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SYD3700 - Minorities in American SocietySpring Semester 2021

I. Class and Instructor Information

Instructor: George Topalidis Sections: 0961 & 284DE-mail: [email protected] Meets: Online 1/11 - 4/30/2021 Office hours: Mondays 12:00 - 14:00 via Canvas Chat and via Zoom appointment

Textbook: Desmond, M., & Emirbayer, M. (2020). Race in America.

The best way to contact me is via email or on Canvas chat during office hours. I will respond to email within 24-48 hours (usually sooner).

II. Class Structure and Organization

If you have never taken an online class before, the workload might seem overwhelming. However, if you parse your time properly during the week you will quickly realize that, with good planning, you will complete the assignments on time (even ahead of time). I provide some guidance here to help you organize and prepare (also see the optional video titled Study Habits on Canvas in the Week 1- Module).

The class is broken down into weekly modules. These modules are found on the class’s main Canvas page. All weekly assignments you need to complete are in the modules. They are also discussed in this syllabus (see section XIII. Class Schedule).

Each week you are to complete a required set of readings. I encourage you to complete the readings first, as it will give you a comprehensive view of that week’s topics. Once you have finished readings, view the lecture video for that week. The prerecorded video will focus on particular themes and concepts from that week’s readings and will provide examples that apply the themes and concepts. Take notes from the lecture video. Go back to the textbook to reread relevant sections in order to clarify the material, if need be.

Next, complete the discussion post for the week. The discussion post is your chance to apply the themes and concepts from that week by reflecting upon a contemporary social issue affecting groups who are categorized and identified as minorities in the US. Finally, spend some time working on a different section of your paper each week. In the first two weeks, you should think about a research question that you would like to explore and identify relevant books and journal articles that will help you address your research question(s). At the beginning of the semester’s second month, you should work on writing one of the sections of the term paper per week.

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Finally, on weeks 7 and 14 you should be prepared to complete two exams. The information for the first exam is inclusive of the material we covered from week 1 through week 7. The information for the second exam is inclusive of the material we covered from week 7 through week 14.

To summarize, I recommend that each week you organize your workflow so that it looks something like the following.

1. Complete the readings2. Watch the lecture video and take notes3. Go back to the book and reread sections for clarification4. Watch the discussion piece and write your reflective post5. Work on a section of your paper (beginning in the second month of the semester).6. Prepare each week for the exams by constructing a working memory of the

materials we cover.

Assignments are due every Sunday by 11:59 pm. You can contact me with any questions during office hours on Canvas Chat or, if necessary, schedule a one-on-one session via Zoom.

III. General Education Objectives for Social and Behavioral Sciences

Over the course of the past century to the present, political and social developments in the US have centered race, ethnicity, class, and gender identity paradigms in academic discourse, public opinion and public policy debates. This course provides students with the opportunity to apply theories, concepts and methodologies to address questions related to these paradigms. The course explains the establishment and development of the paradigms and gives students modern examples of race, ethnicity, and gender scholarship to consider. Finally, students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in different substrata of race, ethnicity, class and gender scholarship and compose unique projects that deliberate the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments.

IV. Course Objectives

1) Introduce students to the basic concepts, theories, and methods that race, ethnicity and gender scholars use. Course materials and activities provide students opportunities to see how social scientists use varied methods to collect information pertaining to race and ethnicity questions. Moreover, students will critically assess how that information can be used to frame understanding about

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why race, ethnicity, and gender paradigms exist and what might be the possible consequences of those paradigms.

2) Provide students with a detailed view of race, ethnicity and gender scholarship within

the social sciences that exposes students to strategies to identify, study, and address social issues and research questions pertaining to race, ethnicity and gender. Course activities will provide students with opportunities to apply critical thinking skills to evaluate debates about race, ethnicity and gender paradigms and the evidence needed to assess the positions of those debates.

3) Help students to develop the ability to understand how race, ethnicity and gender as identity paradigms affect and are affected by various social processes and structures.

4) Encourage students to develop a better understanding of how their own lives and significant relationships are shaped by the larger social forces which are interconnected with race, ethnicity and gender.

5) Provide students with insights about how individuals' racial, ethic and gender identity(ies) can affect the larger society.

V. Attendance Policy

1. This is a 3000 level online course. Attendance does not count towards the final grade. Therefore, the completion of weekly assignments is critical to success in this course.

2. Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies. Click here to read the university attendance policies.

VI. Grades

This section discusses the tools used to assess your progress during the semester.

1. Exams

There are two exams consisting of 50 questions. These questions are a combination of True/False and Multiple Choice. The questions are drawn fromeach week’s lecture and reading materials. Exam 1 consists of material from the first half of the course. and Exam II from the second. We will used HonorLock as

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our exam proctoring software. It is mandatory that you review the program’s guidelines prior to test day. Click here to access them.

2.Term Paper

This class requires the composition of a term paper. The paper has to be structured

using the following section headings:

1. Title Page 2. Abstract3. Introduction4. Data and methods5. Results6. Discussion/Conclusion7. References

2.1. Paper Guidelines

The term paper is a review of the scholarship pertaining to one or more related research questions you formulate. You are also expected to engage with the readings you have selected. What ideas or debates are the authors discussing? Whose ideas are the refining, agreeing or disagreeing with? Use the following guidelines to structure and organize your essay.

1. Citations should follow APA style guidelines (ex. in-text and footnotes). Click here to access them.

2. The paper cannot fall short of 2,500 words in length, excluding the reference section, title page, and abstract.

3. The abstract should not be less than 200 words. 4. Formatting should be Times New Roman, font size 12. The paper

must be double spaced and paginated. Again adhere to APA guidelines.

5. During the semester, progress on the paper will be measured at two points. The research question(s) are due at the end of the third week of the semester. The APA style bibliography of the 10 references is due by the end of the fourth week. The final draft is due on the final day of class by midnight. Every day these progress metrics are late, 10 points will be

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deducted from the total possible points of the paper. All submissions for the term paper are to be completed through Canvas.

6. EMAIL ME IN ADVANCE WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE.

2.2. Use the following as section headlines for your paper and adhere to thecontent below as guidelines for the information each section should contain.

2.3. Title page:

Follow APA guidelines to organize your title page. In general, it should include your paper’s title, your name, and a running header.

2.4. Abstract:

The abstract is a summary of the entire paper. The first few sentences inform the reader about the paper’s topic. The next few sentences state the research question(s) and the method and data the paper will use to answer them. The abstract concludes with one or two sentences about the paper’s major findings. I recommend that you write this section last.

2.5. Introduction:

The introduction needs to include your literature review and your research questions. Briefly, read your sources and pay attention to any debates they discuss, do they agree or disagree, do they expand upon a particular idea in the debate. This is what your lit review should do. Discuss what the authors’ main ideas were and where they fit in the debate. Scholarly reviews are pretty much a part of every book/article you read. In each reading, the authors spend time discussing the work of previous authors. They discuss what has already been written and also how their work fits. You will definitely come across it in your readings for your paper. The introduction should also include your research question(s) and transitions from idea to idea, not author to author.

2.4. Methods & Data:

In this section discuss the data and methods used by the authors you have identified. What samples are they using? What analytical methods? What

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data collection methods? How does their data and methods aid or obstruct you from answering your research question? Scavenger your readings to answer these questions and then discuss the answers in this section.

2.5. Results:

Use the Results section to discuss the main results of the research articles you found. Do their results complement or alter those of your other authors? Are they completely unrelated? Discuss their findings in this section.

2.6. Discussion of Results/Conclusion:

In this section interpret the results you discussed in your Results section. What does the data tell you about your research question? What is the answer? Does more research need to be done or does your research provide an adequate answer? The answers to these questions should be included in this section.

2.7. Bibliography/reference section:

The paper must include a minimum of 10 references. The class textbook, Wikipedia articles, encyclopedias, working papers, masters thesis papers, honors thesis papers, blog posts, and mass media reportage are not allowed as references. Books and peer reviewed journal articles by academic researchers are allowed as sources.

2.8. Term Paper Grading Rubric:

The following criteria will be used to grade your term paper. See the rubric on the following page.

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VII. Weekly Discussion Post Guidelines

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Each week you are responsible for drafting a 300 word response (minimum) to a discussion topic. This response will be based upon some form of multimedia that you are responsible for interacting with. I will post some relevant questions each week to get you thinking but ultimately you are responsible for thinking about that week’s materials and including the following in your response. The idea behind the weekly responses is to get you in the mode of writing required for your term paper. You will submit your discussion post every week on Canvas in a text-box.

