Contemporary American Experience
Core 102-04
Spring 2003
JEB 221
T,Th 9:30-10:45
Dale Graden
Office: Admin 305 A; telephone: 885-8956
Office hour: Tuesday 2-3 or by appointment
Email: Graden@uidaho.edu
Online: www.class.uidaho.edu/Graden
Greetings and welcome. This course is part of a newly revised core curriculum at the University of Idaho. It is an attempt to offer to you an interdisciplinary approach to learning that helps you in your transition into the university. We seek to enhance your reading, writing, critical thinking and communication skills. We will read about and discuss several topics that will be helpful tools for you at the university and in your journey through life. The course in this spring semester focuses on three major themes: gender and sexuality, race and racism, and class and inequality. The three major themes from the fall semester, which included a sense of place, religion and family, will continue to enter into our conversations and analysis.
We hope to make this a challenging, interesting and worthwhile course. For that to happen, you need to attend the classes and do the readings. We devote lots of class time to discussion, so please come prepared to discuss the readings and share your ideas on the days noted as discussion. There are several writing requirements. Why you ask? Because the majority of students enter and depart from high schools, colleges and universities across the land unable to express themselves coherently on paper, in cyberspace, or verbally. Practice can help one to develop basic and more advanced writing skills.
The requirements for this core discovery course are as follows:
Five (5) two-page response papers. Three of these response papers are required (based on the films "Bowling for Columbine" and "Bread and Roses" and the play "Cabaret") and are noted on the syllabus. You can choose two other events to attend during the semester and write a response paper to these (due on January 30 and March 6). We will suggest upcoming events, speakers and films that you might want to select. Opportunities are also noted at the core discovery course web site (http://www.its.uidaho.edu/cae). Please note to me your choice before you attend the event. It is wiser to attend the two extra events earlier rather than later in the semester. Each of these papers is worth ten points, for a total of fifty points.
Two (2) three-page essays due on the dates noted. These are worth fifteen points each, for a total of thirty points. The first three page essay is based on the novel The Tortilla Curtain and is due on Thursday April 3. The second three page essay is based on your oral interview(s) and oral presentation, and is due on May 8 (see attached description). Each of you will make an oral presentation to the class based on the interviews. Please choose a date and let me know your choice by email. The open dates are noted in the syllabus (April 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29; May 1, 6, 8)
One (1) final reflection essay written in class on May 10, the final day of the course. This essay will be worth ten points.
Participation, worth ten points. If you miss more than five meetings of the class, your grade final mark drops by one letter grade. Please let us know by email if you cannot attend a class for any reason. If you have not done so, please send me your email address via email. I will include you on my CAE 102-06 mailing list. Hopefully you will find some of the articles I send of interest.
We will discuss in class what we are looking for in the writing of the five response papers and the two short essays. My suggestion is that you be sure that after writing these assignments for the first time you return to them at least once before handing them in. Be sure not to submit anything that you have written without at least one, if not several, revisions. Please type these papers and essays in double space and hold them together with a staple in the upper left hand corner. I encourage you to visit the CAE website for examples of CAE students' response papers submitted in the past.
Readings and books available at the UI Bookstore:
Core Discovery 102 Packet
Virginia Cyrus, ed., Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the United
States
T.C. Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain
Week one
Thursday Jan 16 Introduction
Week two Images of Women
T.21 Discussion of readings below
Mike Messner,
“Ah, Ya Throw Like a Girl,” in course packet
Marge Piercy,
“Barbie Doll,” online
Billy Collins,
“Victoria’s Secret” and “Pinup” online
Diane Kobrynowicz,
“The Automatic Nature of Stereotyping,” Cyrus # 27
Martha Burk and
Kirsten Shaw, “How the Entertainment Industry Degrades Women,” Cyrus # 71
Mary Beth Marklein,
“Learning to Give Girls Equal Classroom Attention,” Cyrus # 72
Th.23 Discussion of readings below
Melvin Urofsky, “Diane Joyce Makes a Phone Call” in course packet
Ellen J. Reifler, “Time Warp in the Toy Store,” Cyrus # 16
Janet Shibley Hyde, “How Women are Treated in Language,” Cyrus # 17
Fr.24
MLK "Teach-in" UI Commons fourth floor
12:50 – 1:20
“Non-violence as a political strategy” session Dale
Graden from U of I and Gretchen Stewart from the community
1:20 – 1:50
Strategizing for clubs and orgs to
respond to the Campus Climate survey to be led by Steve Janowiak from U
of I
1:50-2:20
A presentation about the Diversity Dialogue series to done by Jamie Nekich-Locke
and
2:20-2:30
a brief conclusion by Emily Sly
Week three Images of men
T.28 Discussion of readings below
Stephen S. Hall, “The Bully in the Mirror” online at
http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/psych270/self-image.htm
Mark Edmundson,
“Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do” in course packet
Doug Cooper Thompson, “The Male Role Stereotype,” Cyrus # 22
Andrew Kimbrell, “A Manifesto for Men,” Cyrus # 115
Scott Russell
Sanders, “The Men We Carry in Our Minds,” Cyrus # 21
Th.30 film
Week four Guns and Violence
T.Feb 4 Discussion of readings
two perspectives on guns online at CAE website
W.5 and Th.6 Two showings at 7 and 9:30 pm of the film
"Bowling for Columbine" at Borah Theater in SUB. I will provide you
with tickets.
