MSI 2005
Course Syllabus
Communities, Histories, and Identities:
Exploring (the) Southland
Multicultural Summer Institute 2005
Faculty
Prof. Ron Buckmire, Mathematics
Prof. Regina Freer, Politics
Prof. Donna Maeda, Religious Studies
Prof. Debbie Martinson, English Writing
Email
ron
rfreer
maeda
dmartin
Tel.
x2536
x2924
x2856
x2801
Office
Fowler 313
Johnson 203C
Johnson 106C
Library 22
Lecture: M-Th 9 - 9:55 am, Fowler 302
Seminar: 10:10 – 11:10 am
Buckmire Fowler 310; Freer Fowler 210; Maeda Library 260; Martinson Library 251
Office Hours for all faculty: M-Th 11:20 am-12:30 pm
Instructor (Social Justice Component)
Sriyanthie McCabe
Email
sgunewardena
Tel.
x2525
Office
ICC
Tel
x2522
x2856
Office
ICC
Johnson 106C
Activities: F 7/8, 7/15, 7/22: 9-11 am, Tu 7/26: 2-4 pm
Discussion: F 7/15, 7/22: 11 am-12 pm, Tu 7/26: 4-5 pm
Office Hours: by appointment (don’t be shy)
Directors
Alice Y. Hom
Donna Maeda
Email
ahom
maeda
Teaching Assistants
Molly Franz
Shavonda Joyner
Krystale Littlejohn
Lorena Nunez
Email
franzm
sjoyner
klittlejohn
nunezl
Office Hours for TAs
Tu and Th 7-10pm (except 7/12 when they will be 1-3pm)
Course Description
This year’s course will be taught by faculty from the Politics, Math, English Writing and
Religious Studies departments. Nina Revoyr’s novel, Southland, will be the core text for this
interdisciplinary class. Students will examine overlapping ideas of community, identity, and
history. Additional readings will be used to enhance the novel in order to build an understanding
of ways that historical dynamics of race, sexuality, class, and notions of cultural difference shape
contemporary life in Los Angeles. The class will draw from multiple forms of “text” (such as
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MSI 2005
Course Syllabus
essays, films, theoretical articles, art forms and quantitative analyses of social location) as we
engage complex ideas about these social phenomena. The class will be supplemented by cocurricular activities.
Requirements
Students are expected to complete all readings and assignments; attend all classes, seminar
sections, activities, and films; take notes; and contribute productively to class discussions.
Discussion groups will be a regular part of the large class as well as seminar sections. Your
writing will be central in honing your ability to think and articulate complex ideas. Papers,
examinations, and assignments will provide a means to assess your work on the critical issues
raised by the class. In addition to the faculty, the teaching assistants will be available to assist
you in separate office hours with critical thinking, essay writing, time management, and testtaking strategies. Your course grade will depend on the cumulation of your completed
assignments, a demonstrated commitment to participation in class, and consistent improvement
over the course of MSI.
All work must be completed to receive a passing grade. No late papers or assignments will be
accepted without advance permission. All submitted work must be typewritten unless specified
by the instructor.
It is the policy of Occidental College to make reasonable accommodations for qualified
individuals with disabilities. If you have specific physical or learning disabilities and require
such accommodations, please let a faculty member know within the first few days of class. All
discussions will remain confidential. For information of documentation requirements, contact the
Center for Academic Excellence at X 2849.
Grades
Class preparation and participation including
Autobiography & Community Event Paper
Paper 1
Paper 2
Paper 3
Paper 4
Midterm Examination
Final Examination
15%
10%
15%
15%
15%
15%
15%
Class Schedule
Week 1: Histories
7/4
Holiday
7/5
LA History – The Anti-City
Soja and Scott, “Introduction to Los Angeles: City and Region” in Soja and Scott eds.
The City. Pp 1-21.