1. Discussing that multimedia’s content, in other words what was it about?

2. Applying a theory or concept from that week lecture and/or reading to the discussion of the topic. Be specific, really think about what theoretical concepts apply to the discussion posts from the book. Generalizations and platitudes should be avoided. For example, symbolic interactionism is a very broad concept and has many different applications, many of which do not apply to racial or ethnic identity paradigms. However, again for example, biological racism can be nested under symbolic interactionism and specifically refers to interpretations of racial identity based upon phenotypic attributes.

3. All posts should contain APA in-text citations for any concepts you utilize in the post. As Social Science Majors you should make this a habit for any formal submission of your interpretative and argumentative compositions in this and future classes, and of course, for any compositions that you submit for publication. If you quote or use statistical results cite it with a page number. If you are paraphrasing or discussing a concept without quoting or using statistical results, provide the author and year. All citations should originate from the class readings for discussion posts.

4. Discussion posts will be graded using the rubric on the following page.

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VII. Final Grade Scoring

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This table lists all assessments due this semester and their percent weights for calculation of the final grade. There are no extra credit assignments. There are no make-up exams, or quizzes. Any unexcused missing work results in a zero (unless it is due to documented medical treatment or death in the family).

Item Number Assessment

Method

Score Percent of Final Grade

Weekly Discussion Posts (Lowest Dropped)

10 See Rubric 100 35

Exams (HonorLock required) 2 50 Questions

True/False

MultiChoice

100 20

Term Paper 1 See Rubric 100 40

Term Paper Deliverables

(Research Questions & Bibliography)

2 Submission 100 5

Total 100%

VIII. Grade Range

A = 93-100 % B = 83-86% C = 73-76 % D = 63-66 %

A- = 90-92 % B- = 80-82% C- = 70-72 % D- = 60-62 %

B+ = 87-89 % C+ = 77-79 % D+ = 67-69 % E = Below 60 %

IX. Incomplete grades:

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a specific policy and procedure regarding incomplete grades. Please see the following documents:

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http://www.clas.ufl.edu/forms/incomplete-grade-policy-clas.pdf

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/forms/incomplete-grade-contract.pdf

X. Class Schedule

Date Lecture Topic Assignment Assessment Due Date

Week 1

1/11 - 1/17

Add - Drop:By Friday - 1/15 11:59 pm

Introduction to Minorities in American Society

Read: None

Watch Lecture Videos:Introduction to Minorities in American Society

Study Habits

NA NA

Week 2

1/18 - 1/24

Social Constructionof Identity

Read: Chapter 1 Race in the 21st century

Read: Chapter 2The Invention of Race

Watch Lecture Video:Social Constructionof Identity

View Discussion 1: The Doll ExperimentGender Pronouns

Discussion Post 1on Canvas

Write a response about this week’s Discussion videos.

1/2411:59 pm

Week 3

1/25 - 1/31

Civil Rights & the White Heteropatriarchy

Read: Chapter 3Politics

Watch Lecture Video:Civil Rights & the White Heteropatriarchy

View Discussion 2:Walking While Black

Discussion Post 2 on Canvas


Term paper

1/3111:59 pm

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Native American Re-education camps

DACA Resistance

research question(s) on Canvas

Week 4

2/1 - 2/7

Discriminatory Justice

Read: Chapter 6

Crime and Punishment

Watch Lecture Video:Discriminatory Justice

View Discussion 3: Discrimination in US Justice System



Term Paper Bibliography on Canvas

2/711:59 pm

Week 5

2/8 - 2/14

Economic Discrimination

Read: Chapter 4Economics

Watch Lecture Video:Economic Discrimination

View Discussion 4:The Wealth Gap



2/1411:59 pm

Week 6

2/15 - 2/21

Housing Discrimination

Read: Chapter 5 Housing

Watch Lecture Video:Racial Housing Segregation

View Discussion 5: Modern Red Lining



2/2111:59 pm

Week 7

2/22 - 2/28

Discrimination in Education

Read: Chapter 7Education

Watch Lecture Video:Discrimination in


Write a response

2/2811:59 pm

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Education

View Discussion 6: Charter Schools

T.M. Landry

The racialization of hair

about this week’s Discussion videos.

