SOCY 607-901: Seminar in Racial and Ethnic Relations in America
Professor Tressie McMillan Cottom
Thursdays 4:00 Pm – 6:40 PM Founder’s Hall
Office Hours: By Appointment
Course Description:
The study of race as an axis of stratification is a defining characteristic of U.S.
sociology. This course is intended to provide graduate students with a broad
overview of sociological theories and studies of race in the U.S. The course is
designed to complement the department’s other graduate courses in class, status,
and power by focusing on how and to what extent race shapes life chances in the
U.S. across time and political economies. A critical learning outcome of this course is
to engage, shape and be critical prosumers of theories, data, and arguments about
race and stratification in the U.S. You can be a successful sociologist without
achieving this outcome but you cannot be a good sociologist without achieving it
(McMillan Cottom, 2016)1. There are two major assignments in this course with
intermediate assessments to help us get there: a peer presentation and a publication
quality literature review.
The course is designed as two sub-modules. One module provides an overview of
classic theories of race in U.S. sociology (e.g. assimilation, pluralism, the Chicago
School and W.E.B. DuBois). The second module is an overview of contemporary
theories of race (racialization, Omi and Winant, Bonilla-Silva, etc.) with a focus on
institutions (as opposed to culture and ideologies, although we will discuss these
briefly). Finally, we will bring a critical lens to the production of sociology of race
itself by examining how the academic discipline has historically fallen short of
theorizing and measuring “the race problem” (McKee 1993)2. Because this is a
graduate course, there is a lot of reading and the student-scholars take a leadership
role in class discussions and assessment. Because I believe in a democratically run
classroom3, this syllabus may change as we move through the coursework but the
structure and core readings will be the same.
Learning Objectives:
 Student-scholars will develop a healthy respect for the study of race as a
theoretical and empirical field of sociological inquiry
 Student-scholars will be able to identify and articulate the major disciplinary
debates about race
McMillan Cottom, T. (2016). Personal Communication.
McKee, J. B. (1993). Sociology and the race problem: The failure of a perspective. University
of Illinois Press.
3 More accurately, this is a benevolent dictatorship.
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Student-scholars will be able to identify the primary ways sociologists
measure “race” and to what ends
Student-scholars will develop a critical engagement with one aspect of a
major race theory (ideally applied to their research interests) and will
demonstrate that engagement in a publication quality literature review
General Course Requirements:
Attendance: Attendance is a requirement of the course, though I will not use class
time to take roll. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO PASS THIS CLASS WITHOUT REGULAR
ATTENDANCE. You’re graduate students. This is a no-brainer.
Classroom Expectations: Also a no-brainer. You are expected to come to class having
read the assigned readings. Active participation in class—by speaking up in class,
contributing to the course wiki/Rampage, asking questions, actively listening—is
required for a good grade (and solid education).
As you will learn during this course, I embrace digital media and technology.
However, both are to be used in service to class discussions. There will be times
when I ask you to use your phones and laptops to participate in activities. I will tell
you when ahead of time. Beyond those times, research shows Yik Yak etc. makes it
hard to focus on deep learning. Therefore, standard operating procedure in this
class means that all electronic devices—including phones, tablets, and laptops—
should be “screen down” during lectures and class presentations.
Homework Expectations: A rule of thumb is that for each credit you are taking during
a semester, you should expect to spend 2 to 3 hours per week outside of class
completing readings, homework, and assignments and studying for exams.
Depending on how you learn, you should expect to spend between 6 to 9 hours per
week studying outside of our 3-credit class. Considering that this is a graduate
course that preparation should be towards the nine-hour prep time upper limit. That
time is in addition to three-hour weeks in seminar and additional time for your
research.
Communication: I am happy to answer your questions in person during office hours.
If you cannot make that week’s scheduled office hours, please let me know and we
can set up a separate appointment. Do not expect email responses except during 9
a.m. and 5 p.m.
Email Policy: I enjoy engaging with you, but I do not have 24-hour access to email.
Here are several good rules of thumb to help us use email effectively and in a way
that does not encourage me to burn it to the ground:
1.
I aim to respond to emails within 24 hours.
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2. Because of number one, emailing me about an assignment due within in 24
hours is a very bad idea. You are unlikely to get assistance in time to complete the
assignment.
