DRAFT SYLLABUS: SUBJECT TO CHANGE



SOCY/LLC/EDUC 611 Pincus

Spring 2002 Office Hours:

Tues 2:30-4:30

Thur 12:00-1:00

And by appointment

ACIV 353

X2079

pincus@umbc.edu



Constructing Race, Class and Gender





This is a course about the nature of race, class, gender and sexual orientation. First, we will analyze the ways in which these categories are socially constructed, experienced and reproduced by the larger society. We will also discuss the ways in which these categories often intersect with one another. Finally, we will apply this analysis to the field of education.



As you already know, these are all important categories in an increasingly diverse and changing world. The class, itself, will be diverse in a number of ways. First, graduate students may come from a variety of different departments including Language, Literacy and Culture; Intercultural Communication; Education; Sociology and Policy Sciences. Students will also come from a variety of race, ethnic, class, and religious backgrounds. Students will also differ in terms of gender and sexual orientation.



Some of you, no doubt, will be very knowledgeable about one or two of the categories that we will be discussing and you will be able to act as co-teachers in those classes. Most of you will probably know little if anything about one or two of the categories so you will act as students in those classes. Hopefully, everyone, including the instructor, will learn something about all four categories.



Students will be expected to attend regularly, to arrive on time, to do the assigned readings and to participate in the class discussions. This is a seminar-type class so student participation is essential. Given the nature of the material, controversy can be expected throughout the course. Students should feel free to disagree with each other and with the instructor as long as everyone respects everyone else's opinion.





TEXTBOOKS

REQUIRED



Ehrenreich, Barbara Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. (2001)



MacLeod, Jay Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Community. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995.



Rosenblum, Karen E. and Toni-Michelle C. Travis, Eds. The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class and Sexual Orientation, 2nd Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. (R&T)



Stone, Linda and Nancy P. McKee Gender and Culture in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ., Prentice Hall, 1999.



Weis, Lois and Michelle Fine, Eds. Beyond Silenced Voices: Class, Race and Gender in the United States Schools. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1993. (W&F)







RECOMMENDED

Pincus, Fred L. and Howard J. Ehrlich Race and Ethnic Conflict: Contending Views on Prejudice, Discrimination and Ethnoviolence, 2nd Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999. (On reserve)



Tatum, Beverly Daneil Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. New York: Basic Books, 1999.



Weis, Lois and Michelle Fine Construction Sites: Excavating Race, Class, and Gender Among Urban Youth. New York: Teachers College Press, 2000.

Note: All readings not in the two required books will be on reserve.





COURSE OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS





JANUARY 29: INTRODUCTION



Rosenblum and Travis

"Framework Essay: Constructing Categories of Difference" (R&T: 1-33)

FEBRUARY 5: CONSTRUCTING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE (1): RACE



Davis "Who Is Black? One Nation's Definition." (R & T: 34-42) (1)

Spencer "The New Colored People." (R&T: 43-48)

Jaimes "Federal Indian Identification Policy" (R&T: 49-62)

Fernandez "La Raza and the Melting Pot: A Comparative Look at Ethnicity" (R&T: 62-69)

Espiritu "Asian American Panethnicity" (R&T: 70-80)

Frankenberg "Whiteness as an 'Unmarked' Cultural Category" (R&T: 81-86)

Nguyen "The Souls of White Folk" The American Prospect, July 31, 2000: 46-49 (handout)

Ibish "They are Absolutely Obsessed with Us: Anti-Arab Bias in American Discourse and Policy." in Race in 21st Century America, Curtis Stokes, et al., Eds. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2001: pp. 119-141





FEBRUARY 12: CONSTRUCTING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE (3): GENDER AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION



Fausto-Sterling

"The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough" (R&T:87-92)

Williams "The Berdache Tradition" (R&T: 92-100)

Basow "Gender Stereotypes and Roles" (R&T: 101-116)

Stone and McKee

Gender and Culture in America . (Prentice Hall, 1999) Chapters 3-5

Katz "The Invention of Heterosexuality" (R&T: 143-145)

Heyl "Homosexuality: A Social Phenomenon" (R&T: 146-155)

Levine and Evans

"The Development of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identities" (R&T: 156-163)



FEBRUARY 19 CONSTRUCTING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE (3): CLASS



D'Souza "The Billionaire Next Door." Forbes, Sept. 9, 2000. Reserve.

