SPRING 2005
3:35-4:50 TUTH, FANER 3515
Phone 453-5019 email: jadams@siu.edu
This course deals with the ways people form collective, or cultural, identities. It focuses on North America. After an introduction to the main ideas, we will discuss four major ways people form collective identities: through religion, through nationalism, through race, and through class. We will find that these primary axes of cultural difference overlap in unpredictable ways, and that other axes of difference, especially gender, make people’s experiences widely different from one another.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE:
We begin with an orientation to the issues involved, then take up religion through reading Anthony F.C. Wallace’s study of the Handsome Lake Religion, Death and Rebirth of the Seneca.
We then move to issues of national or ethnic identity, beginning with a philosophical article on the nature of national identity, “Culture, National Identity, and Admission to Citizenship” by Shelley Wilcox. The class will divide into two parts, with each reading one of two books: Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans by Karen Isaksen Leonard, and Highland Heritage: Scottish Americans in the American South by Celeste Ray.
The third unit, on race, ties directly into my current research. We will view and discuss the video I produced with D. Gorton, and read Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia by J. Douglas Smith.
The fourth unit deals with class, one of the most theoretically problematic categories in the contemporary period. We will address it in the context of race, with the entire class reading an article about working class whites in the Mississippi Delta by myself and D. Gorton, “Confederate Lane,” and one of two books, Racial Situations: Class Predicaments of Whiteness in Detroit by John Hartigan, Jr. and The Color of Class: Poor Whites and the Paradox of Privilege by Kirby Moss.
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance: The content of this course is based on student participation. Attendance is therefore critical. Students are required to attend all classes. You are allowed three (3) absences without penalty. YOU WILL LOSE 1/2 (ONE-HALF) LETTER GRADE FOR EACH CLASS YOU MISS IN EXCESS OF THREE ABSENCES.
2. Reading: You will read four ethnographies and associated articles.
3. Response papers. You will write a short (1 page, 250 words) response piece to each reading, as assigned. These response pieces will be due in class the on the day assigned.
4. Term paper. You will write a term paper on a topic relevant to the theme of the course. Under-graduate papers will be 12-15 pages (3,000 to 4,000 words), graduate papers 20-25 pages (5,000 to 7,000 words). Select your topic by the 3rd week, hand in a preliminary bibliography week 8, consult with Dr. Adams, week 9, paper due week 14. You may, in close consultation with Dr. Adams, do a piece of creative work – creative writing, web site, video, or other work.
5. Exams. There will be a midterm and a final take home exam.
6. Grading:
| Midterm |
20%
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| Final |
30%
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| Term paper |
30%
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| Summaries |
..20%
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100%
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Academic Dishonesty: We welcome you to this classroom community with the assumption that the work you do will be your own. However, distinguishing your work from the work of another can be tricky at times, for both you and your instructor. Presenting another’s work as your own, even if by accident, is a serious violation of the Student Conduct Code.
The Student Conduct Code identifies the following as acts of academic dishonesty: Plagiarism, representing the work of another as ones own work; preparing work for another that is to be used as that persons own work; cheating by any method or means; &soliciting, aiding, abetting, concealing, or attempting conduct in violation of this code (p. 18).
Whether quoting or paraphrasing (or even summarizing) someone else’s work, you should cite your sources. Failure to do so constitutes an act of plagiarism. This policy applies to papers and speeches. Buying a paper online, copying text from several web sites, and turning in someone else’s paper (even with a few words changed) are all examples of plagiarism when you claim such work as your own.
Note: As services selling such papers have increased in number, so have services that track plagiarism using sources from the internet.
Suspected cases of plagiarism will be investigated following Article V of the Student Conduct Code. If plagiarism is substantiated, the perpetrator may face failing the assignment, failing the course, disciplinary censure, and/or suspension from the university, depending on the details of the case (see Article III of the Student Conduct Code).
Rule of thumb: when in doubt, cite where the information is coming from. If you are uncertain whether you are citing sources sufficiently and appropriately enough to avoid plagiarism, please consult your instructor or a tutor at the Writing Center.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
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Week 1
Jan. 18
(Jan. 17, M.L.King Day. |
Thursday – lesson on how to use the on-line library. Discuss Ochoa, Gilda Laura, Mexican Americans’ Attitudes toward and Interactions with Mexican Immigrants: A Qualitative Analysis of Conflict and Cooperation. Social Science Quarterly 81(1):84-105, March 2000.. |
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Week 2
Jan. 24 |
Tuesday – Continue discussion of identity, etc.
Thursday – Find one article that deals with issues of collective or cultural identity in a North American context. Email url to me, and to rest of class, by Wednesday evening. jadams@siu.edu. Come to class with a brief statement (250 words) of what the article says about collective or cultural identity. Use this form:
We will continue discussion in light of your readings. I will request some or all members of class to address the issues in the paper you read. |
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Week 3
Jan 31
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Begin unit on religion
Wallace, Anthony F.C., Death and Rebirth of the Seneca, Random House, 1972 (Vintage). Part I. The Heyday of the Iroquois Tuesday: Turn in topic for term paper.
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Week 4
Feb. 7 |
Wallace, Anthony F.C., Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. |
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Week 5
Feb. 14 |
Wallace, Anthony F.C., Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. |
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Week 6
Feb. 21 |
Begin unit on national and ethnic identities
Tuesday: Culture, National Identity, and Admission to Citizenship. By: Wilcox, Shelley. Social Theory & Practice, Oct2004, Vol. 30 Issue 4, p 559, 24p; [NOT READ] Get assignments for: Karen Isaksen Leonard, Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Celeste Ray, Highland Heritage: Scottish Americans in the American South. University of North Carolina Press.
Thursday: Begin discussing books and reviews of the books. Bibliography due in class Thursday.
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Week 7Feb. 28 |
Continue discussion of books. Meet with Dr. Adams to discuss paper.
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Week 8, March 7
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Finish discussion of books. MIDTERM
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SPRING BREAK WEEK 9 – March 12-20
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Week 10,
March 21
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Begin unit on race.
Race:Mississippi. Video and materials on web. http://www.siu.edu/~jadams/mississippi_delta/mj_frame.html Smith, J. Douglas. Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. Introduction, Chap. 1. Discuss reviews
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Weeks 11
March 28 |
Smith, J. Douglas. Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia. Chaps. 2-5 |
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Week 12
April 4
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Smith, J. Douglas. Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia. Finish book |
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Week 13 April 11
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Begin unit on class.
“Confederate Lane” unpublished ms. by Jane Adams and D. Gorton. Begin reading John Hartigan, Jr. Racial Situations: Class Predicaments of Whiteness in Detroit. Princeton University Press, 1999. Kirby Moss, The Color of Class: Poor Whites and the Paradox of Privilege. University of Pennsylvania. |
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Week 14 April 18. |
Continue discussion of books Term paper due in class Thursday.
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Week 15 April 25
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Continue discussion of books |
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Week 16 May 2
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Sum up course |
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Week 17
May 1310:10 a.m. – 12:10 p.m
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Final Exam due. Come to class during final exam period to discuss your answers to the final exam questions. |