General Education/Institutional Models

Syllabi--American Pluralism
SUNY Buffalo

• American Pluralism and the Search for Equality
• Contemporary Problems of the United States: A Geographer's Perspective
• American Pluralism w/ Dr. Lulat
• American Pluralism: Issues of race, Class, Sex, Gende, and Religion
• American Architecture as American Pluralism

SUNY BUFFALO
LUDWIG SYLLABUS
FALL 1996

American Pluralism
and the Search for Equality

General Description
This section of American Pluralism investigates the construct of pluralism through a more or less chronological study of the successive groups of immigrants to the US. We will look at l) the social milieu in which each existed when they came, and 2) the current modus vivendi and prospects of the group. The primary focus is on issues of race, ethnicity/religion, and gender. Our ultimate goal is to appreciate American society today in the light of our nation's ongoing struggle to define rights and equality, examine the assumptions (and realities!) that we all face. The course provides an opportunity to find and use information, to think broadly and critically, and to explore one's own and others' opinions on issues that define America life today. Specific themes of analysis include identity, social construction, community, and power.

"Conversations of respect ... cannot be based on mere tolerance....[They] are characterized by intellectual reciprocity....In such conversations, one participant does not treat the other as an illustration of, or a variation of, or a dollop upon the truth or insight already possessed." -- Patrick Hill "Multi-Culturalism" Change July/Aug 1991

Activities:
Weekly readings
Lectures as well as films/videos
Class discussions and small group activities
Written assignments

Grading: Your grade will be based on the following items:

1. Reading, attendance and participation. You are expected to come to class having read the material, and make thoughtful serious contributions to the discussions. Eight or more 1 page reflection papers will figure in these computations. Attendance is crucial: For every 5 absences (and late- ness counts!) your grade will be dropped two notches, i.e. an A will drop to B+. (25%)
   
2. Three objective and short essay exams ((at least a portion of which will be take-home) on the readings for the course (45%)
   
3. A research paper (about 8-10) on a period, group, notion, or person that you would like to know more about. Again, your selection must be cleared with the instructor before you proceed. Proposal due October l6; project due November 22. (30%)

Texts:
Paula Rothenberg Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. 3rd ed. St. Martin's Press. 1995.
Ronald Takaki A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Little, Brown. 1993.
Anzia Yezierska Bread Givers. Persea. 1925.
Luis J. Rodriguez Always Running La Vida loca: Gang Days in LA. Touchstone. 1993.

Course outline, by weeks:

Aug 26: "Identity: Who am I? Who are you?"

Sept 2: "Frameworks: Concepts of Society and Pluralism" (Labor Day) Rothenberg 370-76

Sept 9: "Social Construction and Tradition: Whose myth? Roth 7-12, 367-9 Roth 13-22 Berkhofer (handout) Rohrl (handout) Roth 417- 431

Sept 16: "Schools, Media, and Models of `The way it is'" Takaki Ch 2 (early Am. grps) Roth 393-96 Roth 409-17

Sept 23: "American Foundations: Nationhood" (Yom Kippur) Roth 57-64, 303-11 Bennett (handout)

Sept 30: "The First Amendment: Religious Roots and Free Speech" Takaki Ch 4, 9 (Native Ams) Feldberg (handout) Roth 376-92 Roth 290-4

Oct 7:*** "Personal Foundations: What it means to be a woman or a man" Roth 355 (#22) Roth 396-402, 32-45 EXAM 475-81, 238-45

Oct 14: "Gender Equity -- 150 years" How much change is real? Proposal due Roth 311-320, 339 (#14) Roth 108-20 Roth 131-143

Oct 21: "World Views: Religion and Immigration" Goal, function, and role of religion in American life Roth 175-188 Roth 197-9 Takaki Ch 11 (Jews)

28 Oct "World Views: Language and Immigration" Yezierska Bread Givers Roth 188-9

4 Nov*** "American Historical Snapshots" Chinese Takaki Ch 8 EXAM

11 Nov "American Historical Snapshots" American Southwest Takaki Ch 7, 12 Roth 218- 226

18 Nov American Historical Snapshots" Japanese Paper due Takaki Ch 10 Roth 345-9

25 Nov "Race and Class: Intersections" Roth 144-151 (Thanksgiving) (Thanksgiving) 155-162

2 Dec Southwest, cont. Rodriguez Always Running

9 Dec*** America Redefines itself: Land, Work, and Urban Cultural Capital" Roth 461-75 Exam

American Pluralism and the Search for Equality
The project allows you to choose an aspect of American history, cultural life, public policy, or social relations that interests you. It is an opportunity to deal with an issue in some depth.