Paper #1 Assignment handed out
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MSI 2005
Course Syllabus
7/6
That Was Then This Is Now: Identity, History and Law
Mann, “Law and Its Enforcement against Minorities,” in Unequal Justice
Haney López, “The Social Construction of Race,” in Critical Race Theory: The Cutting
Edge
Paper #1 Topic and Thesis Due
7/7
Japanese American Internment and Narrative of Justice
Revoyr, Southland pp 9-180 completed
Maki, Kitano, and Berthold, “Historical Factors Prior to World War II” and “World War
II: 1941-1945” in Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained
Redress
Yamada, selections from Camp Notes
7/8
Social Justice Component / Introduction
Paper #1 Due 9am in faculty offices
Week 2: Creative Representations
7/11 The Landscape of Literature: Making Life, Making Meaning
Revoyr, Southland emphasize pp 13-131
Rich, “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying” in the Best American Essays of the
Century pp.412-420
Cisneros “Salvador Late or Early” in Woman Hollering Creek pp10-11
Alfaro, “Halloween”
Paper #2 Assignment handed out
7/12
1965 and 1992: Unrest and Interpretation
Sears “Urban Rioting in Los Angeles: A Comparison of 1965 with 1992” in Baldassare,
ed. The Los Angeles Riots: Lessons for the Urban Future 237-254
Navarro, “The South Central Los Angeles Eruption: A Latino Perspective” in Chang and
Leong, eds. Los Angeles—Struggles Toward Multiethnic Community
Ward, “Which Side Are You On?” in Chang and Leong
Paper #2 Topic and Thesis Due
7/13
On Fact, Fiction, Nostalgia
Revoyr, Southland pp 181-348 completed
Didion, Where I Was From chapters 2 and 3, pp 102-128
Justice, “On the Death of Friends”
Yamamoto, “Wilshire Bus”
Rodriguez, “Watts Bleeds”
Paper #2 Draft Due
7/14
Midterm Examination
7/15
Social Justice Component / Ethnicity
Paper #2 Due 9 am in faculty offices
Frye, “Oppression”
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MSI 2005
Course Syllabus
Ore, “Maintaining Inequalities: Systems of Oppression and Privilege”
Yamato, “Something About the Subject Makes It Hard to Name”
Go to “Race – The Power of an Illusion website
http://www.pbs.org/race/000General/000_00-Home.htm
Be sure to follow interactive prompts and do exercises (where applicable) in the
following sections: “Take the Quiz” under “Human Diversity,” “What is Race?” Quick
Facts, All sections of “Explore Timeline” under “Race Timeline,” All sections under
“Me, My Race & I,” All sections under “Where Race Lives”
Week 3: Borders
7/18 Zero or One? Understanding Binary
Lorber, “The Social Construction of Gender”
Anzaldúa, “La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness,” in
Borderlands/La Frontera
Fausto-Sterling, “The Five Sexes,” in The Meaning of Difference
7/19
Interlocking Questions of Identity and Difference
Trinh, “Not You/Like You”
Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” in Sister Outsider
Paper #3 topic and Thesis Due
7/20
Race and Geography
Avila, “The Nation’s ‘White Spot’: Racializing Postwar Los Angeles” in Popular Culture
in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles
Paper #3 Draft Due
7/21
Nina Revoyr Visit
7/22
Social Justice Component / Gender and Sexuality
Paper #3 Due 9am in faculty offices
Lorber, “The Social Construction of Gender” (re-read)
Baca-Zinn, et al., “Gender Through the Prism of Difference
McGill Equity Subcommittee on Queer People, “Unity in Diversity—Recognizing
Heterosexism and Homophobia: Creating an Anti-Heterosexist, Homophobia-Free
Campus”
Brooke, “Homophobia Often Found in Schools, Data Show”
Week 4: Communities/Circles
7/25 On Family
Sorros, Poems from Chicana Falsa: and other stories of death identity and Oxnard
Castillo “Letter One” The Mixquiahuala Letters
poems by Rich, Roethke, Sexton, Alvarez, Hughes, Hongo, Rodriguez
7/26
Work, Self and Meaning
Su, “Making the Invisible Visible: The Garment Industry’s Dirty Laundry”
Paper #4 Revision Strategy Due
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MSI 2005
Course Syllabus
Social Justice Component / Class
Autobiography Paper Due
Community Event Paper Due
Marks, “Economic Opportunity”
Langston, “Tired of Playing Monopoly?”
Ayvazian, “Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Role of Allies as Agents of
Change”
Wise, “The Mother of all Racial Preferences: Affirmative Action Meets the System of
White Privilege”
Wise, “Con-fusion Ethics: How Whites Use Asians to Further Anti-Black Racism”
Wise, “Content of Whose Character? Race, College Admissions and the Fallacy of Merit”
7/27
Squaring the Circle
Reading TBA
Draft of Revision of Paper #1 Due
7/28
Final Examination
7/29
EVALUATION
Revision of Paper #1 Due 9am in faculty offices
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