History A421 Jack McKivigan

Fall 2002 Cavanaugh 531/406

CA 215 Off. hrs.: MW 2:30-3:30PM

MW 1:00-2:15PM Phone # 274-5860

Jmckivig@iupui.edu

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to introduce students to the central issues and methods of inquiry in the historical study of ethnic communities in the United States. The focus of the courses, lectures, discussions, readings, and assignments will be on the similarities and contrasts in the experiences of America's various "ethnic" groups.

As background to our exploration of ethnicity in United States history, the course will briefly examine the theoretical process of group assimilation and the concept of a national character or culture. Special attention will be given to the wide variety of traditional values, behaviors, and institutions brought to this nation by its component ethnic groups. The problems of maintenance of ethnic identity in the face of an "homogenizing" popular culture and governmental "Americanization" programs will be discussed. Students will be encouraged to use such discussions as a means of measuring and testing the nature and strength of their own ethnic identification. The course also will explore evidence of persistent racist and nativist attitudes and their role in sustaining ethnic identity.

B. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

The success of this course depends upon the completion of reading assignments and participation in class discussion by the students. If a student falls behind in her/his readings he/she will soon find it difficult to follow the subject matter of class discussion or join in it. Students should feel free to talk to the instructor about any course related problems especially in cases when a student believes that her/his assignment grades do not accurately reflect his/her performance in the course. Students should plan to meet individually with the instructor at least once during the semester to discuss their progress on various assignments.

There will be four graded assignments for students in this course of the semester:

(1) & (2) Students are required to take a mid-term examination tentatively scheduled for October 16th and a final examination during Examination Week (December 16th). On both examinations, students will prepare answers for two out of four essay questions presented by the instructor. The general content of these questions will be drawn from the topics dealt with in course reading and class discussion. Each question will be framed to encourage students to exercise their own judgment and interpretative skills in dealing with an important subject of historical debate. The subject matter covered on each of the two examinations will not be cumulative. (Value: each examination worth 30% of course grade.)

(4) Book Review (3-4 pages) describing and assessing a published autobiography as a research tool for the study of ethnic history. This autobiography should be selected in consultation with the instructor. The assignment will also require the student to do some additional research in pertinent secondary literature dealing with the autobiographer and his/her historical period. The primary goals of the assignment are to evaluate the role and impact of ethnic identification in the life of the autobiographer and to assess the difficulties in using "subjective" historical sources. A brief description is due by September 18^th. The essay is due on November 25^th. (Value: 20 % of the course grade.)

The instructor regards deadlines as extremely important. Failure to take an examination or turn in a quiz by the announced deadline, without prior permission from the instructor, will automatically result in a penalty in grading. Although specific grade values have been apportioned to each assignment, elements such as effort, interest, improvement, attendance, and participation in class discussion all will be weighed by the instructor in determining final course grades.

IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning: The instructor endorses the university's Principles of Undergraduate Learning and has designed this course according to them: (1) Students will be given the opportunity to enhance their communication skills both orally in class room discussions and in writing on quizzes, tests, and assignments; (2) Students will be given the opportunity to enhance their critical thinking skills through exercises designed to analyze complex historical issues and make informed judgments; (3) Students will be given the opportunity to enhance their skills at integrating and applying knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach to historical analysis; (4) Students will be given the opportunity to recognize their own cultural traditions and appreciate the diversity of the human experience by frequent comparisons of the historical experiences of Americans with that of other people in our readings, lectures, and class discussions; and (5) Students will be given the opportunity to apply ethical and moral judgments to the study of the personal and public choices made by historical figures in various written assignment.

C. ASSIGNED READINGS:

All of the following books are paperbacks and are available at the IUPUI Bookstore. In addition, a number of scholarly articles will be distributed to the class by the instructor.

(1) Nathan Irvin Huggins, Black Odyssey: The African-American Ordeal in Slavery (1990 ed.) 272 pp. Huggins' works analyzes the extraordinarily traumatic experience of the enslavement of Africans and their forced resettlement in the United States. He documents the African Americans' struggle to adapt and preserve their Old World culture to the oppressive conditions encountered in slavery.

