.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
Laptops, PDAs, cell phones, headphones, and all other technological distractions MUST BE OFF AND
AWAY at all times during class-time.
On Controversial Subjects and Classroom Community
We will be discussing many contemporary issues that are the subject of intense controversy, such as
immigration reform, racial inequality, and ethnic studies in high school curricula. You may have strong
feelings about these issues, and those feelings or opinions may be opposed to some of the articles and
chapters you’ll be reading. I will encourage discussion and debate on these topics, as I believe that one
duty of the course is to critically examine what we may accept as “common knowledge” or accepted
practice. However, to ensure that your own personal opinions do not affect your class performance and to
keep discussions and debates civil and academically-focused, I ask you to keep the following points in
mind:
1. Students are expected to serve as resources for each other and fully commit to the collaborative
and supportive community required to successfully complete a course/project of this nature
2. Be aware that understanding arguments made in the readings does not require accepting those
arguments. Indeed, even if you disagree with an argument, you must first understand it to make a
reasoned critique. Do not simply dismiss them.
3. Opinions are not acceptable arguments in discussion. If you wish to critique a concept, you must
provide some evidence or data from the readings (or outside material, if you so wish, as long as it
is scholarly). Do not be afraid, however, to speculate on potential consequences or impacts based
upon existing data or to inquire about the existence or quality of data with regard to an argument.
4. Anecdotes are not data. Just because something happened to one person at one time does not
imply a pattern or trend. The difference between an anecdote and an example is that examples are
illustrations based on systematic data (this point will be crucial for your final paper!)
5. Do not become emotional or engage in personal attacks. While you may have strong feelings on
these issues, remember to always keep a cool head and show respect for differing opinions.
Required Texts
The Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity. Edited by Stephen M. Caliendo and Charlton D.
In creating many sections in this syllabus regarding Brandeis’ policies, I have turned to previous syllabi in
American Studies and Sociology.
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McIlwain. Routledge: London. 2011.
The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity and Class in America. Stephen Steinberg. Beacon Press: Boston. 2001.
A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Ronald Takaki. Back Bay Books: New York.
2008.
The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924. Henry (Yoshitaka)
Kiyama and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge Press. 1999.
Course Schedule
Syllabus and schedule subject to change, the most recent version can be found on LATTE
INTRODUCTION
August 27
Overview of syllabus
Discussion:
How do you define immigration?
How is it related to national and global American Identity?
Naturalization Test
Reading:
Introduction: Aliens, Inc. pp. 1-16 in Immigration and American Popular Culture: An
Introduction, by Rachel Rubin and Jeffrey Melnick. 2007 in LATTE
Ethnicity and American Popular Culture. Introduction. pp. 319-324, in American Immigration
and Ethnicity: A Reader. Eds David A. Gerber and Alan M. Kraut. Palgrave: New York. 2005. In
LATTE
“16 People on Things They Couldn’t Believe about American until they moved here,” by
Michael Koh. November 22, 2013. Thought Catalog. http://thoughtcatalog.com/michaelkoh/2013/11/16-people-on-things-they-couldnt-believe-about-america-until-they-moved-here/
Assignment: What is your immigration story? 1-5 Pages. Due September 3
RACE, ETHNICITY, IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
September 1 & 3
Discuss Readings from last week
Keywords Race, Ethnicity, Immigration
Chapters 1-3, pp. 3-28 in the Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity. Edited by Stephen M.
Caliendo and Charlton D. McIlwain. 2011.
Racial Formations. Michael Omi and Howard Winant in LATTE
Chapter 7, pp. 55-63 in the Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity. Edited by Stephen M.
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Caliendo and Charlton D. McIlwain. 2011.
Models of American Ethnic Relations: Hierarchy, Assimilation, and Pluralism, pp. 123-135 by
George M. Fredrickson in Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century, 2010 in LATTE
Assignment: What is your immigration story? 1-5 Pages. Due September 3
WHOSE COUNTRY IS THIS?
September 8
The Crisis of National Identity, pp. 3-20 in Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National
Identity by Samuel P. Huntington in LATTE
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh pp. 49-53 in Race, Class,
and Gender: An Anthology in LATTE
A Different Mirror: The Making of Multicultural America. By Ronald Takaki in A Different
Mirror pp. 3-22.
Race Class and Gender: An Anthology Selections: in LATTE
Why Race, Class, and Gender Still Matter
Missing People and Others
“Is This a White Country or What?”