Zandy "Decloaking Class: Why Class Identity and Consciousness Count." In Experiencing Race, Class and Gender in the United States, 3rd Edition, Virginia Cyrus, Ed. (Mayfield, 2000: 103-112). Reserve

Kahlenberg "How Much Social Mobility Exists in the United States?" (R&T: 117-129)

Gans "The Underclass Label." In Crisis in American Institutions, 11th Edition, Jerome H. Skolnick and Elliott Currie, Eds. (Allyn and Bacon, 2000: 135-146). Reserve.

MacLeod Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low Income Neighborhood. (Westview, 1995), Chapters 1 - 4.





FEBRUARY 26: EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCE (1): CLASS



Rosenblum and Travis

"Framework Essay: Experiencing Difference" (R&T: 165-188)

Frye "Oppression" (R&T: 190-194)

MacCloud Ain't No Makin' It. Ch. 5 - 11



RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSALS DUE







MARCH 5: EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCE (2): RACE, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION



Pincus "From Individual to Structural Discrimination" (Race and Ethnic Conflict: Contending Views of Prejudice, Discrimination and Ethnoviolence, F. Pincus and H. Ehrlich, Eds. Westview, 1999:120-124) Reserve.

Asfahani "A Time to Look and Listen" (R&T: 212)

Liu "The Accidental Asian" (R&T:212-223)

Zia "Can Asian-Americans Turn the Media Tide?" (R&T: 223-224)

Madrid "Diversity and Its Discontents" (R&T: 224-230)

Blauner "Talking Past Each Other: Black and White Languages of Race" (R&T: 231-240)

Lamberth "Driving While Black: A Statistician Proves that Prejudice Still Rules the Road" (R&T:240-243)

Jones "Darkness Made Visible: Law, Metaphor, and the Racial Self" (R&T: 243-254)

Williams "Of Race and Risk" (R&T: 254-256)

McDermott "Class Structure and Racial Consciousness Among Black Americans." Critical Sociology, 27 (#1, 2001): 1-28: ( reserve).

Weis "White Male Working-Class Youth: An Exploration of Relative Privilege and Loss" (W&F: 237-258)

Ward "Raising Resisters: The Role of Truth Telling in the Psychological Development of African American Girls." In Construction Sites: Excavating Race, Class, and Gender Among Urban Youth, edited by L. Weis and M. Fine. New York: Teachers College Press, 2000: 50-64 (reserve)

Tannen "Wears Jump Suit. Sensible Shoes. Uses Husband's Last Name" (R&T: 256-259)

Lorber "Gender Bending" (R&T: 259-262)

Mills "GLBT Employees Make Gains in Workplaces Nationwide." The Diversity Factor (Vol.9, No. 1, Fall 2000): 8-11.

MARCH 12: THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE (1): THE ECONOMY



Rosenblum and Travis

"Framework Essay: The Meaning of Difference" (R&T: 279-294)

Lipsitz "The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Benefit from Identity Politics" (R&T: 351-362)

Suro "Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration is Transforming America" (R&T: 362-372)

Hacker "The Gender Gap: Contours and Causes" (R&T: 372-380)

Hothchild "The Nanny Chain." (The American Prospect, January 3, 1999: 32-36) Reserve.

Merrifield "Class Formation, Capital Accumulation and the Downsizing of America." (Monthly Review, October, 1999: 32-43) Reserve

Ehrlenreich Nickel and Dimed (2001), pp.1-221.





