Questions and Presenters for each reading assignment:

Sociology 46N, Spring 2008

Rev Feb 29, 2008

Week 1:
April 2	Introduction to the class
Week 2:
April 7	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:
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 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:
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:
April 16	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:
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 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:
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:
Week 5:
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:
April 30	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 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 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:
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:
Week 7:
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:
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:
Week 8:
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 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 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 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 26	Memorial Day
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 U.S., how could any Black claim fail to be a threat to White group position? * What is Bobo's critique of symbolic racism theory? Who do you think wins the debate between Sears and Bobo, and why? Presenter:
Week 10:
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:
June 4	No assignment, last class