The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch by Richard Wright pp. 23-32 in
Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, Edited by Paula Rothenberg and Kelly Mayhew in
LATTE
AMERICAN EXPERIENCES & LIVES
September 17
2 Chapters (4-8) from A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki.
*To be assigned
Part One: The Simmering Melting Pot pp. 1-44 in The Ethnic Myth by Stephen Steinberg.
Come to class being able to share your chapters. What are key points/significant historical
contributions? Why? What should we know from the sections you have read that speak to
the contradictions regarding our Imagined America? Share your knowledge with the
class—you are in charge of the discussion! Submit your discussion notes to LATTE so
everyone has access.
THE JAPANESE
September 22
Chapter 10, Pacific Crossings: From Japan to the Land of the “Money Tree” pp. 232-261 in A
Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki
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Suggested: Takaki, Ronald. "Ethnic Solidarity: The Settling of Japanese-America." Chapter 5
(pp. 179-229), in Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Little,
Boston: Little Brown 1989.
September 24
The Four Immigrants
Takeyuki Tsuda, 2014. “I’m American, not Japanese!: the struggle for racial citizenship among
later-generation Japanese Americans.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. Vol. 37, Issue 3, pp. 404-425.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2012.681675#.UvKgpSgYn9E
Class Activity:
1- Come to class WITH the manga, along with at least 2 panels you want to discuss that speak to
the issues we’ve been covering.
2- In groups of 3, first discuss and explain why someone might respond differently than those
two women at the airport expect. What would your strategy be to contest assumptions of
racialized citizenship? Now, critically examine the choice you made. Have you unwittingly
reinforced any boundaries or assumptions in your retort?
THE JEWS
Oct 1
Steinberg Jews section chapter 3, 5, 9 PICK Three
The “Jewish Problem” in Higher Education 222-252
Education and Ethnic Mobility: The Myth of Jewish Intellectualism and Catholic AntiIntellectualism pp. 128-151.
Why the Irish Became Domestics and Italians and Jews Did Not. 151-168
How Jews Became White Folks: And What That Says About Race in America by Karen Brodkin
pp. 39-53 in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States Edited by Paula Rothenberg with
Kelly Mayhew, in LATTE.
Suggested: Chapter 11, The Exodus from Russia: Pushed by Pogroms pp. 262-280 in A Different
Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki
FROM IMMIGRANTS TO ETHNICS, 1965 ONWARD
October 6
Writing: SUPER MEMO. Instead of our weekly memos, write one short (5 pg.) essay where
you assess the similarities and differences between these two waves of immigration. What do
you think is most significant? Why? Who are these people, why did they come, and what
differences and similarities shaped their experiences? Use at least once trend from the Pew
Research Immigration Topics page. Cite your source. Due October 9thh by midnight. (Will
count as either 2 memos, 3 memos, or for stellar work 4 memos!!)
A Comparison of Contemporary Immigration and the New Immigration of the Late Nineteenth
and Early Twentieth Centuries. Preface and Introduction (pp. 1-31) in American Immigration
and Ethnicity: A Reader. David A. Gerber and Alan M. Kraut. Palgrave: New York. 2005, in
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LATTE.
Who They Are and Why They Come, by Alejandro Portes and Ruben Rumbaut pp. 12-34 in
Immigrant America: A Portrait. Berkeley: U of California Press in LATTE
Introduction and Who They Are and Why The Have Come in From Ellis Island to JFK: New
York’s Two Great Waves of Immigration by Nancy Foner pp. 1-35, in LATTE
Nine Stories, by Alejandro Portes and Ruben Rumbaut pp. 1-12 in Immigrant America: A
Portrait. Berkeley: U of California Press, in LATTE
Children of Immigrants, Photographs by Quetzal Maucci. Sunday Review, New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/21/opinion/sunday/exposures-childrenimmigrant.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&module=inside-nytregion&_r=0
DEFINING RACE & ETHNICITY
October 8
Pew Immigration Trends: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/topics/immigration-trends/pages/2/
Defining Race and Ethnicity: The Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the Census, pp. 105-122
by C. Matthew Snipp. in Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century, 2010.