MARCH 19: THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE (2): POLITICS AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION



Affirmative Action

Pincus "The Case for Affirmative Action." (Race and Ethnic Conflict: Contending Views of Prejudice, Discrimination and Ethnoviolence, F. Pincus and H. Ehrlich, Eds. Westview, 1999: 205-221) Reserve

Pincus "The Social Construction of Reverse Discrimination." (Reserve)

Bowen and Bock

"The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College Admissions" (R&T: 332-336)

Larew "Why Are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting Into Our Top Colleges? Because Their Dad's Are Alumni." (R&T: 273-278)

Mickelson, Smith and Oliver

"Breaking Through the Barriers: African-American Job Candidates and the Academic Hiring Process." (W&F: 9-24)



Politics

Kerchis and Young

"Social Movements and the Politics of Difference" (R&T: 337-350)

Jaret "Changing the Whole System" (Race and Ethnic Conflict: 446-460) reserve

Report: Diversity in the Power Elite, by Richard L. Zweigenhaft and G. William Domhoff. (Yale, 1998)





APRIL 2: THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE (3): SCIENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE



Science

Nelkin and Lindee

"The DNA Mystique" (R&T: 381-392)

Krieger and Bassett

"The Health of Black Folk: Disease, Class and Ideology in Science" (R&T: 393-399)

Zicklin "Media, Science and Sexual Ideology: The Promotion of Sexual Stability" (R&T: 399-408)



Popular Culture???

Faludi "Backlash" (R&T: 413-430)

Abramovitz "Bad to Worse: Welfare Reform and Feminist Backlash" (In These Times, November 28, 1999: 16-18) Reserve.

Espiritu "Ideological Racism and Cultural Resistance: Constructing Our Own Images" (R&T: 432-440)

Mander "What Americans Don't Know About Indians" (R&T: 441-445)

Alterman "The 'Right' Books and Big Ideas." (The Nation, November 22, 1999: 16-21) Reserve





APRIL 9: THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE (4): LANGUAGE



Language

Baron "English in a Multicultural America" (R&T: 445-451)

Moore "Racism in the English Language" (R&T: 451-458)

Richardson "Gender Stereotyping in the English Language" (R&T: 459-465)

Frye "To Be and Be Seen: The Politics of Reality" (R&T: 466-471)

Akom "The House That Race Built: Some Observations on the Use of the Word 'Nigga," Popular Culture, and Urban Adolescent Behavior." In Construction Sites, Edited by Weis and Fine: 140-157. (Reserve)

Nunberg "Lingo Jingo: English-Only and the New Nativism." In Race and Ethnic Conflict, edited by Pincus and Ehrlich: 260-269. (Reserve)

Long "Ebonics, Language and Power." In Race and Ethnic Conflict, edited by Pincus and Ehrlich: 331-345. (Reserve)





APRIL 16: APPLICATION TO EDUCATION (1): TRACKING AND TESTING



Hallinan and Oakes

"Exchange on Tracking" Sociology of Education, April 1994: 79-91 (reserve).

Sapon-Shevin "Gifted Education and the Protection of Privilege: Breaking the Silence, Opening the Discourse." (W&F: 25-44)

Haney "Testing and Minorities" (W&F: 45-73)

APRIL 23: APPLICATION TO EDUCATION (2): IDENTITY



Cohen "Constructing Race at an Urban High School: In Their Minds, Their Mouths, Their Hearts." (W&F: 289-308)

Fordham and Ogbu

"Black Students' School Success: Coping with the Burden of 'Acting White.'" (The Urban Review, Vol. 18, No. 3 (1986): 176-206. Reserve.

Tierney "The College Experience of Native Americans: A Critical Analysis." (W&F: 309-323)

Tatum, Berverly Daniel

"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" and Other Conversatons About Race. Chapters 3, 4.6, 8.





APRIL 30 APPLICATION TO EDUCATION (3): MULTICULTURALISM

Iseke-Barnes "Ethnomathematics and Language in Decolonizing Minorities." (Race, Gender and Class, V.7, No.3, 2000: 133-149) Reserve

Sleeter "Creating an Empowering Multicultural Curriculum." (Race, Gender and Class, 178-196) Reserve

Fine et al. "Before the Bleach Gets Us All." In Construction Sites, edited by Weis and Fine: 161-179. (Reserve)

Jervis "'How Come There Are No Brothers on that List?' Hearing the Hard Questions All Children Ask" Harvard Educational Review, 66 (Fall, 1996): 546-576.





