Download the syllabus here:
peopling syllabus
The Peopling of New York Honors College Seminar 2[1]
IDC 3001H, EMWH
Dr. Angie K. Beeman
Course Description
In this seminar, students will investigate the social and political forces that have shaped immigrant life in New York City. In particular, we will examine how the construction of “race” and the persistence of racism affect ethnic identity, inter-ethnic relations, and the changing conditions of the city’s neighborhoods. Throughout the semester, students will be asked to challenge popular viewpoints, myths, and ideologies concerning “race” and NYC. Students will gain a strong understanding of “race” as a social, legal, and political construct. We will address the history of whiteness and how it influences immigrant experiences and relationships today. We will also discuss the factors that facilitate or impede assimilation for different groups of immigrants.
Students will be expected to develop creative weekly presentations that illustrate key ideas from course readings. Students will also complete a neighborhood project in which they investigate how and why the neighborhood has changed, examining relevant community organizations and political struggles. These projects will be displayed publicly on our course website, which students will design.
To be successful in this course, it is imperative for students to be willing to challenge their own thinking on New York City, to question their own experiences, and be open to criticisms of values and communities they may hold dear.
Required Reading
We will be reading selections from the following books:
The Wages of Whiteness by David R. Roediger
The Race Myth by Joseph L. Graves, Jr.
How Jews Became White Folks by Karen Brodkin
The Ethnic Myth by Stephen Steinberg
From Ellis Island to JFK by Nancy Foner
New York and Slavery: Time to Teach the Truth by Alan J. Singer
Polluted Promises by Melissa Checker
Koreans in the Hood by Kwang Chung Kim
The Managed Hand by Miliann Kang
Color-Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity by Tim Wise
In addition, we will be reading several articles all of which are listed on the course calendar (below).
Course Policies
Class Work – You are responsible for all missed work and must make arrangements with me to make up class work. Class work can only be made up if you have missed class due to documented circumstances. You cannot make up in-class work, if you are late to class. If you come to class while students are writing, you may start the assignment, but you will not be given extra time because you came late. IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS AND MISSING A LOT OF WORK, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, so that we can resolve the situation. There is little I can do at the end of the semester to advise you.
Lateness – Coming to class late is disruptive to the classroom environment and does reflect on my evaluation of your performance. You may also be marked absent if you repeatedly come to class late.
Classroom Decorum – (See classroom decorum rules on our course website). Please behave professionally while in class. It is important for all of us to be respectful toward one another. Some general classroom decorum guidelines: Please no electronics, including laptops unless we are using them for group activities. Nearly every lecture class will be led by student presentations and discussions. Please show your fellow students the respect they deserve by focusing on their presentations. Silence your cell phones and do not text, facebook, email, etc. during class. Research has repeatedly shown that cell phones, laptops, and use of other distracting technology hampers memory recall and affects student performance. Above all, it is simply rude. Please refrain from use of these items. Do not talk or have side conversations while your professor or other students are talking; Do not talk, text, or sleep during films or lectures; Do not make rude comments to your professor or classmates; If you happen to come to class late, enter the room and situate yourself quietly. Do not leave the room during class. If you absolutely must leave the room, do so quietly and with as little interruption as possible. As your professor, I will offer you constructive feedback throughout the semester.
As students, I expect that you display the same positive behavior toward me and other students. All of us have a right to express our viewpoints, but it is important that we do so with tact and without personally attacking each other. If your class conduct is a problem, I will approach you about the situation or report your conduct to the proper academic authorities. I may also mark you absent, if you are sleeping during class or films, texting, emailing, using laptops, excessively late, or disruptive in other ways.
The following policies are in accordance with City University of New York’s guidelines: College Attendance Policy: “If a freshman or sophomore is absent in excess of twice the number of class sessions per week, the instructor must give the student a WU grade, which counts as an F. The instructor may give a junior or senior a WU grade if he/she has excessive absences. Attendance and lateness clearly play a role in class participation. Instructors have the right to weigh attendance, lateness, and class participation in determining grades.” You do not receive attendance points, if you are not in class, even if you miss less than 4 days.
Academic Adjustments for Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments for this course must contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities. Baruch College is committed to providing equal access to all programs and curricula to all students.
Baruch Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Honesty: Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college’s educational mission and the students’ personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals. Ignorance of the rules is not an acceptable excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned. For more information on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html
Course Requirements
Weekly Presentations 30%
Each week students will prepare a creative presentation highlighting the key concepts, ideas, and theoretical considerations addressed in the readings. These presentations should include images, film clips, or other examples to illustrate and clarify some of the key points in the readings. Students should also prepare discussion questions that help the class understand how the chapters or articles contribute to our understanding of social, economic, political, racial and other issues in NYC. Send me your discussion questions the day before you present. When you develop your discussion questions, think about how the scholarship builds from or adds to previous works we have read. Rather than getting hung up on one or two details you may not like, try to step back from the readings and think about the main ideas the author(s) are making. I may interrupt a presentation to make a point or if there is a particularly interesting idea made by the presenters, which warrants further discussion. Since presenters ideally have spent more time digesting the readings, they should also feel free to politely interrupt and clarify points their classmates make. One or two students will present on each topic. Presentations should be at least 20 minutes and you will have most of the class time to lead and engage discussion. Each student will be graded individually based on how well they conduct their portion of the presentation. After you sign up for a topic, you should read ahead and begin working on your presentations as soon as possible. **A Note on Quality Participation: Quality participation involves more than talking during every class. In fact, students who dominate conversations, yet offer little sociological or constructive observations hinder the learning experience of their classmates. Presenters should be aware of this and help to re-direct discussions that have gone off on a tangent.