The project must have the prior approval of the instructor before you embark on your work. A one page, handwritten proposal is due by Monday, October l6 in class. (Of course, if you have an idea sooner than that, feel free to submit your proposal earlier.) The project is due Monday, November 20th Paper: 8-10 pages (l" margins) OR 20 minute presentation in class.

Suggestions for the project:

• Look into bilingual education/English only. What were the attitudes and practice in the early portion of this century? How have they changed today? How did that change come about? Outline the benefits/drawbacks of official bilingualism today.
  
• Examine whether people's lives are better in l995 than they were in l965 when the civil rights movement was in full swing. In constant dollars is the poverty level up or down? Are more poor or minority students graduating from high school? from college? How has the nature or status of the poor or minority family changed in the last 30 years?
  
• Research the effect of prejudice on self-concept, education, and aspirations.
  
• Trace the immigration patterns, values, language, and rise (or fall) of a selected group: Polish, Irish, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican.
  
• Examine women's work through the history of the US. See if you can identify trends of major points of change. Ideas: "mill girls" of the post-Revolutionary era, the teaching profession, officework, WWII, modern corporate structure
  
• Identify a religious group and trace its history in the US. To what degree have its emembers been the victims of individual or institutional prejudice? Can they practice in peace today? Have they ben involved in court cases? If so, how were they resolved?
  
• Document an aspect of the civil rights movement (l956-l968) Ideas: Rosa Parks, MLK, Malcom X, Medgar Evers, the l963 march on Washington, Selma Alabama, the "freedom summer", the integration of Little Rock or of "Ol' Miss", the slaying of Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman, the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
  
• Interview a person who has recently immigrated to the US. Ask them to compare the situation they left with their life today. What changes did they have to go through? Complete the narrative with library research about immigration patterns (this should occupy about 1/2 the paper).
  
• Look at Propositions 42 and 44 of the NCAA. Are these policies racist? How can higher education balance athletics with education for the good of the institution? for the good of the students-athletes?
  
• Investigate the criminal justice system for signs of inequality. Jury composition, convictions, sentencing, and application of the death penalty are good places to start.
  
• Examine health issues. What is the infant mortality rate for different segments of the population? What is the life expectancy? What are the principal causes of death? What kind of health care do various groups receive? How are health and life style related?
  
• Trace the history of the SATs and the current debate about their value in predicting academic success. (If you choose this topic, you must look at race, gender, or social class as a variable.)
  
• Study real world or television interactions for signs of sex stereotyping and/or sexist language. Magazine ads and commercials are an especially rich source of material. (Check with me for background on frameworks to organize your analysis.)
  
• Examine how homophobia does or doesn't resemble racism and sexism. Look at arguments for and against including gays and lesbians as a "protected category".
  
• Look at "mixed" marriages. What are the problems encountered by those of differing faiths? Of differing races? What trends have occurred in the last 30 years or so?
  
• Examine the arguments for and against co-education. What empirical work has been done on the benefits of single-sex institutions? Are they different for elementary school, high school, or college?

Be sure to keep your original project proposal once you get it back with comments. You will turn it in with your project on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20 in class.

SUNY BUFFALO
MCCONNELL SYLLABUS
SPRING 1997

CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF THE UNITED STATES:
A GEOGRAPHER S PERSPECTIVE
(Does the "motorcycle" require maintenance?)

Course Description:
Geographers are interested in the overt behavior of individuals, households, firms, corporations, and institutions within the context of space and place (over time). Thus, geographers have produced descriptive data and normative theories about the properties and dynamics of distributions, interactions, network connections, patterns, nodes, surface properties, and hierarchical elements of spatial systems. Underlying these data and patterns of space and places are the decision- making processes (i.e., choices and behaviors) of individuals, groups, and institutions. The analysis of these processes provides insights into the dynamics of public policy issues, and enables analysts and public decision-makers to determine optimal strategies for achieving policy objectives.

