Questions and Presenters for each reading assignment:
Sociology 46N, Spring 2008
Rev Feb 29, 2008
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Week 1: |
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April 2 |
Introduction to the class |
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Week 2: |
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April 7 |
Imagined Communities Ch 1-4 *What are *What do the paradoxes mean, and what kind of evidence can you provide for or against them? *What kinds of social organization predated the Nation? *What is the role of language in the creation of the Nation? Presenter: |
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April 9 |
Imagined Communities Ch 5, 6 *What role do writers, historians, publishers, and the bourgeoisie play in the creation of the nation? *Why did Presenter: |
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Week 3: |
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April 14 |
Imagined Communities finish the book *What role does imitation play in the spread of nationalism? *What role do
the census, the map, the historical map, and the museum play in the creation
and legitimation of new nations? Presenter: |
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April 16 |
How the Irish Became White, Introduction + Chapter 1 * Why does O'Connell oppose slavery, and why
do the Irish in the * How does Ignatiev view the biological
basis of race? * If race has no biological basis, then
what is it based upon? * How is it possible for a people to
'become' White? Presenter: |
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Week 4: |
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April 21 |
How
the Irish, Chapters 2, 3,
and 4 *What is the evidence that Ignatiev cites
for the Irish not being 'white' in the *What role does the Democratic Party play
in making the Irish White? Presenter: |
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April 23 |
How the Irish, finish the book *How does
Ignatiev describe the American city at mid 19th century? *What is the role of riots, and of city political patronage, in the
transformation of the Irish? Presenter: |
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Week 5: |
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April 28 |
Who is Black? Ch 1-5 *What is the One Drop Rule? *How was the Rule created and enforced? *What kinds of arrangements predated the Rule? *What have been the social consequences of the Rule? *What kind of rules for racial identification of so- called mixed race persons prevail in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Spanish Latin America, Hawaii, and for Amerasians in Korea and Vietnam? *What is the significance of these rules and how did they come about? Presenter: |
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April 30 |
Who is Black? Finish the book *Why do Blacks in the *What are the dynamics of color within the 'Black' community? *What do these dynamics reveal about the acceptance of, and the ambiguity of, the 'one-drop rule'? Presenter: |
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Week 6: |
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May 5 |
Why Are All the Black Kids... Chapters 1-4 * How does Tatum define active racism, passive racism, and anti-racism, and how prevalent does she think each is? * In Tatum’s view, are African
Americans in the * Why are some aspects of identity (whiteness, maleness, christianity, heterosexuality, being able-bodied) apparently invisible? * In what sense is identity in general and racial identity in particular formed in interactions with others? What are the developmental stages of identity formation? * In what sense can desegregation of the schools, and attending mostly white schools be negative for black students? Presenter: |
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May 7 |
Why Are All the Black Kids... Chapters 5-8 * Why in Tatum’s view, do the black kids sit together in the cafeteria? What are the benefits of social segregation? * Does Tatum hold a separatist view of black identity? * What is Tatum’s view of affirmative action, and why does Tatum think whites and blacks hold such divergent views on affirmative action? Presenter: |
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Week 7: |
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May 12 |
Carnal Knowledge (by Stoler, in the reader) * What are the various relationships between sexuality, male privilege, and imperial power? * Why do the colonial authorities fear the offspring of the colonizers and their concubines? Presenter: |
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May 14 |
Passing, and the Managed Achievement of Sex Status, (By Garfinkel, in the reader) * Why is passing dangerous and risky? * Before the operation, what are the situations that Agnes must avoid in order to avoid discovery, exposure and humiliation? * In what sense do the surgeons restore Agnes' natural gender? In what sense do the surgeons erase and destroy her natural gender? * How does Agnes learn to be a woman? And what does womanhood entail? * What does passing have to do with every day life Presenter: |
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Week 8: |
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May 19 |
The Mismeasure of Man Chapter
2 (on craniometry) * Why did scholars of the 18th
and 19th century attempt to find evidence for inherent differences in racial
biology? * What was the theory of * What were the scientific
claims of Morton, how did he arrive at those claims. What are the true determinants of skull
size? What do Gould's revisions of
Morton's data show? * What was Morton's social
prestige and occupational standing during his life? What accounts for Morton's stature? Presenter: |
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May 21 |
The Mismeasure of Man Chapter
5 (On IQ), plus P. 264-269 on Cyril Burt * How was the intention of Binet
different from Goddard and Stanford's Terman and Yerkes who adapted his test
in the * What is the difference
between heritability and inevitability? * What is the difference
between within-group and between-group heredity, and what is the implication
(explain the human height example). * What are Goddard's results
of IQ tests of immigrants? What does
Gould allege Goddard to have done with the pictures of the Kallikaks? * What was Terman's financial
interest in IQ testing? How do Terman and his colleagues infer the mental
capacity of those who have died? * What is the significance of
zero values on the intelligence tests in Gould's view, and how did the zero
values influence results and policy? * What did Cyril Burt claim to
demonstrate, and what have later researchers discovered about Mr. Burt? Presenter: |
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Week 9: |
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May 26 |
Memorial Day |
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May 28 |
Symbolic Racism (by Sears, in the reader) * What is symbolic racism, and how does Sears differentiate it from old-fashioned racism? * How does Sears define personal interest, or personal racial threat? What about the example of school busing? How do Sears and his colleagues explain White opposition to busing, and what effect does having school age children (i.e. children who might be subject to busing) have? * What is realistic group conflict? * Where, according to Sears, does symbolic racism come from? Group Conflict, Prejudice, and the Paradox of Contemporary Racial Attitudes (by Bobo, in the reader) * How does Bobo define group interest? How does it differ from individual interests, and how does he define the group in question? * What is the difference between realistic and non-realistic conflicts? * If there are still fundamental inequalities between Blacks and Whites
in the * What is Bobo's critique of symbolic racism theory? Who do you think wins the debate between Sears and Bobo, and why? Presenter: |
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Week 10: |
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June 2 |
Symbolic Ethnicity (by Gans, in the reader) * What is the third generation return? * What is straight- line assimilation? * What do the critics of straight- line assimilation argue? * What does Gans say about apparent ethnic revivals? * How does Gans characterize symbolic ethnicity, and what is it contrasted (explicitly or implicitly) against? Presenter: |
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June 4 |
No assignment, last class |
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