Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
SOC 243:03
BucknellUniversity
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2-2:52pm
Professor:Dr. Elizabeth Durden
Office:Coleman 202
Office Hours:Monday 3-5 and by appointment
Email Address:
Course Description
This course is a general introduction to the sociology of race and ethnicity. The scholarship on race and ethnicity is central to American sociology. A sociological approach to the topic begins with the assumption that race and ethnicity are socially and politically constructed phenomena. Race/ethnic categories within the United States vary significantly across time and place, and it is crucial to explore the continuing potent punch of these groupings. You should leave this class with a strong foundation in how sociologists approach the study of race and ethnicity.
In this course, we will explore the most significant theoretical approaches to the sociological study of race and ethnicity. In addition, this course will also provide some sense of the variety of racial and ethnic experiences within the United States. In the first portion of the class, we will explore the recreation, negotiation and power of Whiteness (Ethnic Options and Honky). The class will then move on to the African American experience in the United States, exploring the ghetto neighborhood (Code of the Streets), the experience of blacks within a meritocratic institution (All That We Can Be) as well as the consequences of race relations on Caribbean Americanization (Black Identities). We will continue the class by exploring the processes and impacts of international immigration with a focus on the adaptation of Hispanics and Asians within the United States (The Spirit Catches You). Finally, we will the end the course by exploring the system of race relations in Brazil (Race in Another America:The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil, Winner of the American Sociological Association’s 2006 Distinguished Book Award), particularly focusing on how race relations in Brazil facilitate a greater understanding of the situation within the United States.
Course Objectives
The primary objectives for this course are:
- To address race/ethnicity from a demographic and sociological perspective
- To become familiar with a variety of racial and ethnic experiences within the United States and to be exposed to the particular system of race relations in Brazil
- To continue to develop and hone critical thinking skills by participating in class discussions and completing writing assignments
- To gain experience in intimate academic reading by analyzing and grappling with sociological texts
- To cultivate research proficiency and expertise by undertaking a semester-long research paper that involves primary sociological texts, the incorporation of a strong thesis and multiple drafts
Course Format
This course will be conducted as a mid-level seminar course. While I will provide the occasional background material and lecture, it is the responsibility of each student to come to each class prepared to contribute.
Reading for class is essential. Our classroom discussions will be built around assigned texts, and each student is expected to contribute to the intellectual community of the classroom. Preparing for class should involve reflecting upon the reading that is due.
Learning occurs best in a situation where students are actively engaging the material with other students and the instructor. Learning also occurs best when everyone has read the assigned materials. Therefore, to facilitate discussion and participation, discussion questions have been included on the syllabus. It will behoove you to address the discussion questions before you come to class, to assist us in creating a more lively and interactive classroom setting. On your syllabus, discussion questions are often included. It is the responsibility of the student to come to class prepared to answer the discussion questions. In addition, the reading we tackle in this class is substantial and moves at a very quick pace --- the discussion questions will guide you in your reading.
Course Texts and Articles
The following texts can be purchased in the Bucknell Bookstore. Please bring the necessary book to class when assigned.
Elijah Anderson. 1999. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Dalton Conley. 2000. Honky. New York: Vintage Books.
Anne Fadiman. 1998. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Charles C. Moskos, and John Sibley Butler. 1997. All that We Can Be: Black Leadership in the U.S. Military. New York: Basic Books.
Edward E. Telles. 2005. Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press.
Mary Waters. 1990. Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Mary Waters. 1999. Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities. Cambridge: HarvardUniversity Press and New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
The following articles can be accessed via E-RES. Please bring the necessary articles to class when assigned.
McKinnon, Jesse. 2003. The Black Population in the United States: March 2002.Current Population Reports, P20-541, U.S. Census Bureau, WashingtonDC.
McIntosh, Peggy. 1990. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, excerpt. IndependentSchool. Winter Issue.
Morris, Edward W. 2005. “From ‘Middle Class’ to ‘Trailer Trash’: Teachers’ Perceptions of White Students in a Predominately MinoritySchool”. Sociology of Education 78 (2).
Ramirez, Roberto R., and G. Patricia de la Cruz. 2002. The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 2002. Current Population Reports, P20-545, U.S. Census Bureau, WashingtonDC.
Reeves, Terrance and Claudette Bennett, 2003. The Asian and Pacific Islander Population in the United States: March 2002. Current Population Reports, P20-540, U.S. Census Bureau, WashingtonDC.