Attendance, In-Class Writings, and Assignments 30%: To ensure that everyone is reading, I will quiz students who are not presenting that week about the material in each of the articles/chapters. It is important to complete the readings before coming to class to do well on the writings and quizzes. You will also receive points for attendance and any class activities we complete. Occasionally, you will also be asked to complete assignments outside of the classroom that relate to the material we are currently discussing. Note: In-Class work is important. Even if you receive a high score on your final project, your score on in-class work can bring it down. It is important to do well on all assignments in the course.
Neighborhood Ethnography 40%
Students should immediately begin thinking about a neighborhood they would like to study. Talk regularly with your classmates about your ideas. On March 3rd, you will be expected to share your ideas and preliminary research on the neighborhood you chose. Students interested in the same neighborhood should form a group. Your objective is to learn all you can about the neighborhood combining archival and ethnographic data. Pay particular attention to how the neighborhood was designed and how that design affects residents’ lives. For example, where are the parks, shops, recreation, schools, transportation, apartments, and homes? What is the condition of these sites? Talk to residents young and old. This will tell you something about how the neighborhood has changed over time and why. Older residents who have lived in the neighborhood most of their lives will often note how things have changed. Also, investigate the political struggles involving the neighborhood. For this, you can find archives of certain activist groups, such as ACORN or other organizations that may have been active in the neighborhood. What issues did these organizations address? Were they successful? You can also talk to activists currently working with community groups in the neighborhood. Other examples of archival data include city planning documents, old and new photographs of the neighborhood, oral histories with community organizers and residents, materials from local organizations, and newspaper articles. You will piece all of these materials together to tell an interesting story about the neighborhood. Your final group paper should offer a thick description of what you observed, read, and learned from the people you interviewed. It should also offer an interesting analysis of how the neighborhood design intersects with and affects the lived experiences of residents.
This project will be completed in five steps:
Step One: Choose a neighborhood and do some preliminary research on it. Find some archival data and ethnographies of the neighborhood. Bring a one page discussion of the neighborhood and your ideas to class. Share your ideas in class and form a group with your classmates (March 3rd).
Step Two: Visit the neighborhood. Look around and take note of the issues mentioned above. Use the readings as a guide on what you should notice. Pay attention to how the neighborhood is designed. What was it like traveling to the neighborhood? How do things change as you walk in and out of the neighborhood? How do you know when you are no longer in the neighborhood? Are there physical or symbolic boundaries? Take photos of interesting buildings and places, especially those you might have read about in your archival and other research. Talk to a few people. How do they talk about how the neighborhood has changed over time? What does the neighborhood mean to people young and old? What do they see as some of the problems in the neighborhood? Is there a presence of community groups in the neighborhood? Post your photos on our course website under “Walking Tours” along with a summary of what you found so far. You will share your thoughts about your visit in class. Note: This should not be your only visit to the neighborhood. I have tentatively scheduled March 24th and April 23rd as days for you to visit the neighborhood. Meet with our ITF, Amanda Licastro regularly as you design the website for your project.
Step Three: Meet with me to discuss your progress, share your triumphs, and any problems you may be having. These meetings are tentatively scheduled for April 28th and April 30th.
Step Four: Work with our ITF, Amanda Licastro to design your project website. You should be meeting with Amanda regularly.
Step Five: Final Paper and Presentations. The final paper should be 15-20 pages, typed and double spaced. Hand in a hard copy. Somewhere in the last pages of the paper, summarize each group member’s contributions. You will receive a group grade on your paper, but this summary allows me to assess everyone’s contributions. Include a bibliography and title page with everyone’s names listed. Presentations will take place on May 12th and 14th. Please feel free to bring interesting items or food from the neighborhood.
Course Calendar:
Monday, Jan. 27th: Introduction to the Course and Professor. Introduction to our ITF, Ms. Amanda Licastro. Sign up for Class Presentations on Readings.
Tuesday, Jan. 28th: Common Event at 6 p.m. John Jay College.
Wednesday, Jan. 29th: The Origins of “Race” and Racism. Readings: Graves introduction and Smedley chapter.
Monday, Feb. 3rd: Film—Race the Power of an Illusion, part 1. Remember to sign up for a tech fair session!