Racial Identities in 2000: The Response to the Multiple-Race Response Option by Reynolds
Farley. IN LATTE
How Census Race Categories Have Changes Over Time:
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/interactives/multiracial-timeline/
LOOK AT THIS BEFORE CLASS: http://www.vox.com/2014/10/27/7062921/immigration1900-race-racism-quotas-eugenics-map-settled-united-states
Assignment: Op-Ed Due: October 16
ASSIMILATION
October 13
Roger Waldinger, "Transforming Foreigners Into Americans" in The New Americans 137-149
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/waldinger/pdf/B9.pdf
Richard Alba and Victor Nee, "Assimilation," in The New Americans, Mary Waters and Reed
Ueda, eds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 124-137 in LATTE.
Steinberg, Stephen. 2014. “The Long View of the Melting Pot,” Ethnic and Racial Studies. Vol.
37, Issue 5, pp. 790-794.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2013.872282#.U-ERX1ZYVg0
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Suggested: Gans, Herbert. 2014. “The Coming Darkness of late-generation European American
Ethnicity,” Racial and Ethnic Studies. Vol. 37, Issue 5.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2013.827796#.U-ESc1ZYVg0
Alba, Richard. 2014. “The Twilight of Ethnicity: what relevance for today?” Ethnic and Racial
Studies. Pp. 781-785.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2013.871051?queryID=%24%7BresultB
ean.queryID%7D#.U-ESLVZYVg0
COMPLICATING THE MATTER, NEW IMMIGRANT GROUPS
October 15
The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and Its Variants by Alejandro Portes and
Min Zhou in LATTE.
Waters, Mary and Tomas Jimenez. 2005. "Assessing Immigrant Assimilation: New Empirical
and Theoretical Challenges." Annual Review of Sociology 31:105-125.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/29737713?uid=3739256&uid=2&uid=4&sid=211025773
64613
Alejandro Portes. "Immigration's Aftermath." in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States,
9th Edition (pp. 397-400) Edited by Paula S. Rothenberg and Kelly S. Mayhew. Worth: New
York. 2013. In LATTE
Many Voices, Many Lives: Selections in LATTE
Crossing the Border Without Losing Your Past by Oscar Casares
The Event of Becoming by Jewelle L. Gomez
This Person Doesn’t Sound White by Ziba Kashef
Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only by Mary Waters
Complicating the Story of Immigrant Integration by Vivian Louie, Chapter 10 pp. 218-235 in in
Writing Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue, Suarez-Orozco, Louie, and Suro, eds,
in LATTE
The Price of Nice Nails, by Sarah Maslin Nir. May 7, 2015. New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaidand-unprotected.html?_r=0
Assignment: Op-ed Due October 16
SYMBOLIC ETHNICITY, STAYING ETHNIC, ASSIMILATING
October 20
Herbert Gans. 1979. Symbolic Ethnicity: The Future of Ethnic Groups and Cultures in America.
Ethnic and Racial Studies 2:1-20.
http://faculty.washington.edu/charles/562_f2011/Week%2010/Gans%201979.pdf
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Julie Rodriguez. “But you’re basically white, right?: I’m Latina and I don’t speak Spanish. Salon.
Monday, June 16, 2014.
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/16/but_you’re_basically_white_right_im_latina_and_i_dont_spe
ak_spanish/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
Min, Zhou. 2004. “Are Asian Americans Becoming “white”? Contexts 3(1): 29-37
Classroom Discussion: Symbolic Ethnicity, Food, and Staying Ethnic
Oct 22
Economic Reality of Being Asian American and the Economic Reality of Being Latin/a in the
United States. in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, 9th Edition (pp. 362-374) Edited
by Paula S. Rothenberg and Kelly S. Mayhew. Worth: New York. 2013. In LATTE
Song, Miri. 2001. “Comparing Minorities’ Ethnic Options. Do Asian Americans Possess ‘More’
Ethnic Options than African Americans?” Ethnicities. 1(1): 57-82.
http://etn.sagepub.com/content/1/1/57.abstract%20-%20Ethnic%20Options
Suggested:
Michaels, Erin. 2014. “New Immigrant Destinations in Small-Town America.” Journal of
Contemporary Ethnography. 43(6): 720-745.
Thomas, Ward and Paul Ong. 2015. “Ethnic mobilization among Korean dry-cleaners” Racial
and Ethnic Studies.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2015.1036092#.VbkJkXgZiAA
Steinberg, Epilogue: Ethnic Heroes and Racial Villains in American Social Science
DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN AMERICA
October 27 & 29
T. Alexander Aleinikoff, "A Multicultural Nationalism?," The American Prospect no. 36
(January-February 1998), 80-86. http://prospect.org/article/essay-multicultural-nationalism
Bell, Joyce and Douglas Hartmann. 2006. “Diversity in Everyday Discourse: The Cultural
Ambiguities and Consequences of “Happy Talk” in LATTE
Multicultural American Dream?