Course Requirements
Two Exams60% (30% each)
Research Paper20%
Passage Assignments10%
Attendance and Participation10%
Two Exams: Each exam will consist of two parts --- an in-class short answer exam and a take home essay. The in-class portion of the exam will cover key aspects of assigned readings and class discussions. Questions will concern issues of employed methodologies, central arguments being made the scholars, key findings, strengths and weaknesses of each monograph, and how each monograph advances our understanding of race/ethnicity.
The take-home component of the exam will ask you to critically examine aspects of the covered readings. A question of interest will be distributed, and the essay will have a 6 page requirement. You have 72 hours to complete the take home essay. Computer explosions are not considered my problem.
Each essay exam paper must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font with 1 inch margins. Each paper must be 6 pages. Please note that you must abide by this page limitation. It will force you to synthesize your reflections and be succinct in your writing.
Late papers will **NOT** be accepted. The essay exam is due at 2pm at the beginning of class on the date of the class period listed on your syllabus.
Do NOT push me on this.
Research Paper: To cultivate your knowledge of sociological research and to allow you to pursue research in a specific area of interest, each student will be writing a short research paper. The research paper has a page requirement of 6-7 pages and must incorporate 7 traditional academic sources (a combination of journals and academic monographs). Your research paper must include a thesis, and it will be graded on organization, inclusion of academic texts and grammar.
A series of assignments have been created to facilitate your success – including a draft which will be graded. Please see the syllabus for specific due dates. In addition, a grading matrix of the research paper has been developed and attached to this syllabus. This will give you a very clear idea of how your research paper will be evaluated.
Passage Journal: In order to get the most out of the reading list for this course and to make the best use of our classroom discussion time, you will periodically be asked to write a Passage reflection. You will record important selections from the readings and explore those selections in writing. These journal assignments will assist you in your essay exams by forcing you to analyze and grapple with the sociological texts.
Attached to the syllabus are instructions for these specific Passage assignments. When a Passage assignment is due, as noted on your syllabus, please bring the printed out Passage to class. It will be collected in class on the due date.
***No late Passage entries will be accepted***
At times, you may also be asked to reflect on a specific question and bring it to the next class. These spontaneous assignments are not listed on the syllabus but are still requirements for this class.
Attendance and Participation: Attendance is expected. Excessive absence (more than three absences) will significantly lower your grade. Participation is a significant component of this course and will benefit your understanding of the material.
Calculating Grades
The final grades will be computed as follows:
A94-100
A-90-93
B+87-89
B84-86
B-80-83
C+77-79
C74-76
C-70-73
D60-69
F59 and below
A very kind tip: if you are having trouble in this course, please come see me sooner rather than later. Sooner: there is a chance we can work together to make things better. Later: there is an excellent chance that you will be stuck with a lower grade than you would like.
Please do **NOT** ask me to give you a higher grade than you earned because you are on academic probation or you need it to maintain a scholarship or you have any other special circumstance. Please do **NOT** ask for a B because you need to get into business school. I do not give grades; rather, you earn the grade you receive.
Please note that I am happy to meet with you to discuss the best ways to write your papers and tackle lab assignments. However, coming to see me and working on an assignment does not guarantee you an A or even a B. It may be that the assistance I provide ensured that you earned a C and therefore saved you from getting a D.
One last note on grades: ‘C’ is “Average.” A grade of a ‘C’ indicates that a student has completed the assignment in an ordinary manner. In all likelihood, the assignment probably does not meet all requirements but is not so deficient as to warrant a ‘D’ which is, of course, below average. In contrast, a ‘B’ signifies that the assignment being graded was merely sufficient in its completion. All requirements were fulfilled. (Yes, even though “all requirements were fulfilled,” this does not automatically lead to an A). A grade of an ‘A’ on any assignment means that the student went beyond the requirements to present an interesting sociological insight, or a high level of synthesis of course material, which reflects sophisticated analysis.
Academic Integrity
From Bucknell’s policy on academic responsibility --- “Bucknell students are responsible to the academic community for the preparation and presentation of work representing their own individual efforts. Acceptance of this responsibility is essential to the educational process and must be considered as an expression of mutual trust, the foundation upon which creative scholarship rests. Students are directed to use great care when preparing all written work and to acknowledge fully the source of all ideas and language other than their own.”
Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, academic misconduct, or misuse of computing facilities will not be tolerated. All incidents of which will be reported to the appropriate Associate Dean to be vigorously pursued in accordance with Bucknell’s Academic Responsibility policy.
Please review the new Bucknell web resources on Academic Responsibility at
Let me be clear.
If I find that you have downloaded any part of your research paper, you will fail the course. It is an insult to me, to Bucknell, and to whoever is paying for your college education that you would attempt tosimply coast by in college.
Let me be even clearer --- even ‘acknowledging’ where a source comes from, and then continuing to plagiarize the content will guarantee you a failing grade. If you are unclear on what constitutes plagiarism, I encourage you to go to the WritingCenter or come see me. We are all happy to help you. However, I will fail any student who is found plagiarizing in my class. Tears and excuses after the fact will not save you.
Miscellaneous Stuff
I have done my best to take religious observances into account in the planning of this course. I may, however, have missed something. If so, please let me know two weeks in advance so we can make alternative arrangements if necessary.
Please turn off all cell phones, pagers, and whatever else you have that beeps/rings/sings before you come to class.
Talking about race is difficult. Race/ethnicity is a topic that often brings about much debate. Certain issues may spark strong feelings and disagreements. It is important that we each maintain respect for opinions other than our own. I ask you to honor the following guidelines during our discussions:
1)Demonstrate your respect for another by honoring the contributions each student makes
2)I ask that students refrain from using “zaps,” overt or covert put-downs
3)Please avoid linking personal experiences to a generalizing stereotype (either negative or positive) concerning any group of people
Along that vein, I will never penalize a student for having different opinions than my own. However, I will penalize a student for not approaching situations sociologicallyand, instead, relying on simplistic examples or illustrations. We will all work together over the semester to approach race/ethnicity from a sociological perspective.
Please Respect My Need to Research
I love students, especially when they stop by to chat. Please do so, no appointment is necessary. In fact, I highly encourage you to stop by in the next month to better introduce yourself. As the semester progresses, come by to discuss any questions, comments or ideas you have about sociology, a specific assignment or grading concerns. Also, feel free to stop by to discuss the latest college football game or pop culture occurrence. In all seriousness, please take advantage of office hours, email, etc.
However……….I ask that you respect a no-drop by on Thursdays. Professors are expected to maintain an active research agenda in addition to teaching brilliant undergraduates at Bucknell. Thursdays are the days that I devote to exploring emerging Mexican immigrant communities in Pennsylvania, the indigenous migrant flows between the Yucatan and San Francisco and the incorporation of Hispanic subgroups into the health care system of United States. I am therefore not available on Thursdays throughout the entire semester.
PASSAGE ASSIGNMENTS
In order to get the most out of the reading list for this course and to make the best use of our classroom discussion time, you will be asked record Passage Assignments. This assignment calls for you to occasionally record important reading selections and explore those selections in your own writing. (Much thanks to the Writing Center of Bucknell University for this assignment).
In addition to fostering a habit of close and active reading that will sharpen your thinking and inform our classroom discussions, your passage entries will grow into a useful catalogue of citations and ideas that will serve as foundational material for your Essay Exams.
When you are assigned a “Passage” Journal entry, please follow the subsequent instructions:
- As you make your way through the assigned reading, pay attention to the places in the reading that grab your attention. You may want to highlight these passages, or make a note of the page # and article.
- Choose a quote or passage from the reading that feels like is it the most important or compelling. “Most important” or “compelling” can mean any number of things here: you may consider your selection to be the crux of the article or segment of reading. You may have questions about the passage. You may feel resistant to certain ideas, or take issue with a statement or an assumption in the reading. Do not hesitate to choose a passage that gives you trouble – sometimes the richest learning comes form exploring that which is uncomfortable or troublesome to us.You should have 1 typed single spaced page of reflection.
- Copy the passage into your notebook. City the author and page number. Beneath the transcribed passage, describe your response to the passage, and explain why you selected it in relation to the rest of the book. You may also want to relate your selection to class discussion or previous readings. You may also want to articulate any questions or confusion that the reading.
- BRING YOURPASSAGE TO CLASS. It will be collected.
- We may use Passage entries in the following ways:
- One person will be chosen to direct the rest of the class to her/his selected passage and then will read her/his Passage journal entry. Class discussion will follow.
- Students may be paired or grouped to discuss their Passage entries.
- People may volunteer to share their Passage entries.
RESEARCH TOPICS