Wed., Feb. 5: Origins continued and Performance of “Race,” Types of Racism Beeman et. al. 2010, pages 30-36 and Roediger Chapter 6.
Monday, Feb. 10: Read How Jews Became White Folks Chapter 1 and Abby Ferber, “What White Supremacists Taught a Jewish Scholar about Identity.” Student Presentations.
Wed, Feb. 12: College Closed
Mon, Feb. 17: College Closed
Wednesday, Feb. 19: Film—Race: The Power of an Illusion Part 3
Thursday, Feb. 20 (Monday schedule): LIBRARY VISIT. Think about which neighborhood you would like to study by using ethnographic and archival research. Talk with your classmates who are interested in the same neighborhoods so that you might form a group.
Monday, Feb. 24: Ethnographic Studies of NYC. Read Polluted Promises Chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to how the author uses pictures, documents, interviews, and other data to tell a story about the neighborhood. Think about the neighborhood you want to study and how you can use similar methods to conduct your research. Student Presentations.
Wed., Feb. 26: Ethnographies and Ethics. Read Sidewalk by Mitch Duneier. As you read, try to envision how you will apply the methods used to your own study. What are some of the challenges Duneier faced and how did he overcome them? Note the self-reflection and reflexivity ethnographies demand. Student Presentations.
Monday, March 3:—Bring a one page discussion of the neighborhood you would like to study and why. Discuss what you have read about the neighborhood so far and ideas you have on how to conduct the study through ethnographic and archival methods. You will work in groups to receive feedback from your classmates, possibly forming group projects.
Wed., March 5: New York: A Documentary Film, Episode 1. See youtube for the series.
Mon., March 10: Visit to Tenement Museum
Wed, March 12: Theories on assimilation and critiques. Read Suarez-Orozco, “Everything you Ever Wanted to Know about Assimilation…” Student Presentations.
Mon. March 17: Assimilation continued. Read: Foner, Going to School. Student Presentations.
Wed. March 19: Neighborhood Walking Tour—Tour the neighborhood you want to study. Take pictures, especially of anything you have identified in your archival research so far. Identify some folks you can chat with about how the neighborhood has changed. Describe what you saw and the conversations you had. I will be in my office during class time.
Thursday, March 20: Barbara J. Fields (Columbia University) to visit Baruch College for a talk on “Racecraft.” 12:30, room 3-165.
Monday, March 24: Neighborhood Walking Tour and Research Day. By now you have read studies and histories of your neighborhood and have toured your neighborhood. Use the tutorials Amanda posted on the course website to begin visually portraying your research. You can create timelines, maps, videos, audios of interviews, etc. Post these materials to “Walking Tours” on the course website by March 25th. Be prepared to discuss what you learned on your walking tours and what you have posted. Start thinking about how you will connect your ethnography to the course readings. I will be in my office during class time.
Wed., March 26: Cultural Myths. Read: Steinberg, Ethnic Myth Chapter 6 and Steinberg, “Poor Reason.” Student Presentations.
Monday, March 31: Cultural Myths. Read: Jemima Pierre, “Black Immigrants in the United States and the ‘Cultural Narratives’ of Ethnicity” and “You’re Asian How Could you Fail Math?” Student Presentations.
Wed., April 2: Amanda Licastro will visit the class. Bring your laptops and your project materials. Be prepared to show us what you have completed so far.
Monday, April 7: Cultural Myths and Conflict. Read: Koreans in the Hood Chapters 6 and 8. Students Present.
Wednesday, April 9: Read “The Managed Hand” Chapter 5. How does this chapter add to the analysis of the conflict between Korean and African Americans? How are the relationships presented in this chapter different? Student Presentations.
Monday, April 14-Tuesday, April 22: SPRING RECESS
Wednesday, April 23: TENTATIVE—Guest Speaker: African Burial Ground (This is still being scheduled). Read—Alan J.Singer, New York and Slavery: Time to Teach the Truth and New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance. Respond to the question on the readings. I will post the question either on Blackboard or our course website.
THURSDAY, APRIL 24TH: EDUARDO BONILLA-SILVA (Tentative)
Monday, April 28: Meet in my office. Must sign up for a meeting.
Wednesday, April 30: Meet in my office. Must sign up for a meeting.
Monday, May 5: The Problem with Color-Blindness. Read “The Linguistics of Color-Blind Racism” and “The Trouble with Post-Racial Liberalism.” Student Presentations.
Wednesday, May 7: What Does the Future Hold? Read Foner Ch. 8 only to page 23 and Bonilla-Silva “From Bi-Racial to Tri-Racial: Towards a New System of Racial Stratification in the USA.” Student Presentations.
Monday, May 12: Presentations. I encourage you to bring food or other items you would like to share from the neighborhoods you studied.
Wednesday, May 14: Presentations
Papers Due on Final Exam Date. Your final group paper should offer a thick description of what you observed, read, and learned from the people you interviewed. It should also offer an interesting analysis of how the neighborhood design intersects with and affects the lived experiences of residents.
Final exams May 16-23.
