Race, Racism, and Philosophy
Spring Semester 1999
Instructor: Maurice L. Wade
Office: McCook 318
Campus Phone Number: 2417
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 and by
appointment
McCook Administrative Secretary: Mrs. Gay Weidlich, extension
2472
McCook Secretary: Ms. Susan Sanders, extension 2471
Messages can be left for me on voice-mail, e-mail, at the Campus
Post Office (Box 702555), or in my mailbox in the McCook
Administrative Office (McCook 202). A tip for folks who find on
ocassion that I am difficult to reach; I am much better about
responding to e-mail than to voice-mail or snail-mail. In any
case, be persistent.
Course Description
While we will read, discuss, and write about the work of a number
of philosophers and other thinkers this semester and even give
our attention to a few traditional philosophical topics, what
really makes this a philosophy course is that we will be doing
what philosophers have been doing since the dawn of the
discipline. Philosophers often turn their intellectual powers
upon matters that are taken for granted as a part of the reality
(physical and social) that we inhabit and which we tend to think
that we all understand quite well. When philosophers or
philosophically-minded thinkers do this, they often show us that
what we have assumed to be real may not be or at least not in the
way that we have assumed it to be. They also often impel us to
acknowledge that what we thought we understood quite clearly, we
really don’t understand terribly well at all and that
matters which otherwise appear to be simple turn out to be
maddeningly complex. We will be doing these things this semester
with regard to race and racism, topics which are widely discussed
but not well understood.
Course Requirements
Attendance is required and will be checked at each of our
scheduled meetings. Poor attendance will result in significant
reduction of the final grade for the course. Please take this
requirement seriously. You can be certain that I do and will. The
in-class portions of this course are no less important than the
readings and other work that you do outside the classroom.
I want our material to be covered in a dialogical fashion, if the
size of the class will permit this. Accordingly, members of the
course who pose relevant questions, who respond in an informed
and reflective manner to my questions and to questions posed by
their classmates, and who generally make a genuine effort to be
active participants in our class sessions will reap significant
rewards in the calculation of their final grades. On ocassion,
you may be required to do some informal in-class writing to
stimulate discussion and/or to get our attention focused upon
some relevant issue. In general, do the assigned reading prior to
class, think about it, and come prepared to talk about it. The
in-class portions of this course are no less important than the
reading and other work that you do outside the classroom.
The lion’s share of your final course grade will be based
upon four take-home exams. These exams will require you to
demonstrate your comprehension of the materials that we will have
read and discussed prior to each exam’s due date and your
ability to think critically and creatively about those materials.
Because they are take-home exams and so will not be written under
the high pressure, anxiety-ridden circumstances of in-class exams
and because you will not need to rely upon memory in writing your
answers, you will be held to very high standards in the grading
of these exams. You will be expected to be accurate in your
explication and evaluation of relevant concepts, arguments, and
theories. You will be expected to display serious reflection and
some sophistication in your articulation of your own ideas and
arguments. You will be expected to write clearly and competently
and to avoid errors in grammar, spelling, and other mechanical
dimensions of your writing. In the past, folks who have been
disappointed with their grades have been guilty of writing
superficial answers to the exam questions and/or writing in a
sloppy fashion.
LATE TAKE-HOME EXAMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AND WILL RECEIVE A
FAILING GRADE EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF DIRE AND DOCUMENTED
EMERGENCIES.
Exam Schedule
The first take-home exam will be given out in-class on 2/11/99
and due at my office, McCook 318, no later than 4:00 p.m. on
2/23/99.
The second take-home exam will be given out in class on 3/11/99
and due at my office, McCook 318, no later than 4:00 p.m. on
3/19/99.
The third take-home exam will be given out in class on 4/8/99 and
due at my office, McCook 318, no later than 4:00 p.m. on 4/16/99.
The fourth and last take-home exam will given out in clas on
4/29/99 and due at my office, McCook 318, no later than 4:00 p.m.
on 5/11/99.
Avoid intellectual dishonesty in your work. Consult the current
edition of the Trinity College Handbook to familiarize yourself
with the College’s policies on intellectual honesty and for
useful advice on how to avoid violating those policies. If I
believe that someone has engaged in violation of those policies,
I will submit their case along with the relevant evidence to the
Academic Affairs Committee for appropriate adjudication.
You will also be expected view videos that will be placed on
reserve at the Library from time to time. I expect you take these
as seriously as any other part of the course. You will be
required to draw upon the videos along with the assigned readings
in your take-home exams.
Texts
Seven texts have been ordered for this course and are available
at the College Bookstore in the Mather Campus Center.
Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview,
second edition by Audrey Smedley.
Thinking About Race by Naomi Zack.
Jewish Identity edited by David Theo Goldberg.
Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who
Discovered that He was Black by Gregory Howard Williams.
White By Law: The Legal Construction of Race by Ian Haney Lopez
American Mixed Race: The Culture of Microdiversity edited by
Naomi Zack
Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World by
Steven Cornell and Douglas Hartmann.
Additional required readings may be provided in photocopied form
during the course of the semester.
Schedule of Readings
1/21 Read chapters 1 and 2 of Thinking about Race. (We will view
in class the video entitled, Race: the Floating Signifier. This
video will go particularly well with these 2 chapters.
1/26 Read chapters 1 and 2 of Race in North America: Origin and
Evolution of a Worldview.
1/28 Read chapters 3 and 4 of Race in North America: Origin and
Evolution of a Worldview.
2/2 Read chapters 5 and 6 of Race in North America: Origin and
Evolution of a Worldview.
2/4 Read chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Race in North America: Origin
and Evolution of a Worldview.
2/9 Read chapters 10, 11, and 12 of Race in North America: Origin
and Evolution of a Worldview.
2/11 Read chapters 13 and 14 of Race in North America: Origin and
Evolution of a Worldview.
2/16 Read chapters 1,2, and 3 of White By Law: The Legal
Construction of Race.
2/18 Read chapters 4, 5, and 6 of White By Law: The Legal
Construction of Race.
Reading Week
3/2 Read chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Ethnicity and Race: Making
Identities in a Changing World.
3/4 Read chapters 4, 5, and 6 of Ethnicity and Race: Making
Identities in a Changing World.
3/9 Read chapters 7 and 8 of Ethnicity and Race: Making
Identities in a Changing World.
3/11 Read chapters 1 - 11 of Life on the Color Line.
3/16 Read chapters 12 - 21 of Life on the Color Line.
3/18 Read Part I of American Mixed Race.
3/23 Read Part II of American Mixed Race.
3/25 Read Part III of American Mixed Race.
Spring Break
4/6 Read Part IV of American Mixed Race.
4/8 Read Part V of Ameircan Mixed Rac.
4/13 Read Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Jewish Identity.
4/15 Read chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Jewish Identity.
4/20 Read chapters 8, 9, and 10 of Jewish Identity.
4/22 Read chapters 11, 12, and 13 of Jewish Identity.
4/27 Read chapters 14, 15, and 16 of Jewish Identity.
4/29 Read chapters 17 and 18 of Jewish Identity.