website related to filmmaker Michael Moore, director of Bowling for Columbine
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/bitchat/story/0,24330,3404372,00.html
Th.6 outside response paper number one is due
Discussion of readings focusing on "gender sensitive
education" below
“Roger and
Elaine” online
Marge Piercy,
“Unlearning to not Speak” online
Deborah Tannen,
“Asymmetries in Communication,” Cyrus # 26
Christina Hoff Sommers, “The War Against Boys,” online
Carol Gilligan,
“Images of Relationship” in course packet
Week five Gay and Lesbian, Homophobia, Sexism
T.11 required response paper number one is due on "Bowling for Columbine" and discussion of film
Th.13 Discussion of readings below
Suzanne Pharr,
“Homophobia and Sexism,” Cyrus # 85
Randy Shilts,
“What’s Fair in Love and War,” Cyrus # 87
National PTA and
the Council on Interracial Books for Children, “Why CIBC is
Dealing with
Homophobia,” Cyrus # 110
Robert A. Rhoads,
“The Campus Climate for Gay Students,” Cyrus # 118
“Tolerance is a
Prime-Time Fantasy,” online
Katherine Marsh,
“Coming Out on Fraternity Row” in course packet
Lindsy Van Gelder,
“Mothers of Convention,” Cyrus # 86
Week six Homophobia
T.18 POV documentary : "Scout's Honor"
Th.20 Responses to "Scout's Honor"
Week seven Sexual harassment
T.25 Documentary : "Off the Straight and Narrow: Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Television"
Th.27 Discussion of readings below
Kathleen Sharp,
“Foul Play,” Cyrus # 73
Anita Hill, “The
Nature of the Beast,” Cyrus # 76
Bonnie Pfister,
“Negotiating Passion on Campus,” Cyrus # 135
Week eight Racism, race relations and debates over affirmative action
T.March 4 Discussion of readings below
Terminology on
power and race, Cyrus, pages 161-67
“A Definition of
Racism” online; and highly recommended are various links online
at the CAE
website, for example Center for the Study of White American Culture.
Stephen Jay Gould,
“Ghosts of Bell Curves Past,” Cyrus # 62
Peggy McIntosh,
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Cyrus # 48
Evelyn Hu-DeHart,
“Rethinking America,” Cyrus # 43
Th.6 outside response paper number two is due
Discussion of readings below
Anthony Walton, "A Dream Deferred: Why Martin Luther King has yet to be
heard," Harper's Magazine (August 2002), course packet
Shelby Steele, "The Age of White Guilt: And the disappearance of the black
individual," Harper's Magazine (November 2002), course packet
Week nine African America
T.11 Film
Th.13 Discussion of readings below
Benjamin Quarles,
“`Jim Crow’ Law,” Cyrus # 61
Southern Poverty
Law Center, “Emmett Louis Till, 1941-55,” Cyrus # 64
Anne Moody, “The
Movement,” Cyrus # 127
Rita Dove, “The
Enactment” and “Rosa” in course packet
Gary Smith,
“Higher Education” in course packet
Adrienne Rich,
“Frame” in course packet
Salim Mulwakkil,
“Real Minority, Media Majority,” Cyrus # 67
Kyle Johnson, “As
Media Furor Subsides, Jasper Sorts Out its Future,”
Cyrus # 65
spring break: You might want to read Tortilla Curtain
Week ten Immigration I
T.25 Discussion of readings below
Ana Guillén,
“Traveling North: A Chronicle of an Undocumented Journey” in course packet
Pablo Morales and
Clara E. Rodríguez, “Latinos and the ‘Other Race’: Transforming US Concepts of Race”
in course packet
Elizabeth Martinez,
“Seeing More Than Black and White,” Cyrus # 56
“Para Theresa”
online
Celia Alvarez,
“El Hilo Que Nos Une/The Thread that Binds Us: Becoming a
Puerto Rican
Woman,” Cyrus # 5
Judith Ortiz Cofer,
“I was Merely a Character in His Cartoon-Populated Universe,”
Cyrus # 57
Th.27 Visit with Brazilian ensemble Anima at UI Auditorium at
9:30
Anima's concert the night before is described at http://www.class.uidaho.edu/concerts/ani.html
Week eleven Immigration II
T.April 1 What and where is Mexamerica ?