November 6: Watch these videos before class:
Al Sharpton & Barack Obama @ the 2004 Democratic National Convention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMNIofUw2I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SBFREiCkf8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0
Margaret L. Anderson. The Fiction of "Diversity without Oppression" Race, Ethnicity, Identity,
and Power, In LATTE.
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Steinberg, Stephen. 2007. “Ethnicity: The Epistemology of Wishful Thinking.” In Race
Relations: A Critique. Stanford, in LATTE.
If we have time, discuss Halloween “My Heritage is not a Costume”
NEGOTIATING RACE & ETHNICITY
November 3
Jemima Pierre. 2004. "Black Immigrants in the United States and the "Cultural Narratives" of
Ethnicity." Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power. 11: 141-170.
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/marilynm/Theorizing_Black_America_Syllabus_files/Black%20I
mmigrants_Narratives_of_Ethnicity.pdf
Pick One:
Jones, Caralee and Christy Erving. 2015. “Structural Constraints and Lived Realities:
Negotiating Racial and Ethnic Identities for African Caribbeans in the United States. Journal of
Black Studies. http://jbs.sagepub.com/content/46/5/521.abstract
Suggested: Showers, Fumilayo. 2015. “Being black, foreign and woman: African immigrant
identities in the United States.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. 38(10): 1815-1830
CONTEMPORARY DEBATES
November 5 Contemporary Debates: Inner-City Black Culture
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/the-secret-lives-of-inner-city-blackmales/284454/
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/obama-ta-nehisi-coates-poverty-and-culture.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/black-pathology-and-the-closing-of-theprogressive-mind/284523/
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/barack-obama-vs-the-culture-of-poverty.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/other-peoples-pathologies/359841/
An Inside look at Stop & Frisk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rWtDMPaRD8
RACIAL VIOLENCE
November 10
Strange Fruit: Anniversary of a Lynching
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129025516
Adam Shatz, 2015. “Freddie Gray” London Review of Books. 37(10): 16.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n10/adam-shatz/freddie-gray
Selections from: Claudia Rankine, 2014. Citizen: An American Lyric
#BLACK LIVES MATTER – you bring something to talk about
THE NATIVE RESPONSE
November 12
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George J. Sanchez. "Face the Nation: Race, Immigration, and the Rise of Nativism in LateTwentieth-Century-America." in American Immigration and Ethnicity: A Reader (pp. 131-145).
David A. Gerber and Alan M. Kraut. Palgrave: New York. 2005. In LATTE
Huntington, Samuel. 2004. “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy :30-45.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/blogs/gems/culturalagency1/SamuelHuntingtonTheHispanicC.pdf
Suggested: Johnson, James et al. 1997. "Immigration Reform and the Browning of America:
Tensions, Conflicts and Community Instability in Los Angeles." International Migration Review
31:1055-1095.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2547424?uid=3739256&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=
4&sid=21102576772567
Assignment: Listen to a bunch of versions of Woody Guthrie’s song “Deportee” which is based
on the poem “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos.” Which version do you like, why? Why is this an
important piece of folk music/protest?
CONTEMPORARY DEBATES
November 17 A Multicultural Backlash: Ethnic Studies on Trial
Julianne Hing, Tuscon’s Ousted Mexican American Studies Director Speaks: The Fight’s No
Over in Race. Class and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study. In LATTE
Follow the links in these articles!
Gregory Rodriguez. February 20, 2012. “Why Arizona banned ethnic studies.” Los Angeles
Times.
Saveethnicstudies.org
Kristian Ramos. June 1, 2012. “What Arizona’s Ban on Ethnic Studies Says about America.”
Huffington Post.
Alex Seitz-Wald. April 2, 2012. “Arizona Official Considering Banning Ethnic Studies in
Universities Too.” Think Progress.
Luis Valdez. April 29, 2012. “Arizona’s Ethnic Studies Debacle: Why There’s No Such Thing as
Too Much Truth.” AlterNet.
Peter Rothberg. February 1, 2012. “Challenging Arizona’s Ban on Ethnic Studies.” The Nation.