3. However, you should assume that I may not respond to emails on weekends and
generally not after 10 PM on weekdays.
4. Email is good for clarification (e.g. “is the weekly response due online or in
class?”) and bad for counseling (e.g. “can you explain sociology?”). If your email does
not have a question that I can address in 3-4 sentences, I will encourage you to
schedule a meeting.
5. Using complete sentences, referring specifically to the text/lecture/assignment
about which you have questions helps me respond with what you actually need as
opposed to what I have to imagine you need.
Course Texts
This course has five required texts. They are a good foundation for a personal
library on the sociology of race. The Golash-Boza book is the reference text. It
provides an overview of major intellectual movements in the sociology of race.
Randall Collins’ foundational text helps us keep in mind where various threads of
sociology of race fit into the overall sociological project. The other texts have all
been chosen as key classic or contemporary readings in an aspect of sociology of
race literature. In addition to these books, we will be reading review, theoretical and
empirical journal articles. I have provided those citations. Accessing them is one of
the secondary skill sets we’ll be developing in class. I suggest you download them all
into a reference management system (e.g. Zotero or Mendeley) at the start of the
semester.
Required
Golash-Boza, T. M. (2015). Race and Racisms: A Critical Approach. Oxford.
Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2007). " They Say/I Say": The Moves that Matter in
Persuasive Writing. WW Norton & Company.
Greer, C. M. (2013). Black ethnics: Race, immigration, and the pursuit of the
American dream. Oxford University Press, USA.
Lewis-McCoy, R. (2014). Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and
Suburban Schooling. Stanford University Press.
Morris, A. (2015). The Scholar Denied: WEB DuBois and the Birth of American
Sociology. University of California Press.
Royster, D. (2003). Race and the invisible hand: How white networks exclude black
men from blue-collar jobs. Univ of California Press.
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Suggested
Collins, R. (Ed.). (1994). Four sociological traditions: Selected readings. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Week
Readings
Overview of Theoretical Debates and Foundations of Sociological Theory of Race
One: Classic Debates and
Review: Golash-Boza, Chapter 1
Traditions from
Assimilation to Pluralism
Empirical: Bonacich, E. (1972). A theory of ethnic antagonism: The split
labor market. American sociological review, 547-559.es and T
Two: Ethnicity and/or
Race
Theoretical: Park, R. E. (1914). Racial assimilation in secondary groups
with particular reference to the Negro. The American Journal of
Sociology, 19(5), 606-623.
Review: Winant, H. (2000). Race and race theory. Annual Review of
Sociology, 169-185.
Empirical: Chapters 8-10, The Philadelphia Negro, W.E.B. DuBois
Three
Theoretical: Van den Berghe, P. L. (1978). Race and ethnicity: a
sociobiological perspective. Ethnic and racial studies, 1(4), 401-411.
Critical: Morris, A. (2015). The Scholar Denied: WEB DuBois and the
Birth of American Sociology. University of California Press.
Four: Assimilation,
Pluralism, Conflict
Review: Golash-Boza
Empirical: Kulczycki, A., & Lobo, A. P. (2001). Deepening the melting
pot: Arab-Americans at the turn of the century. The Middle East Journal,
459-473.
Theoretical: 1. Hirschman, C. (1983). America's melting pot
reconsidered. Annual review of sociology, 397-423.
2. Gans, H. J. (1979). Symbolic ethnicity: The future of ethnic groups
and cultures in America*. Ethnic and racial studies, 2(1), 1-20.
Five: Wealth
Empirical and Theoretical: Oliver and Shapiro Excerpt
Review: Golash-Boza, Chapter 8
Six: Race+
Review: 1. Cho, S., Crenshaw, K. W., & McCall, L. (2013). Toward a field
of intersectionality studies: Theory, applications, and praxis. Signs,
38(4), 785-810. 2.
Empirical: Penner, A. M., & Saperstein, A. (2013). Engendering Racial
Perceptions An Intersectional Analysis of How Social Status Shapes
Race. Gender & Society, 27(3), 319-344.
Theoretical: Choo, H. Y., & Ferree, M. M. (2010). Practicing
Intersectionality in Sociological Research: A Critical Analysis of
Inclusions, Interactions, and Institutions in the Study of Inequalities*.
