Sociology 623: Race and Ethnic Relations
Graduate Seminar, Winter 2014
MW 11:00-12:15 pm, 2002 JFSB
Carol Ward
Office: 2038 JFSB
Phone: 422-3047 Office hours: MW 1-2:00 pm
REQUIRED TEXTS:
1. Cornell, Stephen, and Hartmann, Douglas, 2007. Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a
Changing World. Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
2. Brown, Michael, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David Oppenheimer, Marjorie
Shultz and David Wellman, 2003 (2005 paperback). Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a ColorBlind Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
OTHER SOURCES FOR READINGS:
Other readings for this course will be selected from the following list and made available for the
class. Some other selections may be added during the term.
 Ellison, Christopher, and Martin, W. Allen, 1998. Race and Ethnic Relations in the
United States: Readings for the 21st Century. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Co.
 Ferrante, Joan and Prince Brown, Jr., 1998. The Social Construction of Race and
Ethnicity in the United States.
 Forret, Jeff, 2006. Race Relations at the Margins: Slaves And Poor Whites in the
Antebellum Southern Countryside. Louisiana State University Press.
 Gallagher, Charles A. 1999. Rethinking the Color Line.
 Garcia, Ignacio M., 2008. White But Not Equal: Mexican Americans, Jury
Discrimination, and the Supreme Court. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.
 Garroutte, Eva, 2003. Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America.
Berkeley, CA: University of California.
 Hutchinson, John, and Anthony D. Smith, 1996. Ethnicity.
 Lareau, Annette, 2011. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second
Edition with an Update a Decade Later. University of California Press.
 Kivisto, Peter and Georganne Rundblad, 2000. Multiculturalism in the United States:
Current Issues, Contemporary Voices.
 Morning, Ann, 2011. The Nature of Race: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human
Difference. University of California Press.
 Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut. 2006. Immigrant America: A Portrait. Third
edition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
 Rugh, Susan Sessions, 2008. Are We There Yet?: The Golden Age of American Family
Vacations. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
 Stanfield II, John H. and Rutledge M. Dennis, 1993. Race and Ethnicity in Research
Methods.
 Wilson, William Julius, 2009. More than Just Race. New York City, NY: WW. Norton
and Co.
 Yetman, Norman, R. 1999. Majority and Minority.
COURSE GRADING CRITERIA: (500 points total)
1. Essays/exams - There will be 3 short take-home essays (3-5 pages each), covering specific
sections of the readings and related class discussions. Specific guidelines will be provided for
each essay/exam. (50 points each for a total of 150 points)
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2. Book review - One short paper (5 pages) is required which will critically evaluate a recent
book on a specific issue or topic in the area of race and ethnic relations. Book reviews will be
presented to the class during the last week of the semester. (50 points)
3. Presentations on reading assignments and class participation - During each class meeting,
we will discuss about 2-3 readings (there are about 4-6 readings listed for each week; in the first
class period each week, we will discuss the first 2-3 and the remaining readings during the second
class period). Members of the class will sign up each week to lead the discussion of the assigned
readings for the following week. Leading the discussion involves presenting a short (1-2 page)
summary and critical assessment of the assigned readings for that class period. (Copies of each
summary should be placed on Learning Suite no later than the day before we review it in class so
that everyone can read it and/or make copies before class.) Everyone is expected to participate in
discussions of the readings. (150 points)
4. Research proposal - For the final exam, you will prepare a proposal (7-8 pages) for a
research project on a topic related to race and ethnicity that draws on knowledge you have gained
from this course on both theories and methods. (150 points)
COURSE OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES AND SCHEDULE:
This course supports the graduate program instructional goals identified on the Sociology
website: “The coursework is designed to teach students to understand and utilize the primary
methods of sociological research, employ statistical models to test hypotheses, engage
sociological theory to inform their understanding of key social issues, and specialize in particular
areas of sociology.”