Americans face a number of important and complex public policy issues in the 1990s. This course is focused particularly upon those policy issues that are directly and indirectly related to differences in social class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and age. Such issues include concerns about the country s current immigration policy, the deindustrialization of the national economy, economically growing versus lagging regions, involvement in the global community, abandoned neighborhoods, the white underclass, gendered spaces, institutional and environmental racism, conflict and power in the city, residential segregation, the increasing income gap between rich and poor, and religious and ethnic conflicts.

The intent of this course, therefore, is to examine the underlying nature of these contemporary policy issues, identify the relationships that exist between these issues and the increasing diversity of the American society, and analyze the impacts these interconnections are having upon human spatial behavior, differences among places across the country, and the geographical (i.e., spatial) organization of the U.S. over time. The readings and small-group discussions are designed to help class participants examine a variety of myths and realities associated with contemporary policy issues, discover and analyze the sometimes invisible spatial patterns that surround them, and come to terms with their own views and opinions about What is going on with the U.S. motorcycle as the 21st century approaches.

Course Objectives
The principal objectives of the course are the following:

• to create a classroom environment in which class participants are comfortable sharing their views on the various aspects of American pluralism, and are open to the diverse opinions and visions of the past, present, and future that may be held by others in the group;
• to demonstrate the existence of pluralism in the U.S., both historically and at the present time, and to provide class participants with an increased self-awareness of what it means in the American society to be an outsider -- that is, to be different from others, or to be a stranger;
• to develop skills for critical reading and interpretation of issues related to pluralism, social and economic geography, and public policy in the U.S.;
• to understand how pluralism influences patterns of human spatial behavior and public policy in the U.S., and, in turn, how these spatial patterns and policies frequently reinforce and institutionalize negative stereotypes, prejudicial exclusions, and various other discriminatory practices and processes;
• to recognize that these complex interrelationships among perceptions, attitudes, spatial behavior, and public policymaking have been dynamic over time, are currently in the process of changing, and undoubtedly will be dramatically different in the future;
• to become aware of the role and importance of spatial organization in public policy issues (e.g., as in the spatial dissemination of information and diffusion of social services, spatial externalities associated with public services, and jurisdictional fragmentation that occurs in the implementation of social policy), and to recognize that the interrelationships between pluralism and human spatial behavior and public policy occur at different scales of geographic resolution (i.e., at local, regional, and national levels); and
• building upon our discussions of pluralism and human spatial behavior, to propose and assess alternative responses to, and/or solutions for, a selected set of contemporary issues of American public policy.

Some Organizing Themes

1. And it occurred to me that... no manual (exists) that deals with the real business of motorcycle maintenance, the most important aspect of all. Caring about what you are doing is considered either unimportant or taken for granted... I think that we should.... explore it a little to see if in that strange separation of what man is from what man does we may have some clues as to what the hell has gone wrong with this twentieth century. [Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, 1974.]
2. Dereliction is, of course, a state of mind. Like beauty, it varies with the eye of the beholder. Its outward symbols are the result of neglect and the unwillingness or inability to care for or nurture... Everything deteriorates and everything someday will be obsolete. That things decline should not be surprising. What does surprise is the apparent widespread reluctance in America to counter deterioration... Maintenance is an act of keeping... When maintenance is deferred, usefulness declines... Deferred maintenance creates clear visual signals that the future is uncertain... Americans... have been a people long used to deferring repair. [Jakle and Wilson, Derelict Landscapes: The Wasting of America s Built Environment, 1992.]
3. We live in fortress cities brutally divided between fortified cells of affluent society and places of terror where the police battle the criminalized poor...The universal...consequence of this crusade to secure the city is the destruction of accessible public space...and new class war...at the level of the built environment. [M. Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, 1992, pp. 224-228.]
4. The institutions that shape mass culture and define the parameters of public debate (in the U.S.) have avoided class issues. In politics, in primary and secondary education, and in the mass media, formulating issues in terms of class is unacceptable, perhaps even un-American. [Gregory Mantsios, Class in America: Myths and Realities, in P.S. Rothenberg (ed.), Racism and Sexism: An Integrated Study (1988).]
5. When it comes to linguistic marking, language and culture are particularly unfair in treating women as the marked case because biologically it is the male that is marked...Some days you just want to get dressed and go about your business. But if you re a woman, you can t, because there is no unmarked woman. [Deborah Tannen, Wears jump suit. Sensible shoes. Uses husband s last name, New York Times Magazine (June 20, 1993), pp. 18, 52, 54.]
6. We need to take as our starting point...that western land was neither empty nor free and that the white Americans who moved westward were never its only inhabitants...we need to learn to see the frontier as a cultural crossroads rather than a geographic freeway to the West... With only a little mental exertion we could conceive of the crossroads not only as a literal crossing of people s paths, but also as an analytic crossing of three central axes of inequality--race, class, and gender- -in American history. [Peggy Pascoe, Western women at the cultural crossroads, in P. Limerick, etal, Trails: Toward a New Western History, 1991.]
7. The secret life of the black people of McIntosh County unfolded inside closed cabins; and within the humble little Holiness churches...; and inside the weedy roadside juke joints.... It was a world practically impenetrable to white people, with a harsh, quick, humorous language nearly indecipherable to them. [Melissa Fay Greene, Praying for Sheetrock, 1991, p. 79.]
8. Facts:: In the 1980s, 8.7 million immigrants poured into the U.S., matching the great immigration decade of 1900-10; and the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, and other nonwhite groups will represent 47 percent of the total U.S. population. First Question:: Is it time to put aside our romantic past and kick away the immigrant welcome mat? Fact:: In a recent Business Week/Harris poll, 68 percent of Americans interviewed said yes to the first question. Second Question: So what? [ The Immigrants, Business Week (July 13, 1992), p. 114.]