Sociological theory, 28(2), 129-149.
Contemporary and Emerging Debates in the Sociology of Race: Institutions + Ideologies
Seven: Work
Empirical: Pager, D. (2003). The Mark of a Criminal Record. American
journal of sociology, 108(5), 937-975.
Review: Golash-Boza, Chapter 7
Theoretical: Pager, D., & Shepherd, H. (2008). The sociology of
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Eight: Work
discrimination: Racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit,
and consumer markets. Annual review of sociology, 34, 181.
Review, Empirical, Theoretical: Royster, D. (2003). Race and the
invisible hand: How white networks exclude black men from bluecollar jobs. Univ of California Press.
Nine: Race, Ethnicity, and
Immigration
Review, Empirical, Theoretical: Greer, C. M. (2013). Black ethnics: Race,
immigration, and the pursuit of the American dream. Oxford University
Press, USA.
Ten: Schooling
Review: Golash-Boza, Chapter 6
Empirical: Tyson, K., Darity, W., & Castellino, D. R. (2005). It's not “a
black thing”: Understanding the burden of acting white and other
dilemmas of high achievement. American Sociological Review, 70(4),
582-605.
Eleven: Schooling
Twelve: Emerging Debates
Thirteen: Emerging
Debates
Theoretical: Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students' school
success: Coping with the “burden of ‘acting white’”. The urban review,
18(3), 176-206.
Empirical and Theoretical: Lewis-McCoy, R. (2014). Inequality in the
Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban Schooling. Stanford
University Press.
Review: Race, Affirmative Action, “Diversity” Canard
Empirical: 1. Massey, D. S., & Mooney, M. (2007). The effects of
America's three affirmative action programs on academic performance.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS-NEW YORK-, 54(1), 99.
2. Warikoo, N. K., & de Novais, J. (2015). Colour-blindness and diversity:
race frames and their consequences for white undergraduates at elite
US universities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(6), 860-876.
Theoretical: McMillan Cottom, T. (Forthcoming). Race, Class, Gender
and The Internet.
Review: Culture, Democratizing Technologies, Polarization
Empirical: Curington, C., Lin, K. H., & Lundquist, J. H. (2014).
Multiraciality in Cyberspace: Honorary Whiteness, Hypo-descent or
Something Else?.
Hunter, M. (2007). The persistent problem of colorism: Skin tone,
status, and inequality. Sociology Compass, 1(1), 237-254.
Theoretical: Biagas, D. E., & Bianchi, A. J. (2015). The Latin
Americanization Thesis: An Expectation States Approach. Social Forces,
sov070.
Fourteen: Peer Reviewing
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Assignments:
There are two major assignments in this course with intermediate assessments to
help us get there. The first major assignment is a peer presentation on a week’s
reading assignment. The second major assignment is a seminar paper, which in this
class is a publication quality literature review on a major debate in sociology of race.
Peer Presentation (30%)
Beginning in week four of the course, you will pair up with a colleague to present on
an assigned reading. The assigned reading is related to the week’s reading and class
discussion. But, the peer presentations for that week will do an in-depth read of a
text that their colleagues are not assigned. For example, we may be discussing
Wilson’s theory of class and race. The class may read an excerpt from Wilson’s book
and a journal article on debates about Wilson’s theory. The peer presenters for that
week would read that excerpt and the journal article in addition to Wilson’s text
“More Than Just Race”.
The presenters will guide the week’s discussion in class as our resident resource on
the topic. The presentation will be 20-30 minutes in length. The presenters will
provide a ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF THE IN-DEPTH READING for all members of the
class. The one page summary roughly follows this guideline on “how to read
sociologically” (found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZBKD2oV9zt20q01xfjrOni4D6i6t-wMd3XJ6CXCmV8/edit?usp=sharing).
The summary situates the reading in the sociological tradition (Marxist, Weberian,
functional); the level of analysis (institutions, neighborhoods, electorates, survey);
the research question; key findings; and summary of debates initiated, engaged or
resolved.
One page is hard. That is the point. I will provide some examples of this hand-out in
class (also see the end of the syllabus). The goal is to have, at the end of the course, a
class resource of 8-10 one-page summaries of the key debates in the sociology of
race. These will help you tremendously in your future studies. They will also be
invaluable when you are completing assignment two, the literature review.
