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UNITED STATES SOCIAL HISTORY: CULTURAL PLURALISM IN AMERICAEl Camino College - History 32 – Spring 2009 – Dr. Christina Gold
Class: MW 1:00-2:25 SOCS 207 Section 2394Office: 202G Social Sciences BuildingPhone: (310)660-3593 x3751Email: [email protected] Hours: MW 12:00-1:00; T 10:45-11:15; Th 9:45-11:15
Course Description: This course surveys the contributions of ethnic groups and racial minorities to United States history. Emphasis is placed on these groups’ cultural interaction with the American way of life from colonial times to the present. We will begin by learning relevant basic theory and terminology and will proceed to chronologically study the topic, focusing on the ways that race and ethnicity shaped personal lives, communities, the nation, and international relations.
GradingVocabulary Test 5%3 Reading Reviews 15%Midterms 30%Final Exam 15%Essay 20% (5% thesis/outline; 15% paper)Participation 10%Course Portfolio 5%
TextbooksReid Luhman. Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Our Differences and Our Roots.
Wadsworth, 2002. Course Reader. For sale in the El Camino book store.
Reading ReviewsStudents will submit 3 reviews of the course readings. The reading reviews assess student understanding of the basic concepts conveyed in the textbook.
LecturesStudents are responsible for all the information conveyed in the lectures. Students should take notes during lecture and should borrow someone’s notes for days that they are absent.
EssaysStudents will write a 5-7 page essay based upon the secondary and primary document sources in the textbook. An outline and thesis are required prior to submission of the essay. Essay topics and the grading rubric are included in the course reader.
ParticipationActive participation in class discussion is essential to success in the course. Assigned readings must be completed in order to effectively participate. Your final participation grade is based on your attendance, group discussions and class participation.
Group DiscussionIn this honors course, students will participate actively in small groups that discuss primary and secondary sources. Please complete all document readings before coming to class. There will not be time for you to read the documents in class before the group discussion begins. Group
answers will be graded and will form part of the participation grade. In the event of absence, students are permitted to make-up two group discussions.
AttendanceAttendance will be taken at the beginning of every class. More than 3 absences in the semester will adversely impact your grade. One percentage point will be deducted per absence over 3 unless written notification of a medical or other extraordinary reason is provided.
Classroom Etiquette, Cheating, Plagiarism, and Late PolicyStudents are expected to treat each other and the Professor respectfully. Disruptive behavior interrupts learning and creates a tense classroom environment. Please contribute to a positive learning experience for yourself and the other students. Arrive on time, prepared to participate in class. If you need to leave early, please notify the Professor before class. Out of respect for all the students’ hard work, cheating and plagiarism will absolutely not be tolerated. Plagiarism occurs when you take credit for the original ideas and/or words of another person. Plagiarism or cheating on any assignment or exam will incur a 0 for the grade, making it difficult to pass the course. For late assignments, the grade will be reduced by one full grade for each class meeting it is late.
Reading AssignmentsStudents should complete the assigned reading before coming to class. Do not fall behind in the reading, as it will be difficult to catch up. Try to make it a habit to do your class reading in the evening or day before we meet.
PortfolioStudents will submit a course portfolio in the last week of class. The portfolio contains all of the semester’s work and a brief concluding self-assessment of the student’s performance in the course and a discussion of how the course impacted the student’s ideas about race and ethnicity.
Weekly Topics and Assignments
Week OneFeb. 18 Course Introduction
Learning Styles SurveyHomework Due: Conduct an internet web search for the origin and meaning of your last name. Write this on a blank piece of paper, along with the country or countries from which your family first immigrated to the United States. If you aren’t certain, make an educated guess.
