Hawaii Pacific University
HIST 3414 “Untied” States: Race and Ethnicity in American History
Section ____ , Semester and year, meeting times
Instructor: Name, contact information and other relevant information about the instructor.
Course description: This course examines race and ethnicity in American history from the colonial
period to the present. It will contrast the historical experiences of various racial and ethnic groups and will
examine how each group was treated in relationship to other groups. In particular, we will examine how
the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. has informed debates about American identity. The course also
integrates Hawaiian history into the wider history of race and ethnicity in the U.S., showcasing “local”
cultural patterns as both exceptions to and exemplars of wider American and global patterns of race and
ethnicity.
Course prerequisite: One course from the Research and Epistemology A and one course from World
Cultures A-C or Global Systems B-C.
General Education Requirement: This course is classified as a Global Citizenship course which meets
the Upper-Division Citizenship requirement for general education. Be aware that some majors specify a
particular service-learning course or a different Global Citizenship course to meet the citizenship
requirement. Check your degree requirements if you are planning to use this course to meet the
citizenship requirement.
The course addresses global citizenship by . . . add a sentence or two about how this is done in your
section of the course . Here is an example: This course aspires to promote aware and active global
citizenship amongst students by encouraging them to explore the historical roots of modern pluralism,
prejudice, exclusionism and societal equity. By examining the multi-ethnic nature of the U.S. the course
aims to promote a self-awareness and empathy for what it means to be a person of a particular
race/ethnicity in the pluralistic modern world and to understand what it means to be categorized on the
basis of one’s perceived ethnic or racial roots.
General Education Student Learning Outcomes and the Five Themes: HPU’s general education
curriculum is focused around five themes. This course emphasizes three themes: Values and Choices,
World Cultures and Global Systems. Under the Values and Choices Theme, it provides students with
opportunities to achieve the following related general education student learning outcomes:

Students should be able to apply their understanding of ethical systems and models to develop
and demonstrate a conscious value system as individuals, students, professionals and citizens.
By focusing on race and ethnicity in American history, students will be exposed to many
examples of value systems that were both part of the host cultures and that were brought to
and modified in America through voluntary and involuntary migration. Moreover, students will
examine how the multiplicity of ethical systems in this country were arbitrated, challenged, or
dismissed in attempts to construct a notion of American identity. By understanding the roots of
modern value systems, students will have a clearer understanding of the choices that confront
them in the modern world and be able to contextualize, and be informed about, the choices
that they do make.

Students should understand a range of meanings for concepts associated with individual and
social ethics such as rights and responsibilities, justice and impartiality, citizenship and social
responsibility. This course will examine how pluralism has contributed to the debate over
citizenship in the United States throughout history and thus how modern notions of citizenship
have evolved over time. Through examining exclusionism, racism, ethnic prejudice, as well as
social movements connected with race and ethnicity in the United States, such as the civil rights
movement, students will analyze the development of the American conception of rights and
justice.
The course also emphasizes the World Cultures Theme by providing students with opportunities to
achieve the following related general education student learning outcomes:

Students should be able to describe the significance of important movements or themes
which have shaped the world’s diverse cultures. The course will investigate global themes
such as racism, prejudice, the construction of identity, acculturation, assimilation and nativism
as they pertain to the American past. The course will also explore themes that have impacted
racial and ethnic communities in America such as industrial capitalism, imperialism, colonization,
and liberalism. The course will also view its subjects not merely as victims of power structures,
but also activists. Thus the course will examine civil rights movements within each ethnic and
racial community. Moreover, these social movements are not specific to U.S. history and thus
can be said to be movements and themes that have a global relevance. By studying these
movements in a U.S. context, students will be encouraged to research and understand similar
impulses in other societies.

Students will investigate the roles that race, ethnicity, class, power, belief systems, and gender
play in past and present cultural systems. The course seeks to introduce students to the roles
that race and ethnicity have played in American history. Moreover, within racial and ethnic
systems, gender and class are complicating factors. Thus, the course will also examine how the
experiences of racial and ethnic groups are not monolithic, but are mediated by one’s gender
and social status. Moreover, the historian’s mantra is that one cannot understand the present if
one cannot understand the past. Thus implicit in the study of history is the belief that the
revelation of the past can illuminate contemporary society. The study of the role of these forces
in creating a past American society is thus implicitly the study of contemporary society.
Note: Purple text shows places where specific course information must be filled in. Red text provides
explanatory notes to the instructor which should be deleted before using the syllabus. Blue explanations
above should be rephrased by the individual instructor to reflect the specific approach in that section to
these required outcomes. Course specific outcomes below are an example and should also be rephrased
or modified by the instructor to fit the particular emphasis of his or her course.
Course specific Student Learning Outcomes based on History Department Program Objectives
By completing this course students will
1
Develop skills in gathering and analyzing evidence and in reaching informed conclusions based upon
such evidence. (History Program Objective 1)
2
Develop the ability to think critically about the past and historical issues and to communicate those
ideas verbally and in writing. (History Program Objectives 6 & 7)
3
Critically reflect on the development of the world’s major civilizations and cultures from
indigenous and comparative perspectives, while exploring the richness and diversity of heritages
relevant to the informed global citizen living in a pluralistic present (History Program Objective 4)
4
Place historical questions and issues of enduring importance within their chronological and
geographical contexts (History Program Objective 2)
For the rest of these required syllabus items see the details in the faculty handbook. Delete this note
once the syllabus is complete. For online courses there are some additional requirements given at this
link.
Texts List textbooks with ISBN’s and include this language as well
All textbook information (pricing, ISBN #, and e-books) for this course can be found on the HPU
Bookstore website: hpu.edu/bookstore.
If you have any questions regarding textbooks, please contact the HPU Bookstore at:
Phone:
808-544-9347
Or e-mail:
jyokota@hpu.edu
mmiyahira@hpu.edu
Assignments and mode of evaluation
Summary of important dates and deadlines (if the schedule is a separate document and due dates are
not given with the description of the assignments).
Class rules and policies (including regarding attendance, late work and academic dishonesty)
Schedule of events (may be attached separately)