Exam IOn Material from Week 1 through Week 7

Week 83/1 - 3/7

Cultural Racialization & Discrimination

Read: Chapter 8 Aesthetics

Watch Lecture Video:Cultural Racialization & Discrimination

View Discussion 7: Confederate Monuments



3/711:59 pm

Week 9

3/8 - 3/14

Identitarian Organizations

Read: Chapter 9 Associations

Watch Lecture Video:Identitarian Organizations

View Discussion 8: Southern White Supremacy

The Proud Boys



3/1411:59 pm

Week 10

3/15 - 3/21

United Statian Family & Identity

Read: Chapter 10 Intimate Life

Watch Lecture Video:The United Statian Family

View Discussion 9: Loving v. Virginia



3/2111:59 pm

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Week 11

3/22 - 3/28

An Anti-racist Future?

Read: Chapter 11Toward Racial Democracy

Watch Lecture Video:An Anti-racist Future?

View Discussion 10:Ibram X. Kendi on Anti-racism



3/28 11:59 pm

Week 12

3/29 - 4/4

Examples of Recent Scholarship

Read: Examples of recent scholarship

Watch Lecture Video:Examples of Recent Scholarship

View Discussion 11:What’s an empirical article?

Reading Strategy: Skimming

Discussion Post 11


4/411:59 pm

Week 13

4/5 - 4/11

Race, Class,GenderEpistemologies

Read: None

Watch Lecture Video:RCG - Epistemologies

Discussion 12: Read and analyze one empirical article from your bibliography.

Discussion Post 12

Analysis of empirical article for epistemology

4/1111:59 pm

Week 14

4/12 - 4/18

Drop Deadline:April 911:59 pm

Race,Class, GenderMethodologies

Read: None

Watch Lecture Video:RCG - Methodologies

Discussion Post 13

Analysis of empirical article for methodology

Exam II

4/1811:59 pm

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Course Evaluations Open: 4/10 00:00 am

On material from Week 8 through Week 14

Week 15

4/19 - 4/25

Writing Week No Assignments Term Paper: Final Draft Due

4/2511:59 pm

XI. University Policies and Services:

Academic Honesty: On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.”

Accommodation for students with disabilities: Students requesting classroom accommodations must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.

Course evaluations: Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/students/. Students will be notified when the evaluation period opens, and can complete evaluations through the email they receive from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under GatorEvals, or via https://ufl.bluera.com/ufl/. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public-results/.

XII. University Policies Related to Covid-19 and Online Courses

Our class sessions may be audio-visually recorded for students in the class to refer back and for enrolled students who are unable to attend live. Students who participate with their camera engaged or utilize a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded. If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, be sure to keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate verbally are agreeing to have their voices recorded.

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If you are not willing to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the "chat" feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live. The chat will not be recorded or shared.

As in all courses, unauthorized recording and unauthorized sharing of recorded materials is prohibited.

XIII. Health and Wellness

U Matter, We Care: If you or someone you know is in distress, please contact [email protected], 352-392-1575, or visit U Matter, We Care website to refer or report a concern and a team member will reach out to the student in distress. Counseling and Wellness Center: Visit the Counseling and Wellness Center website or call 352-392-1575 for information on crisis services as well as non-crisis services. Student Health Care Center: Call 352-392-1161 for 24/7 information to help you find the care you need, or visit the Student Health Care Center website.

University Police Department: Visit UF Police Department website or call 352-392-1111 (or 9-1-1 for emergencies).

UF Health Shands Emergency Room / Trauma Center: For immediate medical care call 352-733-0111 or go to the emergency room at 1515 SW Archer Road,Gainesville, FL 32608; Visit the UF Health Emergency Room and Trauma Center website.

XIV. Academic Resources

E-learning technical support: Contact the UF Computing Help Desk at 352-392-4357 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Career Connections Center: Reitz Union Suite 1300, 352-392-1601. Career assistance and counseling services.

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Library Support: Various ways to receive assistance with respect to using the libraries or finding resources.Teaching Center: Broward Hall, 352-392-2010 or to make an appointment 352- 392-6420. General study skills and tutoring.

Writing Studio: 2215 Turlington Hall, 352-846-1138. Help brainstorming, formatting, and writing papers.

Student Complaints On-Campus: Visit the Student Honor Code and Student Conduct Code webpage for more information.

On-Line Students Complaints: View the Distance Learning Student Complaint Process.

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