Cognate Course for American Pluralism and General Education Course
This course is an approved cognate course for American Pluralism 211, and an approved General Education course for the Social and Behavioral Studies knowledge area.

Required Text and Readings
The basic text for the course is Paula S. Rothenberg (ed.), Race, Class, & Gender in the U.S.: An Integrated Study (Third Edition, 1995). In addition, a number of handouts and required readings will be assigned as the course progresses. The required readings are on reserve at the Undergraduate Library in Capen Hall.

Responsibilities of Class Participants
Each participant in the course is expected to attend classes regularly, read all of the assigned readings, participate in classroom and small-group discussions, prepare several in-class and out-of- class written exercises and opinion essays, research a biographical figure important to you, and complete two class-length exams. The timing of the exams and other assignments will be announced as the course progresses. Please note that the second exam will be given during the final-exam week of the semester, and will be scheduled by the University; therefore, do not make any travel plans until the schedule of exams has been published.

The methods of instruction for this course will consist of lectures, small-group discussions, individual presentations, and general discussion sessions. It is very important, therefore, that members of the class get to know each other and become comfortable interacting within the classroom setting. Regular attendance and participation in discussions by everyone in the class are essential in achieving the overall objectives of the course.

Grading Policy
Percentage weights given to the various components of the course are as follows: regular attendance, classroom participation, and contributions to small-group discussions will count for 20 percent of the course grade; the in- and out-of-class written pieces and biographical essay will count for 40 percent; and the two class-length exams will county for 20 percent each. A plus/minus grading system will be used in assigning final grades in the course. Everyone is expected to fulfill all of the responsibilities of class participants, which are identified in the preceding paragraph. University regulations state that a grade of Incomplete may only be given in those instances where the student has not been able to complete all of the assigned work as a result of serious illness or other unforeseen and compelling circumstances. In addition, the student must be passing the course at the time the I- grade is requested. Any person requesting an I-grade must submit a written request to the instructor and provide appropriate documentation supporting the petition.

Moreover, everyone is expected to complete assignments and exams when scheduled. Written assignments turned in late will be down- graded one letter grade for each business day they are tardy. Petitions to make up exams and other assignments will be considered only in cases of medical emergencies or other similar compelling situations, and in these instances, the participant must petition the instructor in writing for exceptional consideration, and provide appropriate documentation supporting such a request.

Final Note
This is one of my favorite courses to teach, so I am most anxious to see what we can together accomplish this semester. Should you have difficulty with the course, please let me know. In addition, should you have any physical and/or learning disabilities that may affect your participation and/or performance in this course, and should you wish to make such known to the instructor, you are invited to so inform the instructor. My office hours and phone number are listed on the first page. Good luck!!!

SUNY BUFFALO
LULAT SYLLABUS
SPRING 1997

COURSE PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
From the very beginning of the beginning, that is, when the first Native Americans arrived/evolved, and thousands of years later in the 17th century when the first English settlers arrived, the part of the world that we know today as the United States had ALWAYS been a 'plural' society; moreover, it will ALWAYS be so. As we close out the twentieth century, the truth of this fact is supremely self-evident. By a plural society we mean a society that is divided along any one or more of the principal boundaries of the social structure: class, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, etc.

