American Studies 355
Urban Mosaic: Migration, Identity, and Politics
TR 1:30 p.m.- 2:45 p.m.
Professor Scott Tang
Fall 2011
Office: Seabury T405
Hours: T 4:00-6:00
[email protected]
860-297-4026
Course Description
This course examines a selection of experiences within ethnic and racial communities in
twentieth-century urban areas. Through the discussion of cultural texts and academic
scholarship, we will assess and compare the ways in which ethnicity and race impacted
how people lived and worked in cities. The readings also reveal how ethnic and racial
communities defined their interests when they engaged in political activities. Discussion
themes include identity formation, employment discrimination, residential segregation,
urban education, and intergroup relations.
Course Materials
These are the books that you need to buy:
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Michael Gold, Jews without Money.
Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities.
Ann Petry, The Street.
Piri Thomas, Down These Mean Streets.
Since we need to be on the same page during discussion, you should purchase the edition
that I asked the bookstore to stock.
Additional readings will be in a course packet and on our Moodle course page. We will
be watching a number of films as well.
Student Evaluation
In-Class Essay Exam (25%): You have one in-class essay exam. I will distribute a
study guide with potential exam
questions.
Take-Home Essay Exams (Each 25%): You have two take-home exams. Each exam
will ask you to write two essays. Your essays must include arguments based on close
readings of assigned materials, and you need to share textual evidence to support your
points. These essays are formal writing assignments. Besides the quality of your
analysis, your essay exam grades will be based on organization, mechanics, spelling, and
style. Please carefully proofread your essays before submitting them.
Take-home exams are not collaborative endeavors.
AMST 355 Urban Mosaic
Fall 2011
Late take-home exams submitted within a reasonable timeframe will be penalized one
full letter grade. Unless you provide documentation from the Dean of Students
explaining serious circumstances, I will record a failing grade if I do not receive your
paper within two weeks of the deadline.
Class Discussions and Miscellaneous Writing Assignments (25%): Since exams cannot
cover everything, participation is an important form of assessment. All the instructors in
our college’s American Studies Program strive to create active learning environments
characterized by student participation. The bulk of the learning occurs in the preparation
for discussion and through discussion itself. Your ideas are crucial to this process, and
elevating our collective understanding depends on you completing the assignments and
being ready to participate. If you are silent and unresponsive, I will assume that you did
not complete the assignment. Demonstrations of knowledge are the most common form
of participation, but asking thoughtful questions is an alternative way to contribute.
Anything that gets us talking about the assignment in a meaningful way is welcome.
Miscellaneous writing assignments might be impromptu writing, Moodle posts, or
response papers. They are intended to add focus to your reading and encourage
participation.
Attendance is mandatory, and missing class will lower your course grade. Five
unexcused absences will result in automatic failure.
Class Policies
Please maintain a positive learning environment by following these rules:
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Come to class on time (1:30 p.m.) and stay until dismissed
Use the restroom before or after class
Give your undivided attention when someone is speaking
Turn off iPads, laptops, phones, and other electronic devices
No eating in class
Be courteous to me and to your fellow students
I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism (i.e., the
unacknowledged and inappropriate use of the ideas or wording of another writer) and
unauthorized collaboration will result in a failing grade for the assignment and an
incident report to the Dean of Students and to the Student Academic Honor Council.
AMST 355 Urban Mosaic
Fall 2011
Reading and Assignment Schedule
9-06
9-08
9-13
Introduction to course.
“The New Colossus” (1883) and “Unguarded Gates” (1895)
Henry Childs Merwin, “The Irish in American Life,” Atlantic Monthly (1896).
Excerpt from Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1890).
9-15
Anti-immigrant documents (TBA).
“The House We Live In” (from Race: The Power of an Illusion).
Excerpt from Hamilton Holt (ed.), Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans
(1906).
Sui Sin Far, “Pat and Pan” (1912).
9-20
9-22
Jews without Money (1930).
Jews without Money.
9-27
James Grossman, “The White Man’s Union” (1991).
Lizabeth Cohen, “Encountering Mass Culture at the Grassroots” (1989).
Excerpt from The Chicago Committee on Race Relations, The Negro in Chicago
(1922).
Excerpt from Survey Graphic, Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro (1925).
Excerpt from Cheryl Greenberg, “Or Does It Explode?” (1997).
9-29
10-04 Quintard Taylor, “Blacks and Asians in the White City” (1991).
Excerpt from Lon Kurashige, Japanese American Celebration and Conflict
(2002).
10-06 Essay Exam (25%)
10-11 TRINITY DAYS
10-13 Charlotte Brooks, “In the Twilight Zone between Black and White” (2000).
Excerpt from Richard Wright, 12 Million Black Voices (1941).
Excerpt from Katherine Archibald, Wartime Shipyard (1947).
10-18 The Street (1946).
10-20 The Street.
10-25 Thomas Sugrue, “Crabgrass-Roots Politics” (1995).
George Lipsitz, “The Possessive Investment in Whiteness” (1995).
“The House We Live In” (from Race: The Power of an Illusion).
10-27 George Sessions Perry, “Your Neighbors: The Wongs” (1948).
Robert Lee, “Community Exclusion: A Case Study” (1954).
Crisis in Levittown (1957).
Hamilton J. Bims, “Housing—The Hottest Issue in the North” (1965)
AMST 355 Urban Mosaic
Fall 2011
11-01 Down These Mean Streets (1967).
11-03 Down These Mean Streets.
11-08 TBA
11-10 Essay Exam (25%)
11-15 Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action”
(1965).
Excerpt from Studs Terkel, Division Street: America (1967).
11-17 Life, 8 March 1968.
Hoop Dreams (1994).
11-22 Excerpt from J. Anthony Lukas, Common Ground (1985).
William E. Alberts, “The White Magic of Systemic Racism” (1978).
David Whitman et al., “The White Underclass” (1994).
11-24 THANKSGIVING
11-29 Savage Inequalities (1992).
12-01 Savage Inequalities.
Excerpt from Susan Eaton, The Children in Room E4 (2007).
12-06 Elizabeth Wong, Kimchee and Chitlins (1996).
Wet Sand (2004).
Eric Pooley, “The Koreans: Caught in the Furor,” New York Magazine (1990).
Joe Domanick, “The Browning of Black Los Angeles,” Los Angeles Magazine
(1996).
12-08 Excerpt from Robin Kelley, Race Rebels (1996).
Excerpt from Tricia Rose, Black Noise (1994).
Finals Essay Exam (25%)