English 85, "Whiteness” and Racial Difference
Peter Schmidt / Spring 2001
Titles and topics of research papers written for this course
SYLLABUS OVERVIEW:
Saint Martin's Press, LLC, March 2000
ISBN: 0312224753
Edited by Kincheloe, Joe L. /
Steinberg, Shirley R. / Rodriguez, Nelson M. / Chennault, Ronald E.
Martinez, Elizabeth:
De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century
South End Press, August 1998 ISBN: 089608583X
on reserve:
Whiteness: A Critical Reader (Mike Hill, ed.)
White (Richard Dyer)
HISTORY (c. 4 weeks)
White By Law (Ian F. Haney-Lopez)
Race: A History of an Idea in America (Robert F. Gossett)
Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s (Michael Omi and Howard Winant)
Colonialism and Race: 2 essays in the Visual Culture Reader: Timothy Mitchell, “Orientalism and the Exhibitionary Order”; and Coco Fusco, “The Other History of Intercultural Performance”
on reserve:
Robert Young, Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture, and Race
Anne McClintock, Imperial Leather
Nicholas Mirzoeff, ed., The Visual Culture Reader
América Rodriguez, Making Latino News [a history of Latino newspapers in the U.S. with special focus on issues of race and class]
Latino cultural citizenship : claiming identity, space, and rights / edited by William V. Flores and Rina Benmayor [Boston : Beacon Press, c1997] B Canaday E184.S75 L356 1997
Flores, Juan , From bomba to hip-hop : Puerto Rican culture and Latino identity. [New York : Columbia University Press, c2000] S McCabe E184.P85 F58 2000
ANTI-RACISM (c. 2 weeks)
Anti-Racism (Alastair Bonnett)
Killing Rage: Ending Racism (bell hooks)
on reserve: Judy Katz, Handbook for Anti-Racism Training
MULTIRACIAL IDENTITIES (c. 1 week)
on reserve:
Multi-Racial Identity: An International Perspective (Mark Christian and Dierdre L. Badejo, eds.)
Multi-Racial Experience:Racial Borders as the New Frontier (Maria P. P. Root, ed.)
RACECHANGES (c. 2 weeks)
Race in Cyberspace (Beth E. Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert B. Rodman, eds.)
on reserve:
Racechanges (Susan Gubar)
About Face: Performing Race in Fashion and Theater (Dorinne Kondo)
Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras : Creative and Critical Perspectives by Women of Color
by Gloria E. Anzaldua (Editor), Melanie Kaye Kantrowitz
Course Requirements
• Regular attendance: more than 3 unexcused absences over the course of the semester will hurt your grade.
• Come to class having studied the materials assigned for that day
• The course mostly group discussion, though with occasional lecturing as needed. Participation in class discussions and other class activities will be a crucial part of your grade. Students will be expected to lead class discussion from time to time.
• Completion of writing assignments on time. two 3-4pp. papers focusing on a close reading of a particular text from the syllabus. (For due dates, see the syllabus.) Some students may also be asked to revise a paper either whole or in part; such revision assignments become part of the course requirements. There will also be a final research project leading up to an in-class presentation and a 10-12pp. research paper, due near the end of the semester. For more details, see the syllabus below and in-class discussion.
Note: you are welcome to use the Writing Center (located in Trotter) for advice on drafts of assigned papers, as well as discussing your papers with me.
There is no final exam.
• Grading: Quality of class participation counts 25%; short papers 25%, final research presentation and paper 50%. Poor attendance and class participation and/or late papers will negatively affect your grade.
This does not mean you should be afraid of consulting with others (fellow students, me, a student at the Writing Center) or of borrowing good ideas from others: it is very simple to acknowledge these with a “thank you” at the end of a paper, or through formal footnotes.
When you paraphrase or quote from published material, including readings used in this course, you must acknowledge this with proper footnotes and/or a bibliography at the end of the paper. In most cases, footnotes will not be needed, only a bibliography.
See the English Department’s statements about plagiarism and how to cite primary and secondary sources for English papers linked to the English Dept. web-page. This material includes many examples of the most common kinds of footnotes and bibliographic citations.
A MORE DETAILED SYLLABUS, with specific reading assignments.
