CRCL 5031
THEORIES OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY
TUESDAYS 4-7PM, B1104
INSTRUCTOR: DEEPA REDDY
PHONE: 281-283-3331
OFFICE: B2617-2
EMAIL: REDDY@UHCL.EDU
Office Hours: Tuesdays 7-8:30pm & Wednesdays 4-5:30pm
Website: http://coursesite.cl.uh.edu/hsh/reddy/
WebCT: http://courses.cl.uh.edu:8900/
COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES
In this seminar, we will investigate the concept of “culture” as it is inflected by such other markers of identity as
ethnicity, gender and especially race. Our focus will be on the discursive production of identity; we will
examine how arguments about culture and race are made and deployed in several genres of writing--law, social
science, natural science, fiction, essays. We will be less concerned with the reification of cultures or the
biogenetic existence of “race,” but with a related question: For what purposes would one wish to deploy a
theory of stable racial or cultural difference? We will aim to finish the semester with a better understanding of
“culture” and “diversity” once we have explored:
. The many mutations of "culture" and the changes its definition has undergone;
. The rhetorical appeal to "race" as an authority for legal and social policy;
. The conflation of "race" and cultural and/or biological identity.
TEXTS & WHERE TO FIND THEM
1. In the Bookstore (eventually)/ amazon.com/ half.com/ bn.com:
Zadie Smith, 2000, White Teeth
2. On reserve in B2617-5: “Course Packet”
3. In Neumann Library’s online Databases
4. Website: http://coursesite.cl.uh.edu/hsh/reddy and WebCT: http://courses.cl.uh.edu:8900/
ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING
Prospectus (2-3 pages)
Draft of Research Paper (min. 8 pages)
Research Paper (min. 12 pages)
Critical analysis papers (2; min. 5 pages each)
Discussion Board Contributions
Attendance & Participation
10%
10%
30%
30%
10%
10%
Due Dates
September 5
September 25 (Monday, by 9am)
October 17
November 7 & November 28
n/a
n/a
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 1
Prospectus
All students are required to provide a 2-3 page (double-spaced) description of their projects (primary texts,
thesis and anticipated development/support) as well as an annotated bibliography of secondary sources that
indicate how you will be using these in your papers by the seventh class meeting. You may use your assigned
readings as appropriate, but at least 5 entries in your bibliography should not come from the syllabus. Please be
aware that although I teach the works of authors from several disciplines in this course, ranging from the
literary to the sociological, nearly all the material used here is at the very least qualitative. Your bibliography
should be similarly focused.
For the bibliography: 1) devise a search strategy; e.g.: a set of keywords. 2) Perform searches in (as
appropriate) the MLA International Bibliography, America: History and Life, and the Social Sciences Index, all
of which are available through the Library, and on Table 10 of the Reference Historical Abstracts, which is
section, and the catalogues of area libraries.
Some notes on online sources:
- Please note that online sources count only as primary material, unless they can be accompanied by a full
citation to a scholarly source (journal or book).
- Newspapers and media reports may count as primary material or to help establish certain facts, usually
not more.
- read Wikipedia all you want, but only to orient yourself with the history/literature related to your chosen
topic; please do not cite it! If you are in need of some authoritative Encyclopedic or etymological listing,
make the trip to the library for the Oxford English Dictionary or Encyclopedia Britannica or find out
what online resources are available through Neumann Library.
- I can smell the desire for online shortcuts, I can even sympathize, but in the final tally I don’t want to
see them in your scholarly papers.
- All online sources that lack a full citation to a scholarly work are subject to instructor review &
approval.
Finally, you’ll have to write a 100-word abstract of your proposed project, and post it on the class discussion
board. Constructive feedback on the topics of your peers is welcomed, so you should feel free to follow up on
the postings, as much as you should expect to receive comments on yours. Any number of online resources can
tell you how to write abstracts; here’s just one: http://www.uaf.edu/csem/ashsss/abstract_writing.html
Research Paper
Each participant will produce a research paper (12 pages minimum) that combines research and original
interpretation to analyze a logic of racialism or culturalism in one or more con/texts.
You will want to show how a particular ideology orders the text (or a character’s world, should you decide to
analyze literary texts). You may choose texts that challenge or propose an alternative to the dominant forms of
racialist or culturalist discourse (including texts that propose a culturalist solution to racialist impasses), or texts
that think they do but repeat the logic of racialism with different values.