MAY 7: APPLICATION TO EDUCATION (4): GENDER



Gilligan "Joining the Resistance: Psychology, Politics, Girls and Women." (W&F: 143-168)

Christian-Smith

"Voices of Resistance: Young Women Readers of Romance Fiction" (W&F: 169-190).

Connell "Disruptions: Improper Masculinities and Schooling" (W&F: 191-208)

Stone and McKee

Gender and Culture in America, Chapter 6.

Adair "Poverty and the (Broken) Promise of Higher Education." Harvard Educational Review, 71 (Summer, 2001): pp.217-239.



MAY 14: CONCLUSION



No reading assignment; bring refreshments.



Research Papers Due



Attendance at this class is required!

COURSE REQUIREMENTS



All students will be required to turn in nine reaction papers, to lead one class, to complete a research paper and to participate in the class discussions. These assignments will all be described below.



Reaction Papers (25% of Final Grade) For each class, the questions for the reaction paper will be the same.



1. Which of the readings did you like the best and why? What new insights did you gain from the reading and why is this important?



2. Which of the readings did you like the least and why? How might this reading have been improved?



The reaction paper should be approximately 500 words in length; each question should be about 250 words. It's best to limit your comments to one or two readings for each question; that way, you can go into some detail. One of the goals of this assignment is to get students think critically about some of the readings. This should help to improve the quality of discussion. Therefore, the paper is due the day the readings are being discussed and you must attend class to get credit for the paper. There are 13 potential classes where reaction papers could be turned in. Students will be required to turn in only 8 reaction papers. Late papers will not be accepted. (Grading)

Lead One Class (10% of Final Grade) Each student will be responsible for leading one entire class. This means that you will be thoroughly familiar with all the readings for that class. You should be prepared to lead a discussion about the assigned readings by asking provocative questions about the main issues that are involved. Highlighting major issues is more important than summarizing the readings. You should not lecture about the assigned readings.



Research Paper (40% of Final Grade) Students must select a research topic that has some relevance to the course but that goes above and beyond the course materials. Students are encouraged to do research that is relevant to your doctoral dissertation or masters thesis. The paper can be a literature review, an analytic paper or an empirical study. Students should discuss possible topics with the instructor. A proposal, consisting of a one page description of the topic and a preliminary bibliography, is due February 27. The final paper, due on the last day of class, should be in the 2000 - 2500 word range. This is about 8 - 10 pages.



Class Participation (25% of Final Grade) All students will be expected to participate in the class discussions each week. This includes asking questions and making comments about the readings and about what the instructor and other students say. Students should expect to make at least one or two comments/questions during each class Students who don't usually speak in class should try to contribute; your grade depends on it. While it is good to relate the readings to outside experiences, only talking about outside experiences is not sufficient.



Attendance Since this is a seminar class where participation is important, attendance is also important. If you have to miss class, please inform the instructor in advance. Students can miss two classes without any penalty. Missing three or more classes will have a negative impact on your grade.





Blackboard All students enrolled in the course should subscribe to the LLC611 Blackboard site. First, the instructor will be able to communicate with all students between classes. It's a good idea to check your e-mail each Monday and Tuesday for any important announcements. More importantly, students can communicate with each other and with the instructor through the Discussion Board. Although this is a convenient way to ask questions of the instructor, the real purpose is for students to exhange ideas about the course material ouside of class. Perhaps you read something that got you so excited (or upset) that you just couldn't wait for class to get it off of your chest. Perhaps you wanted to say something in class but were afraid to. Or, maybe you didn't get called on. On the other hand, perhaps you thought of something that you should have said but didn't. You may have felt good or bad after the class discussion. In other words, this list is a way to have conversations about the course materials outside of class.



1. Many of the articles in The Meaning of Difference contain short "personal accounts" that are contained in a box near the end of the article. These should be read, along with the main article.