Note to Students: THIS IS A PRELIMINARY SYLLABUS. IT GETS MANY THINGS
RIGHT, BUT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE
INSTRUCTOR WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE
Comparative Ethnic Studies 101:
Africans, Europeans & Indian Nations
In the Making of American Cultures
Fall, 2012
Merrill Hall 131
W 1-1:50
Dr. Rachel Buff
Office Hours: W 10-12
& by appointment
Office: Holton 313
phone: 229-6483
rbuff@uwm.edu
TAs:
Course Description
This course is organized around the historical collision of distinct peoples in the
Americas. We will be looking at the ways that Europeans, Indian Nations and
Africans-initially enslaved and eventually free- struggled and interacted, shaping
what we now know as “American culture.” Our central focus will be on these
interactions as they have shaped the nation of the United States.
In this course, we will be working on the assumption that social identities take
on meaning only because of historical circumstances. This approach is called social
constructionism.
We will often find ourselves talking about “the social construction of
identity”. This means the ways categories we think of as natural or physical, like
“black” and “white”, “man” and “woman” are actually social. They have been
created over time by laws, resistance movements, popular culture, economic policies;
in other words, by people.
To say that identity is socially constructed does not mean that it is,
necessarily, easily disassembled. If Indian and white are socially constructed
categories, that doesn’t mean we can choose to switch places. But taking a social
constructionist approach allows us to understand the histories of struggle contained
in each of our identities.
We will be focusing, in good part, on the northern Midwest for our examples
and histories of social identities. The project of this class is that we all start seeing
our worlds- our own families and communities- a little differently, to understand
them in a different context, than we did previously.
Course Objectives
Among the objectives of the course are the following:
1. students will gain an understanding of the meanings of race and ethnicity in
contemporary and historical perspective
2. students will become familiar with the different histories of racialized groups
in the United States
3. students will understand the significance of race and ethnicity to public policy
and culture
One of the more significant learning goals of this course is that you will develop an
understanding of contemporary cultural diversity, in the United States and the world.
Additionally, you will understand the challenges of multicultural national life for
public policy, as well as the challenges of acculturation and assimilation to specific
im/migrant groups. Examinations and papers will be designed to help students think
these issues through in their own words.
General Education Requirements: This course carries Humanities and Cultural
Diversity GER accreditation.
Course Work
Preparation:
A college course is made up of lectures, in this case two a week, discussion sections,
course readings and written work. In some courses, you are assigned a textbook, which
pretty much covers the material you are responsible for the semester. Students read
the textbook, listen to the professor explain it, and take exams that come out of the
material covered by lectures and the textbook.
This course does not work this way. It is arranged so that readings, papers,
exams, lectures, and discussions complement, rather than echo, one and other. That
means that students must engage with this class on several different fronts: by
reading, discussing, writing, and actively listening during lectures.
During the twice weekly lectures, you should come to class prepared to take
notes. This means writing down central concepts: NOT EVERYTHING! Before class
starts, it’s useful to go back over your notes from the previous class, paying special
attention to things you didn’t understand or wanted to discuss further. If you have a
question about something, the overwhelming likelihood is that someone else does,
too! Active listening means that you think critically about what you are hearing and
how it fits into your understanding of what is going on. I encourage students to ask
questions or contribute to lectures with pertinent discussion.
Readings should be completed before Wednesday’s class meeting the week
they are listed on the syllabus. Completing readings means scanning the pages, as
well as underlining important and/or controversial ideas in the text. Students will
want to bring questions on readings to class or section, and should also feel free to
take these up with the professor or teaching assistants during office hours.
Readings:
There are three sources of reading material for this course:
1. The two books for the class are available from People’s Books, 2122 East Locust
Street (Corner Maryland Ave), 962-0575. Alternately, students may be able to find
these books used on-line. Purchase of these books is a mandatory part of the class
and should be accomplished sooner, rather than later.
The books are: Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, by
Brenda Child and Wingshooters, by Nina Revoyr
2. On a few occasions there will be additional reading assigned that is available on
line, through our course D2L website.
3. Electronic reserve:
Most other course readings are available through electronic reserve.
From Campus Computers:
1. Go to library homepage at http://www.uwm.edu/Library
2. Click on “Course Reserve” link.
3. At the “Instructor” line, click on the arrow to display a drop down box of all
instructors with material on reserve. Select “Buff”
4. At the “Department” line, click on “Ethnic Studies”.
5. At the “Course” line, click on the arrow to display a drop down box of all
courses with material on reserve. Select Ethnic 102.
6. Click on the gray “Search” button.
7. Scroll down to the bottom and click on “Link to Electronic Reserve
Readings”
From Off-Campus
You will see these prompts:
epanther ID:
Password:
If you have them, enter your ID and password. If you don’t, you can use the
following:
epanther ID: eres
Password: fall
Then follow the numbered directions above.
All these readings are required for the class. Students are expected to bring readings
to lecture and, especially, to section meetings.
I have tried to keep expenses to a minimum. If there are financial
impediments to your purchase of the two course texts, consider sharing the expense
with classmates.
Completion of course readings is an essential component of this class.
Attendance/Participation:
Attendance at both lecture and section is a required component of this class. Students
are expected to sign in for lecture, and to participate in discussions, and to attend and
participate in section. Sections may include written assignments and/or quizzes:
these will be incorporated into the attendance/participation grade.
