Questions and Presenters for each reading assignment:

Sociology 46N, Spring, 2014

Week 1:
Apr 1	Introduction to the class
Apr 3	Symbolic Ethnicity (by Gans) * 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:
Week 2:
Apr 8	Imagined Communities Ch 1-4 *What are Anderson's 3 Paradoxes of Nationalism? *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:
Apr 10	Imagined Communities Ch 5, 6 *What role do writers, historians, publishers, and the bourgeoisie play in the creation of the nation? *Why did Russia try to unify its empire with language?  Why did the English language not unify the English empire into a single nation (i.e. why did the people of the colonies never escape their colonial status)? Presenter:
Week 3:
Apr 15	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:
Apr 17	How the Irish Became White, Introduction + Chapter 1 * Why does O'Connell oppose slavery, and why do the Irish in the U.S. support it? * 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:
Week 4:
Apr 22	How the Irish, Chapters 2, 3, and 4 *What is the evidence that Ignatiev cites for the Irish not being 'white' in the U.S. to begin with.  Do you find the evidence convincing, and Why? *What role does the Democratic Party play in making the Irish White? Presenter: Bang
Apr 24	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:
Week 5:
Apr 29	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: Savannah
May 1	Who is Black? Finish the book *Why do Blacks in the U.S. accept the one drop rule? *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:
Week 6:
May 6	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 US capable of racism? * 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: Rochelle
May 8	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: Mai Ka
Week 7:
May 13	Carnal Knowledge (by Stoler) * 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:
May 15	Passing, and the Managed Achievement of Sex Status, (By Garfinkel) * 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 everyday life? Presenter: Sarah
Week 8:
May 20	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 Agassiz based on, and what did it imply, and how was it eventually discredited? * 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:
May 22	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 U.S.? * 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:
Week 9:
May 27	Additional Readings from the Gender/Sexuality reader: “Victorian Clitoridectomy”, chapter 22, by Sheehan
May 29	Additional Readings from the Gender/Sexuality reader: “Negotiating Sex and Gender”, chapter 29, by Vance
Week 10:
June 3	No assignment, last class