Th.3 Essay number one is due on Tortilla Curtain and discussion of the
novel
Week twelve Class and inequality
T.8 Discussion of readings below
Holly Sklar, “Imagine a Country,” Cyrus # 88
Celine-Marie Pascale, “Normalizing Povery,” Cyrus # 93
Mother Jones, “Victory at Arnot,” Cyrus # 123
César Chávez, “The Organizer’s Tale,” Cyrus # 124
Louise Palmer, “Workers Demand Rights,” Cyrus # 125
Marge Piercy, “The Fall,” Cyrus # 42
Janet Zandy, “Decloaking Class: Why Class Identity and Consciousness Count,”
Cyrus # 28
Gary Soto, “Looking for Work,” Cyrus # 29
Caffiline Allen, “First They Changed My Name…,” Cyrus # 35
View short video of Michael Moore, “Beat the Rich”
W.9 film "Bread and Roses" at 7 pm in Ag Science 106
Th.10 discussion of "Bread and Roses"
Week thirteen
T.15 required response paper number two is due on "Bread and Roses"
Beginning of oral interview presentations
Th.17 presentations
Week fourteen
T.22 presentations
W.23 Dress Rehearsal for Cabaret, 7:30 in Hartung Theater ( If you attend this
rehearsal performance, the cost is $ 3 to be paid to your professor )
Th.24 presentations
"Cabaret" at Hartung Theater, to be presented on 24-27
April and 1-3 May
Week fifteen
T.29 required response paper number three is due on "Cabaret"
presentations
Th.May 1 presentations
Week sixteen
T.6 Essay number two based on oral interview is due
presentations
T.8 Final reflection essay in class
_____________________________________________
Oral History Interviews for Contemporary American Experience
102-04
Spring 2003
Each of you will make a 15 minute presentation to the class based on an oral interview or interviews. You will also write a three (3) page paper based on the interview to be handed in on or before May 6. You might consider carrying out the interview during the winter break, early part of the spring semester, or over the spring break. The class presentations will commence on 10 April and continue until the end of the semester. I will offer you dates to choose immediately after our return in January.
Choose a person whom you would like to interview. Previous CAE sections have focused primarily on three themes: World War II (1930s-1945), the Vietnam War (1950s-1975), and Mexican immigration to the US since the 1960s. Please let me know by email your choice of the person whom you plan to interview.
Suggestions:
When you have decided on the person to be interviewed and the topic, do some background research. Research prior to the interview allows you to be familiar with the background of the person you are interviewing. For example, if you are interviewing a Vietnam veteran, be sure that you have a sense of the origins of the Vietnam war, the war's impact on Vietnam and the US, and the geography of Vietnam. You can easily find lots of material on any of the suggested topics above or any other of your choosing by going to the library or going online. One student last year interviewed a woman who lived on a farm in Montana during the Depression in the 1930s. She read a couple of books and articles about what happened during the Depression, particularly in the West, to prepare for the interview.
Second, when you meet the person, be sure that you are diplomatic and a good listener. Sensitive listening is probably the most important quality of an interviewer. It is not enough to listen-the narrator must know that you are listening. The best way to be a good listener is to care about what the narrator is saying to you. Speak clearly when posing your questions, and let the person respond to the question. It is most helpful if you can write down several questions before the interview so that you are prepared to ask specific questions. If you decide to interview more than one person, be sure to ask the same questions to all of the interviewees. If you find something particularly interesting, don't hesitate to continue with your inquiries so that you can get the full sense of what the interviewee is describing.
A tape recorder is particularly helpful in carrying out an interview.
Usually the best results occur when you are able to interview one person at a time, alone in a quiet place. The least effective interviews have been by telephone.
If you would like to see some excellent oral histories, go to www.google.com and write in "oral history." There you can choose among many sites that provide actual oral histories. You might want to write in also "Idaho Oral History Center" for other examples of on-going oral history research.
This project can be great fun and very interesting for everyone involved. Good luck.