Key Words:
Each week, a small (<10) number of key words will be presented in class. These key
words will be the foundation for the two in-class exams. At the end of each week,
students are to submit two paragraphs on each key word, to the D2L dropbox. These
paragraphs should look like this:
1. Definition:2-3 sentences or intelligible phrases in which you explain briefly
the keyword and locate her/him/it in space and time as accurately as
possible. Every definition must include a specific reference to time (date, decade,
century, etc.) and place (country, region, ocean, etc.) The more specific the
definition, the better.
2. Discussion of Significance:2-3 sentences or intelligible phrases in which you
discuss briefly the importance of the person/term for our understanding of
history. The best way to specify significance is to link the keyword under
consideration to another keyword from the course.
Although there is no single definition or significance for any of the course
keywords, the best answers reflect accurately the knowledge that has been
transmitted to students through lectures, readings, classes, field trips, and other
class assignments. It is not enough to scratch down a few notes from
“Wikipedia” or some other resource from outside the class—your notecards
should give concrete evidence (facts, interpretations, etc.) that indicates that you
have been attending class, doing the readings, and participating in other class
activities.
Example of Proper Key Word Format with a Minimally Acceptable Identification
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LAST NAME
Christopher Columbus
Definition: A mariner from Genoa who lived in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth
century. Made landfall in the Americas in 1492 while searching for a passage to the
Indian Ocean in the service of Spain.
Significance: Columbus’s expeditions began the process of Spanish colonization in
the Americas. His first voyage initiated the intercontinental transmission of animals,
plants, diseases that historians call the “Columbian Exchange
D2L Site:
This class makes some use of the D2L website. All assignments will be posted on
D2L. After each lecture, I will post an outline, including key words and ideas.
Grades will sometimes be posted on D2L, and we will use this system to contact you
at various times during the semester.
Use of the D2L site is essential for success in this course. The website includes up-todate information about assignments, keywords, and other critical aspects of the
course. In order to find and browse the course Web site:
1. Call up your Web browser and go to the UWM home page:
http://www.uwm.edu
2. From the UWM home page, click on the “E-learning, D2L” link near the top
right of the screen.
3. On the next screen, click on the Desire2Learn logo.
4. This will bring up the Desire2Learn welcome screen. You will see a location to
enter your Username and Password.
Exams:
There are two exams for this class: a midterm and the final exam. The material for
these exams will be taken from all of the following: lectures, discussions, videos, and
readings. The midterm will deal entirely with the keywords: the final will incorporate
the key words and also have essay questions.
Take-home essays:
There will be two take-home essays, assigned well in advance and due in class. In
each essay, students are expected to use the assigned questions to reflect on all
assigned readings and media presentations in the unit that precedes the take-home
assignment. Students will be expected to cite all of the readings and media
presentations in each take-home paper. While it is not necessary to formally cite class
lectures, it is expected that student papers will utilize concepts drawn from class, as
well as from readings.
Evaluation
Grades will be calculated as follows:
Midterm exam
2 take-home essays, @ 20 points
Attendance/participation
Final Exam
Total
20 points
40 points
15 points
25 points
100 points
In order to receive a passing grade for this course, students must complete all the
assigned work. Failure to do so will result in failure of the course.
What this means, in practice, is that you will not be blamed for the disruptions
caused by personal or widespread illness. In the case of an epidemic, many of the
details of this and other classes may have to change. We will keep you informed.
Schedule
September 5
Introduction
 UNIT ONE: A Short History of Racial Thinking, or, Learning from Katrina:
September 10-12
Read: Burgess & Hendler, Keywords: Race, White, African
September 17-19
Read: Burgess & Hendler, Keywords: Ethnicity, Identity
September 24-26
Social Construction and Counter-narratives of Race
Read: Carol Stabile, “No Shelter from the Storm” &
George Lipsitz, “Learning from New Orleans: The Social Warrant of
Hostile Privatism and Competitive Consumer Citizenship”
October 1-3
Midterm Exam: Wednesday, October 1
NO SECTION MEETINGS
 UNIT TWO: “Our Spirits Don’t Speak English”
October 8-10
Indian Identity and Federal Policy
Read:
 Francis Paul Prucha, “America’s Indians and the Federal
Government, 1900-2000” Wisconsin History Magazine, v. 84
#2, Winter 2000-02, available at D2L site
 Burgess & Hendler, Keyword: Indian
October15-17
Brenda Child, Boarding School Seasons, p. 1-55
October 22-24
Boarding Schools
Finish Boarding School Seasons
Paper Due Friday, October 23
 UNIT THREE: Race and Identity in the North Country
October 29-31
Mémére Métisse/My Métis Grandmother
Read:
 Burgess & Hendler: Mestizo/a
 Patrick Jung, “FRENCH-INDIAN INTERMARRIAGE AND
THE CREATION OF MÉTIS SOCIETY: * available online through “links” under D2L
November 5-7
Scandinavian and German migrants to the northern Midwest
Read:
 Two articles from Bergland reader
November 12-14
start Wingshooters by Nina Revyor
November 19-21
Thanksgiving Break: No class Wednesday
finish Wingshooters
NO SECTION MEETINGS
November26-28
read Patrick Jones, “Not a Color But an Attitude”
Papers due Friday, 11/30
December 3-5
Read: Lipsitz, “Walleye Warriors and White Identity”
Jim Northrup, Chapters
December 10-12
Read:
 Louisa Schein and Va-Megn Thoj, “Occulting Race”
 Simon Ortiz, “To Change Life in a Good Way”
No Section Meetings
FINAL EXAM:
Saturday, December 15
12:30-2:30
Merrill Hall 131