Consequently, in this course our general task will be to examine how the plural character of this society shapes, for better or worse, the experiences of all who live in it. More specifically, however, our task will have three parts to it: First, we will study general theoretical and conceptual issues relevant to the subject matter of the course, as well as obtain a historically rooted, current picture of the principal descriptive characteristics of U.S. society from the perspectives of class, ethnicity, gender, race and religion.

Second, we will explore the present-day lived experiences of all who live in the U.S. from the perspective of gender (the socially determined, sex-based role assignments).

Third, we will examine the consequences for U.S. society of the race-based spatial distribution of housing. In terms of theoretical and disciplinary approach, this course will be taught from an inter-disciplinary perspective. That is, we shall bring whatever insights, concepts and theories that may be relevant to the study of a given topic, regardless of their disciplinary location. This approach is premised on the fact that disciplinary boundaries are an anachronism of a bygone age; they have no relationship to the quest for truth (however one defines truth).

Students may also wish to note that the entire course will be based on the following underlying assumption: the achievement of civilization demands that we oppose all violations of human and civil rights that issue from such structuration. The practical implications of this position will be examined in the third section the course.

Students should be aware at the outset of two important aspects of the organization of this course: one, we will make extensive use of films and documentaries in support of course objectives; and two, students will be individually called upon to participate in class discussions. Therefore, attendance in this course is absolutely mandatory. Students who habitually skip classes should either not register for this course, or they should change their priorities.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
As we proceed through the course we will seek to meet the following objectives:

• (a) Widen the disciplinary perspectives of course participants. Experience has shown that most participants tend to have a narrow disciplinary background.
• (b) Introduce participants to key concepts, theories and ideas (drawn from diverse disciplines--sociology, political science, literature, history, etc.) central to the study of the topics covered in this course.
• (c) Enable participants to acquire critical intellectual and writing skills in order to foster independent thinking, which is the hallmark of a truly educated person (as well as the life-blood of a genuinely democratic society).
• (d) Introduce participants to different cultures, experiences and ways of thinking. The purpose of education in a university is not the achievement of narrow career goals; its purpose is the total intellectual development of the student which includes, among other things, knowledge of, and respect for, the cultures of other groups and peoples with whom we share this country (and this planet).
• (e) Create among participants the desire and willingness to participate in the democratic evolution of this society (which in the modern era begins with the War of Independence).
• (f) Create among participants the desire and willingness to be informed and knowledgeable of the world around them. As citizens of the last remaining superpower, ignorance is not an option--especially for those who aspire to a university level education.

REQUIRED TEXTS
There are THREE required texts in this course; that is, in addition to several reserve articles, almost all reading assignments will come entirely from these books. The books are available from the University Bookstore.

• (A) Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Class, by Joseph H. Healey.
• (B) Women: A Feminist Perspective, edited by Jo Freeman.
• (C) American Apartheid, by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton.

SCHEDULE OF COURSE TOPICS

PART ONE: Concepts, Current Circumstances and Historical Background

WEEK No.1. Introduction: Central Concepts: Prejudice; Discrimination; Racist ideology; Sexist Ideology; Classist Ideology; Institutional Discrimination; Assimilationism; Pluralism; Bilingualism; Capitalism; Democracy; Stereotypes; the Concept of Multiple Histories; Socialization; Class; Gender Roles.

WEEK No.2. Current-History: Native-Americans: Conquest and Colonization; Gender and Conquest; Protest and Resistance; Life on the Reservations; Urbanization and Its Dilemmas.

WEEK No.3. Current-History: African-Americans:The Origins of Slavery in the Americas; Slavery and African- American Culture; The Civil War and Reconstruction; Protest and Resistance: Democracy and Civil Rights; The Continuing Struggle against Racism.

WEEK No.4. Current History: Hispanic-Americans: Mexican Americans: Conquest and Colonization; Protest and Resistance; Immigration: Puerto Rican-Americans; Immigration: Cuban-Americans; Recent Immigration: Latin Americans; Prejudice and Discrimination.

WEEK No.5. Current History: European-Americans: Columbus and the Origins of European Migration; Northern and Western European Agrarian elites and Indentured Labor; Industrialization and the Migration of Working Classes: the Irish, the Southern Europeans, and the Eastern Europeans; The Holocaust and Jews; Ethnicity among Euro- Americans Today. Racism and the Euro-American Working Class.