If you concentrate on racialism, it is not sufficient to demonstrate the presence of characters of different races or
acts of racism. You would not write about the Harlem Renaissance, but about, for example, authors’ attempts to
redefine blackness; the racialist content of white critical reception; performances of “blackness” for white
audiences; “passing” and shades of blackness.
If you concentrate on culturalism, you will want to focus on how culture works—or fails to work—as a
mediating concept between race and the individual. You might begin with a description of a culture’s
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 2
constituent elements, but would need ultimately to assess the implications of these for the characters, texts or
individuals in question. Questions that you might address (depending on your topic): How is “culture” defined
and constituted? In what specific socio-historical context? How is it deployed as an argument – and for what
purposes?
Critical analysis papers
Each student will write TWO critical analysis papers (minimum 5 pages each) responding to two or more of the
assigned readings for any given week. Papers should be structured according to the following, with emphasis on
the final section:
(i) What questions/ concerns are being addressed?
(ii) How are these questions addressed? What are the main lines of argument presented?
(iii)Critical Analysis: What is the significance of these arguments for the constructions/study of race and
culture, or for how we think about them? (Shock and awe are not useful responses )
Papers are due at 9am on November 7th and November 28th respectively.
Discussion Board Contributions
Students are required to be active participants on the class discussion board, through WebCT. Your
contributions to the class discussion board throughout the semester will be noted and rewarded. Although you
may post your own questions to the discussion board as you feel the need, your responses to the discussion
topics that appear on the syllabus are required. Discussion board contributions will be used to measure class
participation, especially in the final weeks of the semester.
o At bare minimum, I am looking for two thoughtfully composed postings, on at least two of the topics
given.
o And keep in mind that what is on the discussion board is required reading for this class!!
Attendance & Participation
At the very least, you must regularly attend the seminar meetings and think carefully about the week’s readings.
Because I intend to run the class as a seminar, not a lecture, your constructive participation is very important
and will be rewarded.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 3
DISCUSSION BOARD TOPICS
You may post as many times on a single topic as you wish, revising your ideas each time if you like, but you’ll
need to post on at least two topics of the given below, and you’ll need to post a minimum of two times (total).
Bear in mind that your active participation on the discussion board will and in class will make all the difference
for what you get out of this class experience! You may or may not receive an elaborate response, but you should
consider responses to questions such as the ones below to be valuable for the development of your own ideas &
your general engagement with the class.
1. You watched the film Crash at the beginning of the semester, and then much later read and discussed
Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. I propose that both Crash and White Teeth present theories of racial
connectivity, to borrow Tomlinson’s term, or simply the idea that culture/race form the basis of our
interactions with one-another. How would you elaborate on this idea?
2. Related to (1): What are the theories of/ideas about race relations presented in Crash? Do we find
similar theories in White Teeth? Why or why not? Where are they more theorized and why?
3. How similar (or not) is Ian Hacking’s term, cited in Chakrabarty’s article, “dynamic nominalism,” to the
idea of “coproduction” introduced in Jenny Reardon’s writing (and generally used in Science and
Technology Studies) – the idea that scientific knowledge and social/political orders produce each other?
(In other words scientific knowledge has an impact on our social worlds and how we live in them, but
politics and our social worlds equally influence what is and is not possible in scientific inquiry – think,
for instance, of how much public money gets poured into drug research or cancer research, but not
necessarily into other inquiries).
4. All through the semester and really also in daily lives we generally encounter two types of discourses on
race: discourses of sameness, and discourses of difference. Can you identify some of these discourses
(just by their popular names), and then reflect on how-when-why the emphasis of American
Multiculturalism has shifted from one to the other over time? In other words, reflect on the on-going
argument between discourses of sameness with discourses of difference?
5. Why are authors (such as Duster, Hartigan, Reardon) increasingly suggesting that we be skeptical of the
idea that “race is a social construct”? Indeed, why do they go as far as to ask us to treat this axiom of
social-science discourse as an ideological position? How, in popular discourse & in your experience, has
race always been something a bit more than just a social construct?
6. As you continue to read the course material, reflect now on ideas and assumptions about race/culture
you either endorse or believe to be common. How are your ideas about race, ethnicity, culture
challenged by what you are reading, if at all? How are you making sense of race/culture in light of what
you are reading in class?
