IDST 2315: AMERICA'S DIVERSE CULTURAL HERITAGE
IDST 2315 - MW 11-12:15; 2:00-3:15
Fall 2008 - Location: Mayfair 101

"Ethnic identity is not fixed, but is constantly shaped by time and experience. We must learn to see ourselves and others as more than our ethnicities." -- Takaki

"The highest result of education is tolerance." -- Helen Keller

"We go to college to overcome our little mindedness." --Mark Twain

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." --Chief Seattle

"History is not the past. History is a story about the past, told in the present, and designed to be useful in constructing the future." Henry Glassie

The Honor Code at GC&SU
It is presumed that any student who matriculates at Georgia College & State University is willing to conform to a pattern of mutual trust and honor and shall deal honorably with all members of the university community. It must be understood that it is the responsibility of each student, faculty, and staff member to preserve, nurture, and strengthen this spirit of honor.
Georgia College & State University students shall at all times refrain from and discourage all attempts at lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, and vandalism. When a violation of the Honor Code is detected, a student should take steps to bring the matter to the attention of the Student Judicial Board or the Vice President and Dean of Students.

Dr. Tina Yarborough

Course Description:
Beginning with the colonization of the "New World" or the "European invasion" as some scholars refer to it and ending with thoughts and dreams for the 21st century, in this course we will explore and examine America's diverse cultural heritage through the voices and visions of the multicultural peoples of the United States: Native-American, African-American, and Euro-American voices and visions will be explored in depth, but we will also look at other specific ethnic groups such as Jewish-, Irish-, Asian-, Latino-Americans and more recent immigrant groups. This is an interdisciplinary course which will incorporate history, art, literature, and music [when possible] as the means through which our country's rich diversity can be understood. We will present the arts as an integral and essential voice in an ongoing conversation about values and meanings of our diverse cultural heritage and the components of our human and national identities. We will try to define identity and diversity historically and aesthetically and we will link contemporary multicultural experiences with historical roots and cultural contributions. We also want you to be able to understand and recognize how identity and nation-building are linked with nationalisms, and from that exposure we hope that you will be able to critically analyze the world in which we live today so that our contributions to the future might be better informed and therefore more significant.

Course Objectives:
Expected Course Outcomes:
The following are the expected learning outcomes for this course
* To understand and appreciate the multiplicity of cultures, perspectives, and experiences in America;
* To read, discuss and ponder the visions and voices of various Americans past and present;
* To link contemporary multi-cultural experiences with historical roots and contributions;
* To explore connections between concepts such as identity, ethnicity, culture, and nation;
* To realize some of the complexities, key issues, and rewards of studying art, culture, folklore, literature, history, and music;
* To appreciate such human expressions as windows into the human experience;
* To foster critical thinking, reading, and writing skills.
 The above specific outcomes for this course address, in part, the expected outcomes for the Core which are stated fully online at the following website: http://www.gcsu.edu/acad_affairs/coll_artsci/coreoutcomes.html

Grading Criteria:
Student learning will be assessed primarily through written responses, but also through oral responses, and objective tests.
Assessment will be based on the following criteria:
* Factual feedback will agree with the information in the readings and lectures;
* Synthesizing feedback will respond to the assigned topic in the specified way;
* It will be presented in clear, correct English;
* It will fulfill the expectations of effective rhetoric: in its focus on a clear thesis, in its coherent and logical development, and in its concrete textual support;
* Creative projects should reflect originality, engagement with course material and creativity.

Required Texts:
Takaki, Ronald.  A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki & James D. Houston.  Farewell to Manzanar
Xeroxes

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. To do well in this class you must be an active participant in the discussions etc. Visual material may be presented that is not in the textbooks. Unexcused absences will be considered as part of your participation grade and will be averaged into that percentage [You can't participate if you are absent or asleep]. Unexcused absences will be assessed in the following manner: 1=95; 2=90; 3=85; 4=80; 5=75; 6=70; 8=60. Pop quizzes or in-class writing assignments cannot be made up and missed tests/exams can only be made up the week of finals with the consent of the instructor. Your getting to class on time will be appreciated 5 late arrivals will count as one unexcused absence.
I may give pop quizzes if necessary to ensure that you are reading, so be sure and do the reading. Quizzes cannot be made up. I expect a lot of class participation during the course.
Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated (talking while others are talking, ringing cell phones, coming in late, rude comments, etc.). If behavior like this persists, you will be asked to leave the class and/or receive a grade of F for the course.

Grading:
Prior to mid-semester, you will receive feedback on your academic performance in this course. Since you will be given study guides for the midterm & final the following grading scale will be used in this class:
91-100=A; 80-90=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D; below 60=F

• Midterm: 25%
• Class Participation and event attendance: 10%
• Final: 30%
• Written Assignments, in-class work, & Group Reports: 20%
• Farewell To Manzanar Assignment:  15%

***Event attendance is required in order to pass this course.  You must attend at least 3 multicultural events offered here at GC&SU this semester.  These events are free to GC&SU students with an ID. I will do my best to announce any upcoming events and I would appreciate your announcing any to the class as well. If you find that you must leave the event before it ends, please do so ONLY during the intermission.  Group reports will be further explained after the midterm.

