Trinity College

relations or implement affirmative action programs in metropolitan-Hartford organizations? Questions like these will be addressed in this seminar through

use of literature, film, and social science readings, as well as regular in-class debates. Members of the seminar will extend their learning beyond the

classroom by spending time at community programs and organizations

devoted to reducing prejudice and discrimination. At least one book will

be read in common with the other seminar on communities and conflict

(“Moral Identity and Decision-making in the Clash of Viewpoints”) and a

number of programs will be held in collaboration with that seminar group.

Readings

Readings followed by *** will be available on the course

“Blackboard” at http://blackboard.trincoll.edu/. You may print them

out, download them to your own computer or a disk, or read them online.

Only one printed copy is permitted per student, in accordance with

Crosby, Faye. (2004). Selections from Affirmative Action is Dead;

Long Live Affirmative Action. New Haven: Yale University Press.***

Greene, Graham. (1955). The Quiet American. New York, NY:

Penguin Books.

Iweala, Uzodinma. (2005). Beasts of No Nation. New York, NY:

HarperCollins Publishers.

Kaufman, Moises. (2001). The Laramie Project. New York, NY:

Vintage Books.

Miale, Florence and Selzer, Michael. (1975). “Banality?” In The

Nuremburg Mind. Quadrangle / New York Times Book Company.***

Milgram, Stanley. (1965/1972). “Some conditions of obedience and disobedience to authority.” In The Social Psychology of

Psychological Research. New York: Free Press.***

Plous, Scott. (ed.) (2003). Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination.

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Sabini, John and Silver, Maury. (1980). “Destroying the Innocent with a

Clear Conscience: A Sociopsychology of the Holocaust”. In Survivors,

Victims and Perpetrators: Essays on the Nazi Holocaust. Hemisphere Publishing.***

Sullivan, Andrew. (1996). Virtually Normal. New York, NY:

Vintage Books.

Tatum, Beverly Daniel. (1997). “Why are All the Black Kids Sitting

Together in the Cafeteria?” and Other Conversations About Race.

New York, NY:

Basic Books.

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

Class will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:55 to 11:10 in

LSC 135.

Part 1. Overview.

Tues, 9/5 Course overview.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section I

(pp. 1-62).

Thurs, 9/7 Stigmatization.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section II

(pp. 63-110).

***Sun, 9/10 Combined-seminars discussion of The Quiet American.

(4 pm)

Tues, 9/12 Making Connections.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section IX

(pp. 425-462).

Part 2. Racism.

Thurs, 9/14 Racism Then.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section III

(pp. 111-164).

***Sun, 9/17 Cinestudio screening of The Quiet American.

(2:30 pm)

Tues, 9/19 Racism Now.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination.

Section IV (pp. 165-212).

Thurs, 9/21 Affirmative Action.

Selections from Affirmative Action is Dead; Long Live Affirmative Action.

Tues, 9/26 Library Tour.

Thurs, 9/28 Reducing Prejudice.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section X

(pp. 463-506).

Tues, 10/3 Understanding Blackness / Understanding Whiteness.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria. Parts I – III (pp. 3-128).

Thurs, 10/5 Beyond Black and White.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria. Parts IV – V (pp. 131-206).

Trinity Days No class.

10/9 – 10/10

Thurs, 10/12 Session on Information Literacy.

Part 3. Anti-Semitism.

Tues, 10/17 Anti-Semitism.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section VI

(pp. 273-326).

Part 3. Anti-Semitism (continued).

Thurs, 10/19 Obedience to Authority.

Selection from The Social Psychology of Psychological Research.

Tues, 10/24 Do Milgram’s Obedience Experiments Help Explain the Nature

of the Holocaust?

Selections from Survivors, Victims and Perpetrators and The Nuremburg Mind.

Thurs, 10/26 TBA

Part 4. War.

Tues, 10/31 Child Soldiers.

Beasts of No Nation.

***Wed, 11/1 Evening presentation by Uzodinma Iweala.

Thurs, 11/2 Both seminars meet with Uzodinma Iweala.