WEEK No.6. Current History: Asian-Americans: Origins: Pre- twentieth Century Immigration; Asian Americans and the Ethnic Enclave as a Response to Racism; Chinese Americans; Japanese Americans and the Second World War; Recent Immigration: East Indians, Koreans, Vietnamese, Filipinos; Prejudice and Discrimination; Asian Americans and other Minorities.

PART TWO: Focus: Pluralism and Gender Roles

WEEK No. 7. Women and Feminism: Pre-Twentieth Century Feminism; Feminism--Phase One: The Suffrage Movement; Feminism--Phase Two: The Movement for Equality; Anti-Feminist Women and False Consciousness; Men and Feminism.

WEEK No. 8. Women and Power Relations: Marital Inequality; Women and Sexual Harassment; Women in Politics, Law and Public Policy; Women and Medicine; Women and the Politics of Female/Male Relations; Gender-Role Socialization.

WEEK No. 9. Women and the Capitalist System: Sexuality and Economic Status; Poverty and Welfare; Advertising and the Female Body; Homeless Women; Higher Education and the Professions; Women and the Male Working Class.

WEEK No. 10. Women and Race: Race, Gender and Class; African- American Feminism; Jewish Feminism; Chicana Feminism.

PART THREE: Focus: Pluralism and the Urban Geography of Race

WEEK No. 11. The Origins of the Ghetto and U.S. Residential Apartheid: Race and the Pre-Twentieth Century City; African-American Urbanization and European Immigration; Modern Transport and the Suburb; Federal Housing Policy, Race and the Suburbanization of the Euro-American Working Class.

WEEK No. 12. Segregation and the Creation of the Urban Underclass: Race and Violence: Keeping the Suburbs White; Economic Violence: Redlining and the Ghetto; Unemployment and the Suburbanization of Jobs; Unemployment and the International Migration of Jobs.

WEEK No. 13. The Perpetuation of the Ghetto: Undermining Democracy: HUD, the Fair Housing Act and the Failure of Public Policy; Federal and State Budgetary Politics in the Age of the Suburban Voter; Education and the Politics of Property Taxes; The Perpetuation of the Ghetto: Killing the American Dream of African-Americans; The Ghetto, Racism and Democracy.

SCHEDULE OF READINGS/TESTS

See separate sheet

TERM PAPER AND/OR CLASS PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
Separate instructions will be provided in class.

Participants are REQUIRED to keep up with current national and international events--this is also, in a sense, a current affairs course--by watching and/or reading the following recommended news media:

• (i) MS, MOTHER JONES; TIME, NEWSWEEK, NEW YORK TIMES, IN THESE TIMES.
• (ii) Evening TV News on channel on public television, also re-broadcast on radio [WEBR News Radio] at 8:00pm. (Public television is the channel that carries Sesame Street!)
• (iii) Morning and evening news on National Public Radio transmitted via our local university radio station (FM 88). (News on 17 comes at 7:00 p.m.);
• (iv) BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) world service news from London, broadcast on WEBR news radio from midnight to 6:00 am daily. Note: from time to time questions will be asked in class AND ON TESTS on prominent but relevant current news events;
• (v) TV News at night on the Canadian TV channel operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that usually begins at 10:00pm.
• In this course it is assumed that being knowledgeable and informed of the world around you (at all levels: local, national and international) is not only a requirement of being an educated person, but it is also a required qualification for citizenship in a democracy. In a democracy ignorance is not an option available to the citizenry.

SUNY BUFFALO
B. SMITH SYLLABUS
SPRING 1997

T.A.s:
Leonard Jacuzzo (LJ), Lamont Johnson (LJ2), Eric Little (EL), Gloria Ziga (GZ)

Office Hours:

• BS (Baldy 611), Tu/Th 8.45-9.20
• LJ: (Baldy 605), We 11-12 and by appointment
• LJ2 (Baldy 656), Tu 11-1 EL (Baldy 671), Tu and Th 11-11.30 and by appointment
• GZ (Baldy 614), Mo 11-12

Contact:

• BS: phismith@acsu.buffalo.edu, 645 2444 Ext. 711.
• LJ: jacuzzo@acsu.buffalo.edu
• LJ2: 834 6010 EL: 885 8916, eglittle@acsu.buffalo.edu
• GZ: 645-2444 x 714, gzuniga@acsu.buffalo.edu

SYLLABUS

Jan. 21 On the Legalization of Drugs (Debate with Jason Adsit, Department of Philosophy)

1. Jan. 23 Government Should Impose Values on Society (Debate with EL, GZ) Reading: pp. 473-478, 611-612, 504-506.

2. Jan. 28 On Ebonics (Debate with EL) Readings to be supplied

3. Jan. 30 On Right and Wrong, Good and Evil, Subjectivity and Objectivity, or: Why Shakespeare is a Better Poet than Ice-T 4. Feb.