CNN Ethnic Studies Debate—Margaret Dugan and Augustine Romero 5/13/10/ Youtube.
Arthur Schlessinger Jr. When Ethnic Studies are Un-American.
Tim Wise. December 29, 2011. Telling White Lies: Patriotic Correctness and the War on Ethnic
Studies.
Linda Chavez. American History, not Ethnic Studies. Creators.com
Chris Matthews on Hardball. Restricting Ethnic Studies. Youtube.
January 19, 2012. Ethnic Studies: Teaching Resentment or Pride? NPR, Michel Martin Host.
CNN Anderson Cooper
Network of Teacher Activist Groups Website.
Precious Knowledge PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/precious-knowledge/
ILLEGAL AND ALIEN: LABELING BODIES, DEFINING A COUNTRY
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November 19 Illegal Immigration, Race, & Citizenship
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/conscience-realist/2014/jan/1/illegalalien-amnesty-will-not-bring-happy-new-yea/
Bloch, Katrina. 2014. “’Anyone Can Be an Illegal’: Color-Blind Ideology and Maintaining
Latino/Citizen Borders,” Critical Sociology. Vol, 40, No. 1 pp. 47-65.
http://crs.sagepub.com/content/40/1/47.abstract
Mae Ngai. "Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of America." in Race, Class, and
Gender in the United States, 9th Edition (pp. 224-234) Edited by Paula S. Rothenberg and Kelly
S. Mayhew. Worth: New York. 2013. In LATTE
Nazario, Sonia. 2014. “The Children of the Drug Wars: A Refugee Crisis, Not an Immigration
Crisis. New York Times, July 11. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/arefugee-crisis-not-an-immigration-crisis.html?_r=0
Suggested:
Getrich, Christina. 2013. ““Too Bad I’m Not an Obvious Citizen”: The effects of racialized US
immigration enforcement practices on second-generation Mexican youth,” Latino Studies. 11,
462-482 http://www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/journal/v11/n4/full/lst201328a.html
Trujillo-Pagán, Nicole. 2014. “Emphasizing the ‘Complex’ in the ‘Immigration Industrial
Complex.” Critical Sociology. 40 pp. 29-46.
http://crs.sagepub.com/content/40/1/29.abstract?etoc
Ponce, Albert. 2014. “Racialization, Resistance, and the Migrant Rights Movement: A Historical
Analysis,” Critical Sociology. 40, 9-27. http://crs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/40/1/9
THANKSGIVING
NO CLASS
Thanksgiving Week
Eating American by Sidney Mintz
The Invention of Thanksgiving, a Ritual of American Nationality by Janet Siskind.
Assignment:
Thanksgiving Ethnographic Essay: What does your Thanksgiving say about your American and
ethnic identity? Take notes during your thanksgiving and write a short essay describing your
meal, the breakdown of responsibilities, behaviors, rituals, food, etc. What does this say about
your American identity, your ethnic identity? Why does this matter?
Family Interview: Interview someone in your family about your family’s immigration story.
Transcribe the interview and look for major themes and moments. Does their story differ from
yours from the beginning of the semester? What is their story? Why does it matter? What does it
say about your family’s own personal “coming to America” story?
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ASSES & LOOK FORWARD
December 1
Reflect, Share & Contemporary Challenges
Discuss our Thanksgiving, the interview, and the final paper
Thanksgiving Ethnographic Essay: Due December 1.
December 3
Evelyn Alsultany, "Los Intersticios: Recasting Moving Selves." in Race, Class, and Gender in
the United States, 9th Edition (pp. 235-237) Edited by Paula S. Rothenberg and Kelly S.
Mayhew. Worth: New York. 2013. In LATTE
E Plurbis Unum, or the Same Old Perfume in a New Bottle? On the Future of Racial
Stratification in the United States, pp. 225-254 in Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla
Silva, 4th Edition. 2014. In LATTE
Who Will Report the Next Chapter of America’s Immigration Story? By Tyche Hendricks,
Chapter 9 pp. 204-217 in Writing Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue. Edited by
Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Vivian Louie and Roberto Suro. In LATTE
Portes and Rumbaut. Conclusion: Immigration and Public Policy in Immigrant America Chapter
10, pp. 343-371. In LATTE
Assignment: Family Interview and Essay Due December 4
REFLECT & DISCUSS
December 8
LAST DAY OF CLASS!
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