Weekly Schedule:

Voices and Visions: Identity in America
This is a tentative schedule and is subject to change; assignments may be deleted and/or added as the semester unfolds. Students are responsible for keeping up with all announced changes made to the following schedule.

UNIT ONE: ROOTS: REDISCOVERING & REWRITING OUR HISTORIES

Wed: 8/20: Course Introduction; Discussion: What is multiculturalism? 1)Prepare biography assignment & on Mon. you will introduce your colleagues to the class. Begin The Museum of Tolerance video. 

Mon: 8/25: Finish video. Introductions of class. Rediscovering America: Begin "What is an American? - poems about America. Readings: 1) Read Cultural Etiquette: A Guide for the Well-intentioned link on website-jot down any with which you disagree or consider outdated; & 2)Read Takaki, Chs. 1 & 2, pp. 1-50. Find 1 sentence from each chapter that you find provocative; highlight it or write it down to discuss in class Wed; also find 1 word in each chapter you don't know & look it up, write the definition to read in class Wed.

Wed: 8/27: Rediscovering America cont'd: "What is empowerment?  Discussion of readings & Takaki chapters 1 & 2. Readings: 1)Read "America: Found & Lost" link on website & complete assignment which is due Monday for discussion. 2)Read Xerox "I am not a Mascot" & "Coded Prejudice" 3)Also begin web readings for Mestiza assignment.

Film Review: Crash:
Roger Ebert said the following about the film Crash: "Not many films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect Crash to work any miracles, but I believe anyone seeing it is likely to be moved to have a little more sympathy for people not like themselves. The movie contains hurt, coldness, and cruelty, but is it without hope?" Rent the video & after viewing the film please write 300 words-1 full page typed personal response that answers Ebert's question-- but is it without hope? This review is due anytime on or before November 24th.

Monday, September 1st: Labor day Holiday

Wed: 9/3: Finish America: Found & Lost" discussion; Begin slide lecture-What do Images Want? Readings: 1)Read Chs. 2 & 3 in Takaki.  Read assigned mestiza stories on website & answer questions from the Mestiza  assignment on web page due Mon.

Mon: 9/8: Mestiza assignment due. Native Traditions in Evolution: Native American issues & Kitsch. Native traditions in evolution cont'd.  Readings: 1)Finish Chs. 3 & 4 in Takaki.

Wed: 9/10: View "Primal Minds" & complete video worksheet. Readings: 1)Begin Takaki, Ch. 9, pp. 225-246.

Mon: 9/15:  Discussion of White Privilege article. Readings: 1) Please carefully read the linked article on White privilege. Be prepared to discuss the answers to the Xeroxed questions in class.Read the website link: "Vital Signs: Race."

Wed: 9/17:  Group exercises of Takaki chapters. Readings: Takaki, Ch. 9, pp. 225-246;  Native Americans concluded. New Ways of Knowing and Methods of Re-learning.

UNIT TWO: UNITY AMIDST DIVERSITY - Inventing A National Identity?

Mon: 9/22:  "The EuroCENTRIC perspective" -- The Age of Discovery: Impacts & Exchanges. The Middle Passage. Begin Contemporary Black Artists. Readings: 1) Huggins, Intro from Ordeal of Slavery -Xeroxes & answer questions to be turned in Mon;  2)Takaki, Ch. 5.

Wed: 9/24: TBA

Mon: 9/29: Huggins questions due. Discussion of Huggins. View "Ethnic Notions" and complete worksheet.

Wed: 10/1: In class video "The Wilderness and the West." "The Call for a National Identity;" Manifest Destiny Visualized. Readings: Howard Zinn, "Representative Government: The Black Experience" in Xeroxes & Review Takaki, Ch. 5.

Mon: 10/6: Catch-up & Review for midterm

Wed: 10/8: MIDTERM in class

Mon: 10/13: The Lost Boys Point of View film.

Wed: 10/15:  Finish Lost Boys film & Lost Boys homework discussion-assignment due in 1 week.

Mon: 10/20: Discussion of Lost Boys. Do some web reading.

Wed: 10/22: Begin The Harlem Renaissance; Readings: Takaki, Ch. 13. Begin Manifest Destiny subverted-- E.M. Bannister; Robert Scott Duncanson, Henry Tanner. Readings: Linked bios of these artists.

Mon: 10/27: The Harlem Renaissance & the Civil Rights Movement:  Ch. 13. America's Awakening into the 20th Century-The Civil Rights Movement: Readings: MLK & Malcolm X in Xeroxes. Answer question #1 from Malcolm X excerpt.

Wed: 10/29: Video. Answer question #1 from Malcolm X excerpt due today.

Mon: 11/3:  The New Immigrants & Manzanar discussion.

Wed: 11/5: Assimilations and Dreams; Readings: Takaki, Ch. 13.