4 On Affirmative Action (Debate with LJ) Reading: pp. 28-31, 381-406.

5. Feb. 6 On Women in the Military (Debate with William Baumer, Department of Philosophy)

6. Feb. 11 On Christianity and Society (Debate with Tim Madigan, Center for Inquiry and Monsignor Patrick Keleher)

7. Feb. 13 On Gender and the Tax Code (Debate with Nancy Staudt, UB School of Law)

8. Feb.18 On Censoring the Net (Debate GZ), Reading: pp. 443-445 and 508-510.

9. Feb. 20 On Voodoo, Myths and the Paranormal (Debate EL), Reading: pp. 289-303.

10. Feb. 25 On Marriage and Divorce (Debate with Dan Barwick, Department of Philosophy)

11. Feb. 27 On Poverty and Wealth: The Pros and Cons of Inheritance (Debate with LJ)

12. Mar. 4 Does Pornography Empower Women? (Debate with Eve Ng, Department of Linguistics)

13. Mar. 6 On Abortion (Debate between LJ and Vicki Toscano-Cantaffa, Department of Philosophy)

14. Mar. 11 Should Welfare Recipients Lose the Right to Vote? (Debate with LJ)

15. Mar. 13 Should Same-Sex Marriage be Allowed? (Debate with LJ)

16. Mar. 25 Did Europeans Steal America from Its Original Inhabitants? (Debate with Jeremy van Ek, Department of Philosophy)

17. Mar. 27 TBA

STUDENT DEBATES

18. Apr 1: Parents Should Encourage Their Teenage Children to Use Birth Control, pp. 576-603; Pro: Andrea Tarkinson, Christina Bryan, Nicole Ventry, Jen Chiang, Karin O'Connell

19. Apr 3: (1) Euthanasia is immoral, pp. 447-472; Pro: Yitka McIntosh, Dave Wilson, Con: Shaye Destagrossa, Jennie Fischette (2) In Defence of the Death Penalty. Pro: Scott Yo, Brian Sauers. Con: Michael Skobla, Nasser S. Nasser

20. Apr 8: Smokers are Rightfully the Lepers of Modern- Day Society, pp. 244-247. Pro: Tanya Reploe, Jason Hazel. Con: William Chudy, David Nitsche.

21. Apr 10: (1) Punishment deters crime, pp. 535-575; Pro: Sharon J. Lim, Kelly Wierzbowski (2) American Society Prefers Violence to Wholesomeness. Pro: Joyce Nielsen; Con: Steven Won.

22. Apr 15: Animal research amounts to human imperialism, pp. 174-177. Pro: Brian Putman

23. Apr 17: (1) The citadel is no place for women, pp. 161-164; Pro: Steven Won. (2) Gun-Control Laws are Good for Society, pp. 80-83. Con: Tim Berlinsio.

24. Apr 22: (1) Laws that are Unjust Must be Disobeyed, pp. 633-637, 651-669. (2) Abortion is moral. Pro: Carrie Jeffreys, Con: Frank Balon.

25. Apr 24: Immigrants are Good for the American Economy, pp. 513-534. Pro: Daniel Weber, Eduardo Fontaine.

26. Apr 29: (1) Abortion is a Woman's Right: Pro: David Wilson, Robin Pierce, Con: Monica Headd, Dave Duran (2) Welfare Recipients should be fingerprinted: Pro: Joyce Nielsen

27. May 1: TBA

Course Description:
By means of debates and special guest lectures a variety of strands in the tapestry of American pluralism will be subjected to rigorous examination. Topics will include: Should women be allowed to serve in front-line combat units? Did Europeans steal America from its original inhabitants? Does affirmative action benefit minorities? Are women in the labor force treated unfairly? Does America have a different system of justice for rich and poor? Does pornography empower women? Should same-sex marriage be allowed? Is interracial adoption wrong? Should the consumption of drugs be legalized? Should gangster rap be banned? Does the fetus have rights? Do 'Hispanics' exist?