7. Reflect on the ways in which the concept of “race” is translated – into culture, into ethnicity, into caste,
into populations – and vice versa, and on the social, political, legal, and scientific processes which make
such translations possible.
8. More topics may be added as the semester progresses, including ones suggested by you – in person or in
class discussions. Keep a watch on the discussion board for updates.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 4
COURSE POLICIES
WebCT
Several sessions of this course will be conducted through WebCT: http://courses.cl.uh.edu:8900/. It is your responsibility
as a student to familiarize yourself with all aspects WebCT, especially the tools utilized in this course. Please be aware
that ALL papers must be submitted as WebCT assignments in order to be graded. Papers emailed on WebCT will not be
accepted. Should you run into technical difficulties, please contact WebCT support (support information is on logon
screen).
Academic Honesty Policy
As a UHCL student, you are responsible for knowing and observing the University’s standards for academic honesty,
which are set forth in the UHCL Catalog and Section 4.2 of the UHCL Student Handbook (available online at:
http://b3308-adm.cl.uh.edu/PolicyProcedures/studentlife/acadhone.html).
Plagiarism
The most serious breach of academic integrity is handing in others’ work as your own. Any words, phrases, or sentences
taken from another text must be enclosed in quotation marks. Whether you are quoting word for word or borrowing an
idea and putting it in your own words, you must credit your source. All instances of plagiarism will be referred to the
Dean of Students.
For the mechanics of citation, consult either:
. the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, ed. Joseph Gibaldi, 6th ed. (New York: MLA, 2003), on reserve
and in reference at Neumann Library (LB2369 G53 2003), OR
. The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2003), on reserve and in reference at
Neumann Library (Z253 .U69 2003).
Absences
I realize that illness or unforeseen crisis can make attendance impossible. I also know that excessive absences hurt the
class as a whole. Class attendance and your participation are important parts of the educational process in this seminar.
TWO absences will pass without mention. Additional absences will lower your final grade. Please, contact me as
soon as you possibly can if you are facing a situation that will result in an inordinate number of absences or an inability to
complete assignments on schedule.
Late Assignments
ALL late papers, without exception, depreciate by 5% on the first day of lateness, and an additional 5% for every
two additional days, weekends included. In fairness to all, extra time will be granted for assignments only in exceptional
cases. Should you be unable to meet a deadline, you must make alternate arrangements to hand in the assignment.
Changes to the Syllabus
The dates on the schedule represent my best estimate of the time we will give each text. Dates will change if we choose to
devote more or less time to one of the readings.
Withdrawal
The last date for drops without penalty is listed in this semester's schedule of classes and on the UHCL web:
http://www.uhcl.edu/ You are responsible for independently verifying that date.
Incompletes
A grade of "I" is granted only when a documented emergency arises late in the semester. An "I" is not an option for
someone who has been behind all semester.
Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability that requires special accommodation, you must (1) talk with the Coordinator of Health Disability
Services AND (2) talk with me and we’ll make all necessary arrangements. You must do this at the start of the semester,
or as soon as possible after the disability is diagnosed during the semester.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 5
SCHEDULE OF READINGS
WEEK 1: AUGUST 22
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
WEEK 2: AUGUST 29
PROBLEMATIZING “CULTURE” AND “DIVERSITY”
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 1997. “The Multiculturalist Misunderstanding” in The New York Review of Books,
Volume 44, Number 15 · October 9. (Course Packet)
Kilson, Martin and Reply by Kwame Anthony Appiah. 1998. “The Multiculturalist Misunderstanding” in The
New York Review of Books, Volume 45, Number 4 · March 5. (Course Packet)
Further Suggested Reading:
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 1996. “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections” in Color Conscious:
The political morality of Race, K.A. Appiah and Amy Gutmann, eds., pp. 30-105 (Course Packet)
WEEK 3: SEPTEMBER 5
PROSPECTUS DUE;
ABSTRACT (NO MORE THAN 100 WORDS) TO BE POSTED ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD
THE FATE OF “CULTURE”
Clifford, James. 1988. “Identity in Mashpee” in The Predicament of Culture. Boston: Harvard University Press.