Literature Review (40%)
There is one major paper assignment in this course. It is a 15-17 page literature
review of a 1) line of inquiry in the sociology of race and 2) a student-scholar’s
research interests. How you divide up this workflow is up to you but I suggest that
you 1) have a topic in mind no later than week five 2) a reading list or annotated
bibliography by week seven 3) a draft by week ten and a final paper to me when the
assignment is due on May 14, 2016.
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There are several ways to approach writing a good, generative literature review. I
have assigned “They Say, I say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing” by
Graff and Birkenstein. You will also find a list of vetted online resources (that I find
useful and applicable to sociological writing) on the course BB under “Documents”
(most of them also here: http://www.howtodoaliteraturereview.com/literaturesearch-reading/). We will complete some of the writing assignments from Graff and
Birkenstein together and some you should make time to complete on your own.
In its final form, the literature review seminar paper will do three things. First, it
will summarize a theoretical debate/inquiry in sociology of race (either classic or
contemporary but I strongly encourage you to stay contemporary). Second, similar
to the reviews published in Contemporary Sociology, your literature review should
summarize and put forth an argument. Third, the literature review should present
one or two research questions that are supported by the reviewed literature as
“gaps” in current research. To close, you should consider how one might go about
answering that question with a cursory “future research” section. In that section you
imagine what a thesis or research project might look like to answer one of the
questions that emerges from the literature review. Grading for this assignment
emphasizes summation and argument, however. Don’t get lost in the woods of
trying to propose your thesis or an entire sociological career. The point is to show
that you know what comes next.
We will workshop drafts of these reviews towards the end of the course. Your final
version should reflect thoughtful engagement with the peer review.
Literature Review Note Matrix (10%)
By week eight you should have identified a topic for your final paper, have a draft
reading list or annotated bibliography and be thinking about what your argument
will be. To help with that, you will prepare a note matrix assignment, due March
17th. The note matrix assignment is based on one of the resources I list for the
course (http://www.howtodoaliteraturereview.com/note-taking-matrix/). It helps
you begin to organize your reading, systematically keep track of what you have read,
and start synthesizing research (for example:
https://sites.google.com/site/twblacklinemasters/using-a-matrix-to-organiseyour-notes-for-faster-writing).
For this assignment, you will need a minimum of three selected readings that are
important to your literature review (and no more than five). You will identify three
to four themes in the reading (per the example matrix here:
https://sites.google.com/site/twblacklinemasters/using-a-matrix-to-organiseyour-notes-for-faster-writing) and write a paragraph for each theme (also here:
https://sites.google.com/site/twblacklinemasters/using-a-matrix-to-organiseyour-notes-for-faster-writing). This assignment should not be more than two to
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three pages, depending on your formatting. Brevity will help you a lot when it comes
time to summarize the literature in your seminar paper.
Critical Reading (10%)
Learning how to read critically and systematically is key learning objective for this
course (part of learning to “identify and articulate the major disciplinary debates
about race”). Every week by Wednesday at 5pm before class every student-scholar
will post a question or key finding from the week’s reading to the discussion board
in BB. These questions should be specific (referencing a reading, a page number, a
section, a major idea). One way to think of these questions is that they will help
guide classroom discussions. Another way to think about these questions is that
themes may emerge from them that help you with your note matrix. I suggest that
your questions focus on the week’s reading that is most related to your research
interest and likely topic for the seminar paper.
Class Participation (10%)
Class participation includes but is not limited to: reading for class, engaging each
other online, sharing resources, providing substantive feedback to your colleagues,
and co-creating a professional learning environment.
You are graduate students. This is a no-brainer. Do the work. Come prepared. Be
honest about what you have and have not done. Respect each other. Stay on task.
The subject matter in this course can be difficult and you will have moments of
confusion and frustration. Those are givens. But, respectful discourse, integrity in
peer review, professional engagement with the texts and your colleagues will never
be sacrificed to learning goals. I’m sure we will all do fine here. I assume this ten
percent but will exercise discretion should circumstances require. You should note
that without this ten percent you cannot earn a grade higher than a B.
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