Week 1: January 6 and 8
Part 1 - Expected Learning outcomes:
Students will understand the theories and concepts associated with race and ethnicity and how
these relate to evidence of actual experiences with race and ethnicity, identity formation,
assimilation and stratification.
Review of syllabus and introduction to course. (A copy of the syllabus, assignments and exams
and readings not in the required texts are available on Learning Suite.)
Readings:
 Ferrante and Brown, Part 1, selected essays: Hongo, Dawkins, Forbes, Tovares, and
Brown.
 Yetman, Introduction to Part 1, Definitions and Perspectives: pages 1-12.
 Hutchinson and Smith chapters:
o Schermerhorn, Chapter 1; Tonkin et al, Chapter 2.
Week 2: January 13 and 15
Readings:
 Cornell and Hartmann, Chapters 1 and 2.
 Yetman, Introduction to Part 1, Definitions and Perspectives: pages 13-22.
** Personal essay (3-4 pages) on personal experiences with race/ethnic identity, due Jan 31st.
Week 3: January 20 (Monday holiday) and 22
Readings:
 Hutchinson and Smith - selected chapters:
o Weber, Chapter 5; Geertz, Chapter 6; Barth, Chapter 12.
 Cornell and Hartman, Chapter 3.
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Week 4: January 27 and 29
Readings:
 Cornell and Hartmann, Chapters 4-8.
Week 5: February 3 and 5
Readings:
 Gallagher, chapters:
o Harris, Chapter 1; Omi and Winant, Chapter 2; Feagin and Feagin, Chapter 3.
 Forrett, Selected chapters.
Week 6: February 10 and 12
Readings:
 Forrett, Selected chapters.
 Yetman chapters:
o Introduction to Part 2, Historical Perspectives: pages 87-121.
*** Short take home essay exam #1: due February 21st.
Week 7: February 17 and 19 (Monday holiday; Monday classes on Tuesday.)
Readings:
 Garroutte, Chapters 1-3.
Week 8: February 24 and 26
Readings:
 Garroutte, Chapters 4-6, Conclusion.
 Ellison and Martin chapters; 1-2 chapters selected from the following:
o Waters, Chapter 19; Zenner, Chapter 20; Reed Chapter 21.
Week 9: March 3 and 5
Part 2 - Expected Learning Outcomes:
Students will understand a range of explanations of racial and ethnic stratification and
assimilation, how explanations have changed and the implications of these changes for policy.
Readings:
 Yetman: Introduction, Part 3, Patterns of Ethnic Integration in America: pages 227-271.
 Brown et al., Chapter 1-2.
Week 10: March 10 and 12
Readings:
 Rugh, Selected chapters or Lareau, Selected chapters.
 Brown et al., Chapter 3.
*** Short take home essay exam #2: due March 21st.
Week 11: March 17 and 19
Readings:
 Yetman chapter on segregation: Massey and Denton, article 9, or James, article 21.
 Kivisto and Rundblad chapter: Wilson, Chapter 17 (or chapter selected from More than
Just Race)
 Ellison and Martin chapters:
o Sniderman and Piazza; Chapter 22; Dovidio, et al., Chapter 23.
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Week 12: March 24 and 26
Readings:
 Brown et al., Chapter 4-6 and Conclusion.
 Garcia, Selected chapters.
*** Finalize selection of book for book review due April 14th.
Week 13: March 31 and April 2
Readings:
 Portes and Rumbaut (Select 2-3 chapters).
 Ellison and Martin chapters (Select 1-2):
o Perez-Stable and Uriarte, Chapter 6; Lemann, Chapter 7; Segura, Chapter 8;
Hurh and Kim, Chapter 11; Yoon, Chapter 12; Zhou, Chapter 13.
Week 14: April 7 and 9
Part 3 - Expected Learning Outcomes:
Students will understand methodological issues related to studying race and ethnicity and will be
able to appropriately assess the quality of research on these topics as well as develop appropriate
research designs.