Tues, 11/7 Soldiers’ Experiences in and after the Vietnam War.

TBA.

***Wed, 11/8 Evening presentation by Vincent Vu.

Thurs, 11/9 Discrimination against Soldiers and War Protestors.

TBA.

Part 5. Treatment of Native Americans.

Tues, 11/14 Genocide in America.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section VII

(pp. 327-374).

Thurs, 11/16 TBA.

Part 6. Sexism and Heterosexism.

Tues, 11/21 Sexism.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section V

(pp. 213-271).

Wed, 11/22 – Sun, 11/26 THANKSGIVING VACATION

Tues, 11/28 Heterosexism.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination. Section VIII

(pp. 375-423).

Thurs, 11/30 Hate Crimes.

The Laramie Project.

Tues, 12/5 What is a Homosexual?: Views of Prohibitionists,

Liberationists, and Conservatives.

Virtually Normal. Preface – Chapter 3.

Thurs, 12/7 What is a Homosexual?: View of Liberals. A Politics of Homosexuality.

Virtually Normal. Chapter 4 – Epilogue.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Class attendance and participation (20% of final grade).

You are expected to participate actively in all class discussions.

You will need to read all of the assigned chapters or articles before the class

in which they are discussed and to spend some time thinking about what

you have read. In order to facilitate class discussion, each member of the

class will write answers to focus questions that help stimulate thought

about a particular set of readings. Answers to focus questions must be

posted on the course’s Blackboard Discussion Board by 9 am on the day

that the readings are discussed. In class, members who have addressed particular focus topics will lead relevant portions of the class discussion.

During the semester, there will be film screenings – outside of

regular class meeting times - that are relevant to the course. Films will

include The Quiet American, Do the Right Thing, The Winter Soldier, and The

Laramie Project, among others. You will be expected to write reflections

on four of these films.

2. Five short writing assignments (50% of final grade).

During the summer you will write an essay on The Quiet American. During the fall semester you will write four short (4-5 page) papers on

debatable topics. Notional examples of these debate topics are: (1)

“Affirmative action is (is not) reverse discrimination”; (2) “Milgram’s obedience experiments help explain (do not help explain) the nature of the Holocaust”;

(3) “You can (cannot) be opposed to an American war and still support

American troops”; and (4) “Rights based on sexual orientation is (is not)

a totally different matter than rights based on race”. For each paper,

you will need to assert a clear thesis, support it with arguments and

evidence, consider counter-arguments and contrary evidence, show why

these counter-arguments and contrary evidence are not as convincing as

the arguments and evidence that support your position, and develop a conclusion concerning the significance of the debate.

3. Community learning (10% of final grade).

The major themes of this course will be enriched by participating in

a project with a community organization that is devoted to reducing prejudice and discrimination. The community learning project will involve a

commitment of about 2-3 hours per week for several weeks during the

semester. You will have a choice among a few community organizations

in the Hartford-metropolitan area. Orientation and transportation will be provided. You will be asked to keep an ongoing journal of your experiences

with your community learning partner as well as a final project summary. Reflections on your community learning project will occur regularly in class discussions. At the end of the semester, partners in the community organizations will be asked to evaluate the quality of your efforts.

4. Research review (20% of final grade).

You must write one research paper (15 pages) on a topic related

to the theme of the course. The paper must incorporate at least eight

scholarly references beyond those included in the syllabus. Due dates for

steps of this writing will be:

Research review (continued)

Step Due Date

Topic statement, with references 10/17

Annotated bibliography 11/7

Outline 11/21

Final draft 12/15 (***During Exam Period***)

Intellectual honesty

In this course you will be working together with others. If you incorporate reviewers' suggestions in your written work, be sure to give credit where

credit is due in an acknowledgments section. If you incorporate a published author's ideas in your work, be sure to cite that author in a reference list.

You will be taught differences among appropriate quotation, paraphrasing, summarizing, and plagiarizing in written work, and you will be expected to

follow appropriate writing standards. You will be expected to learn the

College policy on intellectual honesty and to follow it scrupulously.