(Course Packet)
Comaroff, Jean. 2004. "The End of History, again?” (Website and WebCT)
WEEK 4: SEPTEMBER 12
CULTURE AND COMMODIFICATION
Michael F. Brown. 2004. “Heritage as Property” in Property in Question: Value transformation in the global
economy. Ed. Katherine Verdery and Caroline Humphrey. London: Berg, pp. 49-68. (Course Packet)
Vanderbilt, Tom. 1997. The Advertised Life. In Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from The Baffler, (eds.) T.
Frank and M. Weiland. New York and London: W.W. Norton. 127-42. (Course Packet)
WEEK 5: SEPTEMBER 19
GLOBALIZATION AND CULTURE
Tomlinson, John. 1999. Chapters 1 & 2 of Globalization and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pp. 1-31. (Course Packet)
Chua, Amy. 2002. “Two Faces of Globalization: A World on the Edge” in The Wilson Quarterly 26/4 (Autumn
2002) pp. 62-77. (Databases)
Cowen, Tyler. 2002. “Two Faces of Globalization: The Fate of Culture” in The Wilson Quarterly 26/4 (Autumn
2002) pp. 78-84. (Databases)
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 6
WEEK 6: SEPTEMBER 26
DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE (8 PAGES MINIMUM) ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH, BY 9AM
MULTICULTURALISM & IDENTITY POLITICS
Okin, Susan Moller. 2002. “Multiculturalism and Feminism: no simple question, no simple answers.”
Unpublished ms. (Website and WebCT)
Ford, Richard T. 2002. “Beyond “Difference”.” In Left Legalism/Left Critique. Ed. Wendy Brown and Janet
Halley. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 38-79. (Course Packet)
Ignatieff, Michael. 1998. “Identity Parades” in Prospect (April, Issue 29). (Website and WebCT)
WEEK 7: OCTOBER 3
WHO DID YOU SAY YOU ARE?
Christopher Newfield and Avery Gordon, “White Philosophy” in Critical Inquiry 20 (Summer 1994). Pp. 737757 (Databases)
Walter Benn Michaels, “The No Drop Rule” in Critical Inquiry 20 (Summer 1994). Pp. 758-769. (Databases)
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit of Louisiana, Jane Doe v. State of Louisiana. (Website and WebCT)
WEEK 8: OCTOBER 10
RACE INTO POPULATIONS
Jenny Reardon, 2004, Race to Finish: Identity and Governance in an Age of Genomics, Durham: Duke
University Press, Chapters 1-2. (Course Packet)
Hartigan, John Jr., “Saying "Socially Constructed" Is Not Enough” in Anthropology News Feb 2006, Vol. 47,
#2: p8. (Databases)
Duster, Troy. 2003. “Buried Alive: The Concept of Race in Science,” in Alan H. Goodman, Deborah Heath, and
M. Susan Lindee, eds., Genetic Nature / Culture: Anthropology and Science Beyond the Two-Culture
Divide, Berkeley and London: University of California Press, pp.258-277. (Website and WebCT).
Website (optional): http://www.dnafiles.org/
WEEK 9: OCTOBER 17
RESEARCH PAPERS DUE
CASTE INTO RACE
Berreman, Gerald D. 1960. “Caste in India and the United States.” American Journal of Sociology 66 (2): 12027. (Databases)
Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2002. “The Governmental roots of modern ethnicity” in Habitations of modernity: Essays
in the wake of subaltern studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 80-97. (Course Packet)
Reddy, Deepa S. “The Ethnicity of Caste.” Anthropological Quarterly 78/2 (Summer 2005). (Website and
WebCT)
Further Suggested Reading:
Dirks, Nicholas B. 1992. “Castes of mind.” Representations 37 (Winter): 56-78. (Databases)
WEEK 10: OCTOBER 24
Zadie Smith, White Teeth
Check for discussion topics on WebCT
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 7
WEEK 11: OCTOBER 31
FILM: CRASH (you may rent this and watch it at home, if you haven’t seen the film already); Check for
discussion topics on WebCT
WEEK 12: NOVEMBER 7
CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 1 DUE
WEEK 13: NOVEMBER 14
FILM: TBD; Check for discussion topics on WebCT
WEEK 14: NOVEMBER 21 THANKSGIVING BREAK
WEEK 15: NOVEMBER 28
CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 2 DUE
CULTURAL DIVERSITY SYLLABUS, FALL 2006, 8