Race & Ethnic Relations in the
United States
Sociology 215-001, Spring 2002
M-W-F, 9-9:50, Faner 1005
Instructor: Sheila Huff Office: Faner 4421
Phone: 453-5224/2494 email: huffsheila@yahoo.com
Office hours: M-W-F, 8-9 & 10-11 and by appointment
Required Text:
Healey, Joseph F. 1998. Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Course Objectives:
This course examines the status of racial, ethnic, and cultural minority groups from historical, economic, and political perspectives. It is designed to expand your knowledge of theory, research, and current events in regards to the relations of race, ethnicity, gender and class in the United States. It is the intent of this course to introduce key topics, stimulate individual thought, and enhance the understanding of group interactions in American society.
Students will be able to:
1) Demonstrate an understanding of such sociological concepts as assimilation, pluralism, ascribed and achieved status, prejudice and discrimination.
2) Display basic knowledge of historical, socioeconomic, and political demographics of various racial/ethnic groups in the United States.
3) Demonstrate critical thinking and understanding about different theories and perspectives pertaining to race, class, gender, and sexuality, and
4) Apply sociological concepts for the analysis of race and ethnicity to personal and/or familial experience.
I divide the course into three major sections. The first section will consist of abstract concepts and theories concerning race/ethnicity and society. The second section will examine some historical conditions that led to the creation of the concept of race/ethnicity as well as trace the rise of modernity and industrial society. The third and last section will examine particular racial and ethnic groups not only in the United States but around the world.
Provisional Schedule:
Week 1: January 14, 16, 18 (Overview and Concepts)
Healey, Chapter 13 “Minority Groups and U.S. Society”
Healey, Chapter 1 “Diversity in the United States”
*Miller “Domination and Subordination” in Rothenberg, pp. 73-79.
Week 2: January 23
& 25 (Overview and concepts)
Healey, Chapter 1 (con’t.)
*Yamato, Gloria. “Racism: Something about the Subject makes It Hard to Name” in Rothenberg, pp. 150-154.
Week 3: January 28, 30, and February 1 (Prejudice)
Healey, Chapter 3 “Prejudice”
*Snyder, Mark. “Self-fulfilling Stereotypes.” In Rothenberg, pp. 452-458.
Bonacich, Edna. “A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism: The Split Labor Market,” Pp. 474-486 in Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective, edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Week 4: February 4, 6, 8 (Societal Development)
Healey, Chapter 2 “Assimilation and Pluralism”
*Foner, Eric. “Who is an American?” in Rothenberg, pp. 84-92.
The United States Constitution (see web sites USConstitution.net or http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const.html) or others.
(Professor Joe Feagin's visit 7 February)
Week 5: February 11,
13, 15 (The Roots of Current Race/Ethnic Relations)
Healey, Chapter 5 “Minority Groups in Pre-industrial America”
Montagu “The Idea of Race.” Pp. 3-41 Chapter ‘Race: The History of an Idea’
*Omi and Winant “Racial Formations” in Rothenberg, pp. 13-22.
Week 6: February 18,
20 & 22 (The Roots of Current Race/Ethnic Relations)
Healey, Chapter 6 “Industrialization and Dominant-Minority Relations”
Winant, Howard. 2001. “Nineteenth-Century Nightmares, Twentieth-Century Dreams”, Pp. 99-103, 106-129, from The World is a Ghetto: Race and Democracy since World War II. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Week 7: February 25,
27 & March 1 (Racial/Ethnic Groups in America)
Healey, Chapter 7 “African Americans”
Week 8: March 4, 6, 8 (Racial/Ethnic Groups in America)
Healey, Chapter 8 “Native Americans”
Week 9: Spring Break!
Week 10: March 18,
20, 22 (Racial/Ethnic Groups in America)
Healey, Chapter 9 “Hispanic Americans”
Week 11: March 25,
27, 29 (Racial/Ethnic Groups in America)
Healey, Chapter 10 “Asian Americans”
Week 12: April 1, 3, 5 (Racial/Ethnic Groups in
America)
Healey, Chapter 11 “European Americans”
*Sacks “How Jews Became White” in Rothenberg, pp. 100-112
Week 13: April 8, 10, 12 (Issues in the U.S. and the
World: Social Control)
Healey, Chapter 4 “Prejudice in the 1990s”
*Tilove “Racial Relations Becoming More Complex across Country” in Rothenberg, pp. 170-175.
Wilson, William Julius. “The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy”. in Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective, edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Reich, Michael. “The Economics of Racism.” Pp. 469-473 in Social Stratification in Sociological Perspective, edited by David B. Grusky. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Week 14: April 15, 17, 19 (Issues in the U.S. and the
World)
Healey, Chapter 12 “Minority-Dominant Relations in Cross-National Perspective”
Week 15: April 22, 24, 26 (Issues in the U.S. and the
World)
Race/Ethnicity and the global world-system: Readings to be announced
Week 16: April 29, May 1 & 3 (Issues in the U.S.
and the World)
Race/Ethnicity and the global world-system: Readings to be announced
Final Exam: Date and time to be announced.
* Indicates readings from Rothenberg, Paula S. 1998. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. (On reserve in Morris Library).
Grades:
Grades will be based on five of six quizzes, three exams (comprehensive final), and one written paper (2-4 pages).
Points: Each exam worth 100 points (x 3) = 300
Each quiz worth 10 points (x 5) = 50
Paper worth 100 points = 100
450 points
Caveats