MINORITY CULTURES IN AMERICA

AMST 411--FALL 2003

Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D. Course Room No.: S17-229

Class UT: 13:00-14:15 [Ramadhan—12:00-13:00] INTERNET: cscpo@arts.uob.bh

Office Hours: By appointment Office No.: S17-263

VOICE: 438775 (W) 729091 (H)

An examination of the questions of race, ethnicity and identity in the United States with special emphasis on minorities.

Grading Policy: 20% for Attendance*; 20% for the Class Presentation; 20% for the Midterm Exam; 20% for the Research Paper; and 20% for the Final Exam. A Guidelines sheet will be distributed outlining the requirements for your Class Presentation and for your Research Paper.

Attendance Policy*: Attendance in class is mandatory. As well, you are expected to follow the syllabus and accordingly be prepared for each day's class. This means that you must read the pre-assigned readings before class so that you will be prepared to discuss and debate in class the subject matter scheduled for that day and answer questions related to the issues being covered. NOTE: TURN OFF all cell phones during class.

*Absence from class may be made up by preparing a two-page, typed (i.e. using maximum 12 point font size and maximum double-spaced text with one-inch margin on all sides), summary on the missed material scheduled to be covered the day(s) of your absence.

Required Texts:

InfoUSA: Information USA [CD-ROM]. 2002. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, Office of International Information Programs. [Supplied by professor.]

Supplemental Readings: [Readings from the texts below to be supplied as handouts by the professor]

Darder, Antonia and Rodolfo D. Torres. 1998. The Latino Studies Reader: Culture, Economy & Society. Malden, MA & Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Naff, Alixa. 1985. Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience. Carbondale and Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Lyman, Staford M. 1994. Color, Culture, Civilization: Race and Minority Issues in American Society. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois.

Pedraza, Silvia and Ruben G. Rumbaut. 1996. Origins and Destinies: Immigration, Race, and Ethncity in America. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Oct. 5: Introduction to Minority Cultures in America

Oct. 7: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

Readings: InfoUSA: Information USA [CD-ROM]. “Civil Rights: A Chronology”

Oct. 8: [Last day for dropping courses]

Oct. 12: Assimilation Versus Pluralism

Readings: Lyman, Introduction, pp. 1-10

Oct. 14: Assimilation Versus Pluralism

Readings: Lyman, Introduction, pp. 11-15

Oct. 19: Assimilation Versus Pluralism

Readings: Lyman, Introduction, pp. 15-40

Oct. 21: The Test Case of Acculturation

Readings: Marx, “On the Jewish Question”

Oct. 26: The Test Case of Acculturation

Readings: Marx, “On the Jewish Question”

Oct. 27: [First day of Ramadhan 1424]

Oct. 28: Becoming American [Ramadhan—11:40-12:40]

Readings: Naff, “Introduction”

Nov. 2: The Syrian Immigrants to America [Ramadhan—11:40-12:40]

Readings: Naff, Ch. 2, “When They Came,” “Why They Came”

Nov. 4: The Syrian Immigrants to America [Ramadhan—12:00-13:00]

Readings: Naff, Ch. 2, “En Route: A Network of Services,” “The Immigrants”

Nov. 9: The Syrian Immigrants to America [Ramadhan—12:00-13:00]

Readings: Naff, Ch. 3, “Amrika”

Nov. 11: Midterm Exam [Ramadhan—12:00-13:00]

Nov. 15-19: Mid-semester break [No classes]

Nov. 23: Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in America [Ramadhan—12:00-13:00]

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 1, “Origins and Destinies: Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in American History”

Nov. 25-27: Eid Al-Fitr 1424—Holiday [No classes]

Nov. 30: Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in America

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 2, “Origins and Destinies: Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in Contemporary America”

Dec. 2: Culture, Economy & Society

Readings: Darder & Torres, “Introduction—Latinos and Society: Culture, Politics, and Class”

Dec. 7: Color and Caste

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 3, “North American Indians and the Demography of Contact”

Dec. 9: Color and Caste

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 4, “From Sundown to Sunup: Slavery and the Making of the Black Community”

Dec. 14: Color and Caste

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 5, “Farewell—We’re Good and Gone: Black Migration from the PostBellum South”

Dec. 16-17: National Day of Bahrain—Holidays; no classes

Dec. 21: Latin Americans

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 6, “Mexican Americans: Their Civic and Political Incorporation”

Dec. 23: Latin Americans

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 7, “Migration, Community, and Culture: The United States-Puerto Rican Experience”

Dec. 28: The Watershed: The Civil Rights Movement and Its Aftermath

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 16, “The Civil Rights Movement: A Social and Political Watershed”

Dec. 30: The Watershed: The Civil Rights Movement and Its Aftermath

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 17, “Que Viva la Raza: The Many Faces of the Chicano Movement, 1963-1971”

Jan. 1: New Year’s Day [Western]—Holiday; no classes

Jan. 4: The Watershed: The Civil Rights Movement and Its Aftermath

Readings: Pedraza & Rumbaut, Ch. 18, “American Indians and Political Protest: The ‘Red Power’ Years”

Jan. 6: Last day of classes; Review

Jan. 17, 2004: Final Exam 14:30-16:30

Jan. 22, 2004: Last day for submitting first semester’s grades

Jan. 20-Feb. 11, 2004: Inter-semester Break [Holidays]