Course Format and Requirements
This course is first and foremost an anthropology course, and I expect you to engage seriously with its theoretical and ethnographic content. I will assume a basic background in the discipline (prerequisite for this course is Anth 21), and therefore your grade will depend on the extent to which you grapple with anthropological concepts and material.
This course will include lectures, discussions, guest lectures, small group activities, a play, a group exhibit, and films. Attendance is mandatory at all course activities, and the only excused absences are for family or health emergencies (with proof). Please note that we will have one evening session on Wed. September 27, 7-9pm. Attendance at this event is mandatory, unless you have cleared your absence with me ahead of time (I will give you an alternative assignment if you cannot make it).
You will be graded on the following:
You should keep a course and film logbook that will be turned in and graded three times during the semester (9/15, 10/20, and 12/1), amounting to a total of 20% of your grade. In your logbook you MUST do the following at least once during the semester:
In your logbook, you can also: describe your reactions to course materials, readings, lectures, debates and/or discussions; describe and register your reactions to current events in newspapers, television programs, magazine articles and advertisements, etc. that relate to this course (if possible, clip them out and attach them to your logbook); describe internet resources on race and ethnicity in the U.S. that you have discovered (include web address and date); describe art openings, public lecture, etc. you attend that relate to this course. There is no set amount of pages to write, and I will be looking for the quality of your engagement with materials, not necessarily quantity. However, you should plan on writing something at least twice a week in your logbook. Failure to cover the required topics above, as well as a broad variety of other resources, will result in a lower grade. Logbooks MUST be typewritten.
There is a presentation requirement for this class, and you have several ways to fulfill it. One is to participate in an in-class debate, for which you will work in a small group to come up with a position and then present that position in class. Another is to participate as an 'actor' in the class play (you do not have to memorize your part; you will read it out loud). The last is to make a 5-minute presentation on a recommended reading at some point in the semester.
In order to get the most out of this course, it is necessary that you arrive at class prepared - this means having done the assigned readings before the class session for which they are assigned. To ensure this, there will be brief reading quizzes at the beginning of class every Wednesday (unless otherwise noted in the schedule of readings), the total of which constitute 20% of your final grade. You cannot make up any of these quizzes if you miss a class, unless you have arranged it with me ahead of time because of an expected absence.
We will create an exhibit related to themes we cover in this course, to be set up in the Williams Hall Department of Anthropology lounge. I will divide you into small groups, and your group will collect visual materials and cultural artifacts in popular media, literature, and consumer capitalism that reflect racial/racist/anti-racist assumptions, hierarchies, etc. Your group will decide what two objects it would like to present to the rest of the class and include in the exhibit, and provide a narrative for these objects. We will spend several classes presenting and considering these materials.
The final course assignment will be a take-home final exam, which will be an 8-page position paper in response to a handout I give on the last day of class. This paper will be due Monday December 11.
A note on writing assignments:
In these days of computer-mediated writing, there are no excuses for the two following problems: 1) late papers due to 'computer crashes,' and 2) poor spelling. Regarding the former, claiming a 'computer crash' is the basically the same as telling me that your dog ate your homework. This is not a valid excuse if you are backing up your materials on diskettes. If indeed this has happened, I expect you to provide a note from a computer specialist explaining the problem; otherwise your late paper will be evaluated in terms of my late paper policy. Regarding the latter problem, use your spellcheck option - I will mark you down for poor spelling.
My policy on late papers and logbooks is that I do not accept them, although I will make an exception if you are willing to receive a lower grade. Written work is due in class. Anything not turned in during class is late, and for every 24 hour period your paper or logbook is late, you drop a full grade from the grade I feel your paper would receive if it were not late. For example, if your 'A' paper is not turned in at class, you will receive a 'B' if it is turned in within the next 24 hours. The next day, your grade drops to a 'C.' The day after that, it is a 'D.' If you turn in a paper late and expect to receive a non-reduced grade, you must provide evidence of an emergency.