Comparative Ethnic Studies 101:

Africans, Europeans & Indian Nations

In the Making of American Cultures

Fall, 2016W 1-1:50

Merrill Hall 131

Dr. Rachel BuffOffice: Holton 313

Office Hours: M 10:30-12:30

& by

TA: Joe Walzer

Course Description

This course is organized around the historical collision of distinct peoples in the Americas. We will be looking at the ways that Europeans, Indian Nations and Africans-initially enslaved and eventually free- struggled and interacted, shaping what we now know as “American culture.” Our central focus will be on these interactions as they have shaped the nation of the United States.

In this course, we will be working on the assumption that social identities take on meaning only because of historical circumstances. This approach is called social constructionism.

We will often find ourselves talking about “the social construction of identity”. This means the ways categories we think of as natural or physical, like “black” and “white”, “man” and “woman” are actually social. They have been created over time by laws, resistance movements, popular culture, economic policies; in other words, by people.

To say that identity is socially constructed does not mean that it is, necessarily, easily disassembled. If Indian and white are socially constructed categories, that doesn’t mean we can choose to switch places. But taking a social constructionist approach allows us to understand the histories of struggle contained in each of our identities.

We will be focusing, in good part, on the northern Midwest for our examples and histories of social identities. The project of this class is that we all start seeing our worlds- our own families and communities- a little differently, to understand them in a different context, than we did previously.

Course Objectives

Among the objectives of the course are the following:

  1. To gain an understanding of the meanings of race and ethnicity in contemporary and historical perspectives;
  2. To become familiar with the different histories of ethnic and racialized groups in the United States;
  3. To understand the significance of race and ethnicity to public policy and culture.

One of the more significant learning goals of this course is to develop an understanding of contemporary cultural diversity, in the United States and the world. Additionally, the course grapples with the challenges of multicultural national life for public policy, as well as the challenges of acculturation and assimilation to specific groups of people. Written course works is designed to help students think these issues through in their own words.

General Education Requirements:This course carries Humanities and Cultural Diversity GER accreditation.

Credit Hour Policy: This 3-credit course meets for 3 hours per week during the semester. Students are expected to put in 7 additional hours per week studying and working on assignments to achieve the learning goals of this course.

Course Work

Preparation:

A college course is made up of lectures, in this case two a week, along with discussion sections, course readings and written work. In some courses, you are assigned a textbook, which pretty much covers the material you are responsible for the semester. Students read the textbook, listen to the professor explain it, and take exams that come out of the material covered by lectures and the textbook.

This course does not work this way. It is arranged so that readings, worksheets, papers, exams, lectures, and discussions complement, rather than echo, one and other. That means that students must engage with this class on several different fronts: by reading, discussing, writing, and actively listening during lectures.

During the twice weekly lectures, you should come to class prepared to take notes. This means writing down central concepts: NOT EVERYTHING!Keep in mind that all powerpoint presentations are posted on our D2L site, and are available an hour or an hour and a half before class begins. Each lecture features key words and questions to help you figure out what is important.

Before class starts, it’s useful to go back over your notes from the previous class, paying special attention to things you didn’t understand or wanted to discuss further. If you have a question about something, the overwhelming likelihood is that someone else does, too! Active listening means that you think critically about what you are hearing and how it fits into your understanding of what is going on. I encourage students to ask questions or contribute to lectures with pertinent discussion.

Readings should be completed before Wednesday’s class meeting the week they are listed on the syllabus. Completing readings means scanning the pages, as well as underlining important and/or controversial ideas in the text. Students will want to bring questions on readings to class or section, and should also feel free to take these up with the professor or teaching assistants during office hours.

Readings:

1. Books: Obtaining these books is a mandatory part of the class and should be accomplished sooner, rather than later. Students who bring all three books to the second section meeting during the week of September 10 will receive an extra credit point towards their class participation grade. After this, students should bring readings to section: print out electronic reserve articles, or bring the book assigned.

The books are:

Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter, Christina Heatherton & Jordan Camp, eds.

Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, by Brenda Child (this book is available as an e-book free through uwm libraries!)

Meet Me Halfway, by Jennifer Morales

(this book is available as an e-book free through uwm libraries!)

2. Most other course readings are available through our course D2L page.

All these readings are required for the class. I have tried to keep expenses to a minimum. If there are financial impediments to your purchase ofthe one mandatory book for purchase, you might consider sharing the expense with classmates. Completion of course readings is an essential component of this class.

Attendance/Participation:

Attendance at both lecture and section is a required component of this class. Students are expected to attend lecture, and, when possible to participate in discussions there, and to attend and participate in section. Sections may include written assignments and/or quizzes: these will be incorporated into the attendance/participation grade.

As part of the participation grade, students are required to bring 2-5 questions to section each week. These should be typed printed out, to hand in. The questions should draw from all of the weekly readings- including the books, which we will read over the course of several weeks. It’s also a good idea to integrate questions that come up in lecture or large class discussions.

D2L Site:

This class makes use of the D2L website. All assignments will be posted on D2L. Before each lecture, I will post an outline, including key words and ideas. We will also use this system to contact you at various times during the semester.That means if you don’t routinely read your uwm email account, you need to have mail from that account forwarded to the account you do routinely read. If you are not in the habit of routinely reading your email, make a new habit of checking in every week day.

Use of the D2L site is essential for success in this course. The website includes up-to-date information about assignments, keywords, and other critical aspects of the course. In order to find and browse the course Web site:

  1. Call up your Web browser and go to the UWM home page:
  2. From the UWM home page, click on the “E-learning, D2L” link near the top right of the screen.
  3. On the next screen, click on the Desire2Learn logo.
  4. This will bring up the Desire2Learn welcome screen. You will see a location to enter your Username and Password.

Exams:

There are threeexams for this class, including two in class exams and the final. The material for these exams will be taken from all of the following: lectures, discussions, videos, and readings..

On line quizzes:

Each student must complete 10 of the 13 on-line quizzes. These are due before Wednesday’s class. There is no time limit, and you may take the quizzes as many times as you like.

Paper:

There is one paper, on Boarding School Seasons and related readings. Students will be expected to draw from readings and media presentations in responding to posted questions for the paper. While it is not necessary to formally cite class lectures, it is expected that student papers will utilize concepts drawn from class, as well as from readings.

Evaluation

Grades will be calculated as follows:

2 exams, @15 points30 points

1 paper15 points

Attendance/participation15 points

Quizzes20 points

Final Exam20 points

Total100 points

In order to receive a passing grade for this course, students must complete all the assigned work, with no exceptions. Failure to do so will result in failure of the course.

What this means, in practice, is that you will not be blamed for the disruptions caused by personal or widespread illness. In the case of an epidemic, many of the details of this and other classes may have to change. We will keep you informed.