English 85, “‘Whiteness’ and Racial Difference”: Readings
INTRODUCTORY READINGS
Jan. 22 course introduction
24 White Reign anthology, Foreword and Kincheloe & Steinberg essay, PLUS Martínez, introduction and essays 1-2
26 White Reign, Rodriguez and McLaren essays PLUS
Martínez, essays 3-5 (especially 5)
29 White Reign, Nicholson and Anijar essays PLUS
Roediger essay in Whiteness: A Critical Reader, ed. Mike Hill (RESERVE)
31 Giroux essay in Hill’s Whiteness: A Critical Reader (RESERVE), PLUS
Martínez, essays 9 and 14, PLUS contrast these arguments with Dinesh D’Souza, The End of Racism (RESERVE) [precise pp. to be announced]
Feb. 2 bell hooks, Killing Rage, “Beloved Community” [final essay]
PLUS read 1-2 essays of your own choice in White Reign and/or Martínez and come to class with questions and comments
HISTORY
5 Haney-López, White by Law, intro note plus chs. 1-2
NOTE: White by Law is also available on-line, but you must use the computers in McCabe: www.netlibrary.com/summary.asp?ID=1312. Look up this source via Tripod using author or title.
7 Haney-López, ch 3 (all); ch 4 (concentrate on pp. 100-09); ch 5 (all)
9 Haney-López, chs. 6-7
12 Gossett, Race: The History of an Idea in America. First, read the Foreword and the Preface to this new edition; then, chs. I-IV
first paper due, 3-4pp., LPAC 206, 5pm
14 Gossett, chs. V-VII
16 Gossett, chs. VIII-X
19 Gossett, chs. XI-XIV
21 Gossett, chs. XV-XVII
23 Omi and Winant, Racial Formation in the U.S., 1960s-1990s: Prefaces to the 1994 and 1986 editions; Introduction; plus chs. 1-2
26 Omi and Winant, ch. 3 and its Conclusion; ch. 4
28 Omi and Winant, chs. 5-7
March 2 Omi and Winant, Conclusion and Epilogue
5 Visual Culture Reader, ed. Nicholas Mizroeff, section on Colonialism: Timothy Mitchell, “Orientalism and the Exhibitionary Order” (RESERVE)
7 Visual Culture Reader, section on Colonialism: Coco Fusco, “The Other History of Intercultural Performance” (RESERVE)
9 open discussion
Spring Break
ANTI-RACISM
March 19 Bonnett, Anti-Racism, ch. 1
21 hooks, Killing Rage, “Race Talk,” “Killing Rage,” and “Representations of Whiteness in the Black Imagination” essays. [re the last hooks essay, see also Rodriguez’s commentary in White Reign, pp. 49-53]
23 Bonnett, chs. 2-3
26 hooks, “Where Is the Love?” and “Keeping a Legacy”
28 Bonnett, chs. 4-5; PLUS either Ignatiev’s “Race Traitor” essay and website OR on-line transcript of the March 16 PBS discussion on the new Latino/a census figures and the Gregory Rodriguez email essay on “The New Melting Pot?” [essays sent via email; they also include the WWW URLs for further reading; it is especially important to use the website for the PBS transcript]
30 hooks, “Teaching Resistance” plus 1-2 other hooks essays of your choice
MULTIRACIAL IDENTITIES
April 2 Maria Root anthology, The Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier anthology, 2 essays: Root’s introductory essay, plus her “Bill of Rights” essay (GENERAL RESERVE, McCabe)
4 Christian, Multiracial Identity, An International Perspective, chs. 1 and 5 (RESERVE)
6 Maria Root anthology, The Multiracial Experience: Nakashima essay, “Voices from the Movement: Approaches to Multiraciality,” PLUS a second essay of your own choosing from the anthology. Please come to class with a brief summary and commentary on this second essay, as well as discussion topics on the Nakashima essay.
second paper due, 3-4pp., LPAC 206, 5pm
RACECHANGES
April 9 White Reign, essay 14, PLUS Race in Cyberspace, chs. 11 and 1
11 Race in Cyberspace, chs. 2-4
13 Race in Cyberspace, chs. 5-8
16 Race in Cyberspace, chs. 9-10, 12
18 No class. Begin research on independent projects, using Reserve readings [listed in the “Overview” and the syllabus above] and/or other materials of your own choice. Class will not meet unless necessary, but I would like to meet with you individually over the next week to discuss your project. The research projects may be individual or collaborative; the final paper of course should be an individual project but may draw on collaborative research.
20 independent research projects, cont.
23, 25 independent research, cont.
27 [Friday] class presentations begin on independent projects (1-2 students per class)
April 30 and May 2, 4 class presentations on independent projects, cont.
Final research paper based on your independent project, 10-12pp. double-spaced, due Friday, May 11th [note: near the beginning of the Final Exam period, not the end], 5pm, LPAC 206. No extensions. Your topic for this paper must be discussed with me ahead of time.
For further information, email Peter Schmidt