Mon: 11/10: Group Reports: The Irish Americans -Takaki, Ch. 6. 

Wed: 11/12: The Japanese Americans-Takaki, Ch. 10 & Manzanar [WWII].

Mon: 11/17: The Chinese Americans -Takaki, Ch. 8 .

Wed: 11/19: The Latino Americans -Takaki, Chs. 7 & 12.

UNIT FOUR: RESOLUTIONS & HOPES FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Mon: 11/24: The Jewish Americans: Takaki, Ch. 11 & pp. 373-376. Farewell to Manzanar assignment due & Crash review due today.

11/26-11/28: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS

Mon: 12/1: The Civil Rights Movement today  & discussion of contemporary immigration. Contemporary Multiculturalism-E Pluribus Unum & The Twenty-first Century: Readings: Xerox: "A Latino...";Takaki’s A Larger Memory in Xeroxes; Takaki, Ch. 14, pp. 378-428 & review Ch. 1.

Wed: 12/3: Catch-up & Contemporary Multiculturalism-E Pluribus Unum & The Twenty-first Century: Readings: Please read the Xerox "An Attempt to Move Beyond Multiculturalism to a Postethnic America," & the 2 interviews with Takaki on my website; also same as Monday.

Mon: 12/8: Review for final exam & concluding considerations
FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE:
MW  11-12:15 class FINAL is Wednesday, Dec. 10th at 11:00-1:45pm
MW  2:00-3:15 class FINAL is Friday, Dec. 12th at 2:00-4:45pm

Requests for Modifications: Any students requiring instructional modifications due to a documented disability should make an appointment to meet with the instructor as soon as possible. An official letter from GC&SU documenting the disability will be expected in order to receive accommodations.

TERMS TO KNOW:
Ideology: the ideas or manner of thinking characteristic of an individual or group; especially, the ideas and objectives that influence a whole group or national culture, shaping especially their political and social relations; ideology also means false consciousness - in other words, ideology is a representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence: things aren't really what you think they are.

Hegemonic: domination of leadership; dominant social class or ideology of the dominant social class; especially, the preponderant influence or authority over others. (Hegemony is the noun).

Empowerment: to enable; to allow or permit.

Mestiza: [outsider-within] having the ability to move in and out of two or more cultures. Ronald Takaki introduced the term "mestiza" in Chapter 1 in his book A Different Mirror. On page 8 he wrote, "A mostly mestizo people of Indian as well as African and Spanish ancestries, Chicanos currently represent the largest minority group in the Southwest, where they have been visibly transforming culture and society." In this context, Takaki did not define the term. Gloria Anzaldua, a Chicano scholar, states that the Aztec term mestiza means torn between two ways. Anzaldua says "being tricultural, monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual, speaking a patois [a local dialect], and in a state of perpetual transition, the mestiza faces the dilemma of the mixed breed...." The mestiza often must operate within two or more cultures, two cultures which can sometimes be in direct conflict.
Patricia Hill Collins, author of Black Feminist Thought, names this idea of having to operate within two or more cultures "the outsider-within" perspective. The outsider-within stance functions to create a new angle of vision on the dominant or hegemonic group's suppression of subordinate groups' knowledge. Traditionally we have been exposed to the hegemonic voice and, in the background, the voices of the subordinate groups. The significance of the mestiza, or outsider-within voices is the new perspective gained -- one in which contradictions and inconsistencies are made visible.

Relations of Power: By relations of power what is meant is that we are all subjected to different types of "power over" whether through peers, parents, professors, churches, clubs, organizations, or even silences from people we love or care about. The real message behind all these so-called "power-over" moments is a lack of compassion, is it not? If people just tried to understand and empathize with others' situations then perhaps we would not have so many moments of "power-over." True freedom, after all, is being free to ourselves and not being coerced overtly or covertly. For instance, when a friend or boyfriend or girlfriend responds to something you might say in anger or even not in anger with a dead silence or when someone turns and walks away that is a covert [not obvious] form of power and coercion. Instead of talking it out or trying to understand your position, a power play is pulled. Now this, I know, is very different from the relations of power in the stories we read, but they stem from the same roots --often threatening consequences or fear of something different-changes. Power relations are different from moods in that moods do not usually entail the subjugation of another.

Kitsch: Refers to the low-art artifacts of everyday life. It encompasses lamps in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, paintings of Elvis Presley on velvet, plastic pink flamingoes, coffee mugs/umbrellas etc. of Mona Lisa or other famous images, and the lurid illustrations on the covers of romance novels. The term is thought to derive from the German verb verkitschen which means to make cheap. Kitsch is a by-product of the industrial age’s astonishing capacity for mass production and its creation of disposable income (Atkins 94).

Imperialist Nostalgia: a yearning for that which one has directly or indirectly participated in destroying; preserving that which is being destroyed.

Canon: an established standard for judgment; criterion.

Eurocentrism: is the practice, conscious or otherwise, of placing emphasis on European (and, generally, Western) concerns, culture and values at the expense of those of other cultures. It is an instance of ethnocentrism.