Week TwoFeb. 23 Student Introductions
Theory: Basic ConceptsReading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 1-18
Feb. 25 Theory: Social and Ethnic StratificationReading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 33-66 (Bring Luhman to class)Group Discussion: Group Rules
“Imagine a Country”
Week ThreeMarch 2 Theory: Discrimination and Prejudice
Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 67-85Video: The Dave Chapelle Show
March 4 17th century America, 1600-1700Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 87-107
Week FourMarch 9 Vocabulary Test
17th century America, 1600-1700Group Discussion: The British Colonists and the Indians
March 11 18th century America, 1701-1788Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 107-123
Week FiveMarch 16 18th century America, 1701-1788
Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 123-140 (Bring Luhman to class)Group Discussion: Race and Colonial America: “Cecilia, a Slave”
March 18 Reading Review #1 Due1780-1836: The New Republic
Week SixMarch 23 Midterm #1
March 25 Film: PBS, Destination America: The Earth is the Lord’s
Week SevenMarch 30 1837-1877: Westward Expansion
Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 141-162Group Discussion: Manifest Destiny
April 1 1837-1877: Slavery, the Civil War and ReconstructionReading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 162-176
Week EightApril 6 1837-1877: Slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction
Group Discussion: Reconstruction
April 8 Race Relations in the South, 1878-1900Reading Assignment: Luhman: pp. 185-192Group Discussion: African American Reformers
New Groups and Group Rules
SPRING BREAK April 13-17
Week NineApril 20 1878-1900: American Imperialism
Group Discussion: Social Darwinism
April 22 Reading Review #2 Due1878-1900: ImmigrationReading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 177-185
Week TenApril 27 1878-1900: Immigration
Group Discussion: Immigrant Experience and Restriction
April 29 Midterm #2
Week ElevenMay 4 Film: PBS, Destination America: The Golden Door
May 6 1901-1929: The Critical PeriodReading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 192-215Group Discussion: Mexican Immigration
Group Self-Evaluation
Week TwelveMay 11 The Great Depression and World War II
Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 216-224 – Bring Luhman to class.Group Discussion: Richard Wright, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow”
May 13 Film: The Defiant Ones, 1958
Week ThirteenMay 18 Film: The Defiant Ones, 1958
The Civil Rights Movement: The Early YearsGroup Discussion: The Defiant Ones
May 20 Paper Thesis and Outline DueThe Civil Rights Movement: Radicalization
Week FourteenMay 25 The 1970s: The Expansion of the Civil Rights Movement
Reading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 232-260
May 27 Holiday – Memorial Day
Week FifteenJune 1 Paper Due
New ImmigrantsReading Assignment: Luhman, pp. 261-265 – Bring Luhman to class.Group Discussion: New Immigrants
June 3 Reading Review #3 DueThe 1980s & 1990sGroup Discussion: Los Angeles Riots
Week SixteenJune 8 Final Exam and Course Portfolio Due
June 10 Pick up graded work and course grade consultation
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Upon completion of History 32, students will identify and explain major social, economic, political and cultural patterns in the history of ethnic groups and racial minorities in the United States in a written or oral assignment.
2. Given primary and/or secondary source(s) pertaining to a significant aspect of economic, political, social or cultural patterns in the history of ethnic groups and racial minorities in the United States, students will develop and persuasively argue an historical thesis in a written or oral assignment that effectively uses the sources as evidence.
3. Given a primary or secondary source relating to the history of ethnic groups and racial minorities in the United States, students will accurately identify the source and then apply appropriate historical methods to explain what the source reveals about its historical context.
Course Objectives
1. Assess the influence of race and ethnicity in shaping the American way of life.
2. Evaluate the significance of immigration in redefining American culture from colonial times to the present.
3. Analyze the dominant society’s political, social, economic, and legal stratification of ethnic groups and racial minorities in American history.
4. Compare and contrast the status of European and African immigrants in colonial society.
5. Discuss and assess government policies for American Indians in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
6. Identify and describe the contributions of major ethnic groups and racial minorities to United States history.
7. Analyze the debate over cultural pluralism in recent American history.
8. Explain and assess the cultural consequences of the assimilation process on immigrant groups.
9. Compare and contrast the economic, political, and cultural experience of Asian, European and Mexican immigrants to the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century through the early twentieth century.
10. Identify the relationship between racial minorities in the American West during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
11. Evaluate the influence of the civil rights movement of the twentieth century on American social attitudes.
12. Analyze differences and similarities between pre-1945 immigration to the United States and recent immigrants from the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
