Sociology 4949: Race and Ethnic Relations Spring 2006
University of Minnesota, Duluth

" Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest. " Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Race is not rocket science; it is harder than rocket science." Neil Smelser, Willam Julius Wilson, Faith Mitchell: America Becoming

INSTRUCTOR: Bruce Mork	Office Hours: 9:30-10.30, MWF
Office: Cina 220A
Phone: 726-6305	E-mail: bmork@d.umn.edu

 

Web access: The beginning point for accessing course materials on the internet is my home page, (http://www.d.umn.edu/~bmork). Click on the index page for Sociology 4949; then click on the schedule to access reading assignments and links to supplementary materials.

Texts: Takaki: A History of Multicultural America. Gallagher: Rethinking the Color Line (2nd edition).

Course Description: Overview of race and ethnic relations in America; conditions of major racial and ethnic minorities, including new immigrant groups. Current theories and research relating to: formation of racial/ethnic identities; sources of prejudice and discrimination; intergroup conflict; persistence of ethnic and racial divisions.

Learning from Diversity: One of the essential lessons of sociology is that we all grow up with a very partial view of the world. As University of Chicago sociologist Everett Hughes put it: "Every student comes from some queer corner of American society, or Canadian, or some other. Each adds either a new dimension or a new case that has to be fitted into one's frame of reference--or perhaps requires a change in the frame to make place for new information... Sociology of the kind I have been talking about, taught by mutual field observation and penetration of each other's secrets of life, contains the assumption that we are all equal in our humanity."

This is particularly challenging in a course about race. The United States, as we will see, is a society that was built on racial oppression, and it is a society in which racism continues to be a strong force, even though the most egregious forms of legal discrimination have been eliminated. Minorities have had no choice but to think about race; the white majority has often been able to ignore the issue even while reaping its advantages. But the people who enroll in this class are making a commitment to spend 15 weeks learning about race and its ramifications and hopefully being changed by that learning. We've got to assume each other's good intentions. Whether in small groups or in the class as a whole, if we feel that someone's comments reveal ignorance or prejudice, we can criticize the message without devaluing the messenger. If we are afraid to speak because of the fear that we'll be attacked for our stereotypes or misunderstandings, we will greatly limit the learning potential of this class. Any comment that allows us to take race from an academic to a personal level needs to be treated as a gift to us all.

There's another unfortunate problem on the UMD campus. We do not have enough racial diversity to have an optimal setting to study race in that spirit of mutual field observation that Hughes prescribes. Our campus, our department, and probably this class are too white. This makes it all the more important that we not expect the minority students enrolled in our class to somehow speak for their race, as if all African Americans thought this, or all Vietnamese Americans thought that. People of whatever race must have the freedom to establish their own comfort levels in class discussion.

My Expectations: I expect you to arrive on-time, to treat your fellow class members and me with respect, to have done the reading that is assigned for the day, to bring your questions and ideas about the material we are covering, to make me aware of any problems you are having with course materials. In return, I pledge to be prepared and organized, to communicate clearly my expectations of you, to evaluate your work promptly, to listen to your concerns, to respect your point of view, and to treat you as a person of value. I also promise not to expect from you more than 1.5 hours of work outside class for every hour in class. Please let me know if you feel that the assignments are exceeding that expectation.

Videos: We will make frequent use of videos, often as a basis for group assignments. Worksheets will be distributed at the time of showing, and these worksheets must be attached to the eventual group report, in order to get full credit.

Grading: Grades will be based on two exams and on group and individual assignments, as follows:

Grading standards: A, 93-100; A-, 90-92; B+, 87-89; B, 83-87; B-, 80-82; C+, 77-79; C, 73-77; C-, 70-72; D+, 67-69; D, 63-67; D-, 60-62; F, below 60.

Academic Honesty: A violation of UMD's Academic Honesty Policy (behavior which is also referred to as Scholastic Misconduct) such as cheating, plagiarizing or any other "act which violates the rights of another student in academic work or that involves misrepresentation of your own work will result in penalties up to and including an F for the course.

Incompletes: To receive an incomplete at the end of the semester, you must have completed at least 2/3 of the coursework and have given me good reason why you cannot complete the course in a timely way.

Missed group exercises cannot always be made up; you may need to replace the points with extra credit.

Extra-Credit: Option 1: A maximum of 10 points extra credit will be available, with up to 5 points for each short paper submitted via e-mail or in person, based on sociologically relevant campus presentations (check with me if you're not sure). Extra credit opportunies are listed at: http://www.d.umn.edu/~bmork/homepagestuff/extracredit.htm

Option 2: Read the New York Times online (http://www.nytimes.com) each week and create a journal that includes a weekly summary of at least one article relevant to race and ethnic relations. 10 points maximum.

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS/FACILITIES: If you have a physical or cultural condition, either permanent or temporary, which you believe makes it difficult for you to participate in and/or complete the requirements of this course in the time and manner prescribed, please let me know by the end of the first week of instruction. Adaptation of methods, materials, or testing may be made as required. It is your responsibility to contact the Access Center for advice regarding adaptations.