In addition to the Shadowboxing With Race book, you have some additional readings for the course. All of the following will be covered on the exams.
EXAM ONE
Shadowboxing With Race (Parts 1 & 2) and the following:
ASSIGNMENT ONE:
This assignment is a video that I think is worth contemplation. It goes along with a good deal of what we’re discussing in class — about critical thinking, about ethnocentrism, about inequality. It’s worth contemplation.
Watch the Video: “Changing Education Paradigms”
ASSIGNMENT TWO:
This reading is about the drug war and racism and is rather provocative in how it frames some deeply entrenched cultural beliefs and social policies related to so-called “corrections.”
The New Jim Crow: How Mass Incarceration Turns People of Color into Permanent Second-Class Citizens
ASSIGNMENT THREE:
This is a ten minute clip by Tim Wise, a guy who has a powerful message about white privilege. He’s a pretty intense speaker.
Whiteness and White Privilege — Lecture (clip) by Tim Wise
ASSIGNMENT FOUR:
Here are three things related to the trials and tribulations of trying to help people in less developed countries. The first is a short opinion piece about Haiti that appeared in the New York Times. The second is a nearly forty year-old argument against helping the poor, and the third is a short eight minute video that critiques many aspects of foreign aid (you can also read the transcript). These are very thought-provoking and will help put our Haiti work in perspective.
“Volunteering in Haiti: Good Intentions Not Enough”
“Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor”
“A Critical Look at Foreign Aid: Religion and Ethics and Aid”
EXAM TWO
You should read Shadowboxing With Race (Part 3) and the following articles/videos:
ASSIGNMENT ONE:
This is a 10 minute video on empathy, the ability to put ourselves in the shows of others, and how empathy fits into the unfolding of human civilization.
ASSIGNMENT TWO:
This article goes with the gender discussions. It’s an extremely provocative article about gender by Hanna Rosen, a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic. (don’t watch the video)
The End of Men
ASSIGNMENT THREE:
This is another reading on immigration that is a nice summary of the issues. Once you open the PDF you are going to want to rotate it once clockwise. (if you’re in Adobe, just go to “View” and then to “Rotate”)
Immigration Reading
ASSIGNMENT FOUR:
This is a eighteen minute clip by Kevin Bales on modern day slavery. Kevin has visited the SOC 119 class several times. He’s a great speaker.
“Kevin Bales: How to combat modern slavery” — Lecture by Kevin Bales
ASSIGNMENT FIVE:
Here’s an article on how we selectively accept some ideas/data and reject others in order to maintain our current grip on the world. In other words, we don’t like to change. It’s an issue with which we started the class (if you recall back to Day One) and so I guess it’s how we’ll end. The article is by Chris Mooney and it’s from Mother Jones magazine. MJ is a very “left” magazine that I subscribe to. (The other monthly that I read is Reason, by the way, the very “conservative” Libertarian magazine.) That said, while this particular article hammers a little harder on the right, Mooney also takes on the left. The lead article of this particular month’s edition is about climate change and so that’s why much focus is on people labeled “climate change deniers.”
“We Can’t Handle the Truth” — article by Chris Mooney
ASSIGNMENT SIX:
Here is a short, 15 minute video with speaker Aaron Huey about the Lakota Sioux. It will put into context some of what I was saying in class.