Prerequisites:
None

Required text:
Annette T. Rottenberg, Elements of Argument. A Text and Reader, Boston: St Martin's Press, 4th ed., 1994.

Grading:
There will be no exams or quizzes in this class. Students will be required instead to fulfil short written assignments, to be handed in at each of the classes numbered 1.-27. above. If no special announcement is made, the assignment will be to summarize in half a page the debate or debates in the previous class. Each such assignment will receive 5% of your total grade, up to a maximum of 100%. Students who participate in the special debates organized in the last month of the class will receive extra credit of 10%. Students who participate actively in class discussions during the course of the semester may also receive extra credit up to a maximum of 10%.

Barry Smith, Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo

http://wings.buffalo.edu/philosophy/faculty/smith

SUNY BUFALLO
QUINAN SYLLABUS
FALL 1996

AHI 390 AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE AS AMERICAN PLURALISM

Office hours:
Wed. 2:30-3 or by appointment

Scope of course:
During the past fifty years or so that Architectural history has been taught in American colleges and universities it has been treated primarily as an artistic-aesthetic phenomenon, one concerned with style rather than a social issues. And yet architecture is a profoundly social activity -- virtually everything we do involves a building of some kind, and even our parks and highways are a product of what is called "landscape architecture." In this course we will examine American architecture from the pre-contact period of Native American life to the end of the nineteenth century. Both aesthetic and social issues will be included. The course will break down into roughly five sections: Native American, Colonial, Classical, Industrial, and a local Buffalo topic. The five categories -- race, gender, ethnicity, class and religion -- featured by the guidelines of the American Pluralism portion of the Undergraduate curriculum are all vital aspects of American society and culture and will serve as generators, variously significant, of discussions of the architectures that we examine. The principal aim of the course, then, is to discover the ways that American architecture is both formed by and reflective of socio-cultural phenomena.

Readings:
This course involves a substantial amount of reading. Four books are available at the University Bookstore: Leland Roth's A Concise History of American Architecture (NY 1979) is a traditional survey of the subject which I recommend as a basic resource for names, dates, and a chronological arrangement of the various period styles. This approach is useful but will be critiqued early in the course. Also available are Dell Upton's America's Architectural Roots, an excellent source for the ethnic origins of American vernacular buildings; Gwendolyn Wright's Building the Dream, which looks at American architecture from a feminist standpoint; and Herbert Gutman's Who Built America?, a socio-cultural history of America. If your budget is tight (and whose isn't?) the books for purchase will also be available on reserve in Lockwood library.

Attendance:
You are expected to attend all classes and attendance will be taken. Absence from more than three classes is excessive and will be taken into account in the final grading process.

Examinations and Quizzes:
There will be two examinations, a mid-term on October 23 and a final during examination week at the end of the semester. There will also be unannounced quizzes on the required readings.

Papers:
Each student must write a term paper of six to ten double-spaced pages (not including illustrations). A list of suggested term paper topics and detailed instructions will be handed out separately, early in the semester. Term paper topics must be selected by OCTOBER 7 when you will submit an outline of your project. Term papers are due on Friday, December 6.

Field trip:
On Oct 5, a Saturday, we will tour five sites in Erie county with John Conlin the Executive Director of the Buffalo and Erie County Landmark Society. These will include the Long house in North Tonawanda, the Amherst Museum, a Pennsylvania-type barn in Swormsville, the Octagon house in Akron, and (time permitting) a small cluster of historic buildings in Hamburg. Mr. Conlin has been active in preserving most of these buildings and is an extraordinary guide.

Reserve Reading List for AHI 390 Fall semester 1996

Berkhofer, Robert
Binford, Henry C.
Campbell and Rice
Chief Joseph
Cromley, Elizabeth
Cummings, A.L.
Gowans, ALan
Gutman, Herbert or Bruce Levine
Hayden, Dolores
Momaday, N. Scott
Morrison, Hugh
Nabokov and Easton
Pierson, Wm I
Pierson II
Reps, John
Rickard, Norton
Rojas, Thomas
Roth, Leland
Schimmel, Julie
Sobel, Mechal
Truth, Sojourner
Upton, Dell
Warner, Sam Bass
Wilford, John
Wright, Gwendolyn
Wright, Richard