Readings:
 Stanfield and Dennis (Select 2-3 chapters):
o Stanfield, Articles 1 and 2, Part I.
o Andersen, Article 3, Part II.
o Dennis, Article 4, in Part II.
o Facio, Article 5, in Part II.
Week 15: April 14
 Discussion of book reviews in class (bring 1 page handouts for discussion).
*** Final exam (research prospectus) due: Monday, April 19 by 5:00 pm.
Recommended Readings:
 Bauman, Zygmunt, 1991. Modernity and the Holocaust; 1992. Intimations of Postmodernity.
 Blackmon, Douglas A., 2008. Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black
Americans from the Civil War to World War II. New York, NY: Doubleday.
 Brinton, Mary, 1993. Women and the Economic Miracle.
 Brooks, Roy L., 1996. Integration or Separation? A Strategy for Racial Inequality.
 Cashin, S. 2004. The failures of integration: How race and class are undermining the
American Dream. New York: Public Affairs.
 Comaroff, John, 1992. Ethnography and the Historical Imagination.
 Feagin, Joe R. and Karyn D. McKinney, 2003. The Many Costs of Racism.
 Forret, Jeff, 2006. Race Relations at the Margins: Slaves And Poor Whites in the Antebellum
Southern Countryside. Louisiana State University Press.
 Garcia, Ignacio M., 1997. Chicanismo: The Forging of a Militant Ethos among Mexican
Americans.
 Garcia, Ignacio M., 2008. White But Not Equal: Mexican Americans, Jury Discrimination, and
the Supreme Court. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.
 Hall, John R. 1992. The Capital(s) of Cultures: A Nonholistic Approach to Status Situations,
Class, Gender, and Ethnicity, in Cultivating Differences, M. Lamont and M. Fournier, eds.
 Hochschild, Jennifer, 1995. Facing Up to the American Dream.
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 Lareau, Annette, 2011. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second Edition
with an Update a Decade Later. University of California Press.
 Morning, Ann, 2011. The Nature of Rac e: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human
Difference. University of California Press.
 Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut. 2006. Immigrant America: A Portrait. Third
edition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
 Rugh, Susan Sessions, 2008. Are We There Yet?: The Golden Age of American Family
Vacations. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
 Steinberg, Stephen, 1981, 1989, 2001, The Ethnic Myth; 1995, 2001, Turning Back; 2007,
Race Relations: A Critique.
 Waters, Mary, 1990. Ethnic Options.
 West, Cornell, 1992. Race Matters.
 Wilson, William Julius, 2009. More than Just Race. New York City, NY: WW. Norton and
Co.
NOTE TO STUDENTS:
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 367-5689 (24-hours); or contact
the Honor Code Office at 422-2847.
Students with Disabilities
Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that
reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability, which
may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the Services for
Students with Disabilities Office (422-2767). Reasonable academic accommodations are
reviewed for all students who have qualified, documented disabilities. Services are coordinated
with the student and instructor by the SSD Office. If you need assistance or if you feel you have
been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through
established grievance policy and procedures by contacting the Equal Employment Office at 4225895, D-285 ASB.
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Academic Honesty Policy
The first injunction of the BYU Honor Code is the call to be honest. Students come to the
university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist
them in their life's work, but also to build character. President David O. McKay taught that
'character is the highest aim of education' (The Aims of a BYU Education, p. 6). It is the purpose
of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fulfilling that aim. BYU students should seek to
be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be
evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its
forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other
academic misconduct.
Plagiarism Policy
Writing submitted for credit at BYU must consist of the student's own ideas presented in
sentences and paragraphs of his or her own construction. The work of other writers or speakers
may be included when appropriate (as in a research paper or book review), but such material must
support the student's own work (not substitute for it) and must be clearly identified by appropriate
introduction and punctuation and by footnoting or other standard referencing.
While all students sign the honor code, there are still specific skills most students need to master
over time in order to correctly cite sources, especially in this new age of the internet; as well as
deal with the stress and strain of college life without resorting to cheating. Please know that as
your professor I will notice instances of cheating on exams or plagiarizing on papers.
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