Prejudice in Black and White
GOVT 258
Fall 2008
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 256 |
This course will explore the lengthy debate over the last two decades surrounding the changing nature of race prejudice. It will start with classic readings in the area and move to one of the most important and contentious debates in the study of American public opinion. We will explore both theories and methodological approaches to understand the way prejudice is defined and measured. Much of this research will focus on black/white prejudice, but we will also attempt to generalize beyond this dichotomy. We will try to answer the following questions: Is categorization based on race and other salient characterizations inherent to the American psyche? How is prejudice defined? How is race used both implicitly and explicitly in political decision making? How have race and race prejudice informed important American political institutions and processes? How have innovations in the areas of survey research and experimental methods allowed scholars to get around individual efforts to give only socially desirable answers? These and other questions of interests will be explored. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Intercultural Literacy, Quantitative Reasoning
Students will be required to read and critique research based on quantitative analysis of polling data, experiments, and content analysis. We will also discuss research ethics.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS GOVT |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: GOVT151 |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (GOVT)(GOVT-American) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
The reading list will evolve once the interests and prior knowledge of the students are assessed; however, below is a list of sample readings. Students will be required to develop their own theory of how race works in America or whether it informs decision at all and develop a research design that develops their theory as well as conduct a small pilot study that both collects and analyze data
Sniderman and Piazza. THE SCAR OF RACE
Kinder and Saunders. DIVIDED BY COLOR
Gunnar Myrdal. THE AMERICAN DILEMMA
Christenson. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Allport. THE NATURE OF PREJUDICE
Greenwald and Banaji. IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TESTS (www.yale.edu/psychology/iat)
Brewer and Miller. INTER GROUP RELATIONS
Shuman, Steeh, Bobo, and Krysan. RACIAL ATTITUDES IN AMERICA: TRENDS AND INTERPRETATIONS.
Omi and Winant. RACIAL FORMATION IN AMERICA: FROM THE 1960'S TO 1990'S
Roediger. HOW THE IRISH BECAME WHITE.
Carmines and Stimson. ISSUE EVOLUTION: RACE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS
Sears, Sidanius, and Bobo. RACIALIZED POLITICS: THE DEBATE ABOUT RACISM IN AMERICA.
Aldridge and Levine. SURVEYING THE SOCIAL WORLD: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE IN SURVEY RESEARCH.
Grace Hale: MAKING WHITENESS: RACE IN THE SEGREGATED SOUTH
Thernstrom and Thernstrom. AMERICA IN BLACK AND WHITE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Midterm, detailed research paper, reaction papers, class presentations, and participant observation exercise. |
| Instructor(s): Price,Melanye Times: .M.W... 08:30AM-09:50AM; Location: PAC104; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 20 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 12 | | |
| Seats Available: 3 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 1 |
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