(2) Hasia R. Diner, Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century (1983 ed.) 192 pp. Because most scholars of ethnicity have focused on the male's experience, Diner's book affords a rare assessment of the special problems and coping strategies of the ethnic female.

(4) David M. Reimers, Unwelcome Strangers: American Identity and the Turn Against Immigration (1998) 199 pp. Reimers is the leading scholar of the public debates over American immigration policy. In Unwelcome Strangers, Reimers begins by describing early 20th century United States immigration laws that first opened and then nearly shut the door to immigrants. He then analyzes the divisive quarrels over the heavy wave of immigration since the federal government reopened the "Golden Door" in 1965.

(5) Stephen Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Issues and Debates (2000) 342 pp.

Steinberg brings together an extensive set of essays, exploring key issues in the modern debate over national and private policy regarding race and ethnicity. The volume balances divergent opinions on such "hot button" topics as affirmative action, bilingual education, and school desegregation.

D. COURSE SCHEDULE: The following is the prospective schedule of class topics, reading assignments, and written assignment deadlines for the course of the semester.

Aug 21 INTRODUCTION

Aug 26 & 28 ETHNIC IDENTITY

AMERICAN MELTING POT

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chaps. 2, 9, & 10

Sep 2 Labor Day Holiday

Sep 4 THE ORIGINAL NATIVE AMERICANS

Sep 9 & 11 THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION

OUT OF SLAVERY

Nathan I. Huggins, Black Odyssey

Sep16 &18 IMMIGRATION: PUSH AND PULL

IMMIGRATION: THE PROCESS

John Bodnar, The Transplanted, xv-xxi, 1-56

Book Review topic description due.

Sep 23 &25 ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS

ETHNIC CHURCHES AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

Sharlene Hesse-Biber, "The Ethnic Ghetto as Private Welfare."

John Bodnar, The Transplanted, 144-68

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chap. 6

Sep 30 & Oct 2 ETHNIC WOMEN

ETHNIC FAMILIES

John Bodnar, The Transplanted, 57-84

Hasia Diner, Erin's Daughters

Oct 7 & 9 NATIVISM

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION

Reimers, Unwelcome Strangers, 1-24

Oct 14 & 16 CATCH-UP & REVIEW

MID-TERM EXAMINATION

Oct 21 & 23 ETHNIC WORKER

ETHNICS AND UNIONS/RADICALS

John Bodnar, The Transplanted, 85-116, 197-204

Oct 28 & 30 ETHNIC ENTERPRISE

VARYING RATES OF ECONOMIC SUCCESS

Ivan H. Light, "Rotating Credit Associations."

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chap. 3

John Bodnar, The Transplanted, 117-43, 169-97, 205-16

Reimers, Unwelcome Strangers, 87-108

Nov 4 & 6 CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT: WE SHALL OVERCOME

CIVIL RIGHTS DEFERRED

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chaps. 1 & 7

Nov 11 & 13 CIVIL RIGHTS: AFTER THE MOVEMENT YEARS

ETHNIC POLITICS

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chaps. 3, 4, 5, 8 & 14

Nov 18 &20 NEWEST IMMIGRANTS: PUSH AND PULL

NEWEST IMMIGRANTS: OPEN DOOR FOR ALL?

Reimers, Unwelcome Strangers, 25-86, 109-155

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chap. 12

Nov 25 THE WHITE ETHNIC REVIVAL

Stteinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chap. 13

Book Review due.

Nov 27 Thanksgiving Vacation

Dec 2 & 4 NEO-NATIVISM V. MULTICULTURALISM

POST ETHNICITY IN MASS CULTURE

Steinberg, Race and Ethnicity, Chaps. 12 & 15

Dec 9 CATCH-UP & REVIEW

December 16;

1 PM FINAL EXAMINATION