Transformed Courses Within the Disciplines

Humanities

PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION
Linked With Academic Writing 101

Dr. Kathryn Russell
Dept. of Philosophy-SUNY Cortland
Fall 1995

BOOKS:

Anderson, Margaret L. and Collins, Patricia Hill. Race, Class and Gender: An Anthology, 2nd Ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1992.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will examine oppression due to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and class. Strategies of social change will be evaluated as ways to enhance freedom, justice, and equality. We will be particularly interested in how power is distributed by social group and how institutionalized patterns of behavior allow racism and sexism to persist.

The class will emphasize critical thinking about ethical and political problems that confront us in everyday life. It will challenge you to develop your own stand on selected issues but to sympathetically understand alternative points of view. You will be encouraged to work collaboratively with other students in responding to class material.

VAL 140 satisfies requirements for Category 2 in the General Education program. The 1995-1996 Catalog (page 75) describes GE2 as follows:

The goal of this category is to educate students about the nature of prejudice and discrimination and their impact on the people of this country and throughout the world.

Assumptions

1. A liberal education should enable students to examine critically the ways they think about themselves as well as other people.
2. Recognizing prejudice and discrimination is necessary as a first step in eliminating them.

Objectives

1. To examine issues such as power and bias as they relate to prejudice and discrimination, and how these issues have determined attitudes, institutions, dominance and subordinance.
2. To analyze how various beliefs can lead to conflicting conclusions about a society and its norms, values, and institutions.
3. To study the individual and institutional nature, as well as the extent of prejudice and discrimination, either in the American context with attention given to the global dimension, or in the global context with attention given to the American dimension.
4. To examine prejudice and discrimination in relation to unequal distribution of power.
5. To examine various aspects of prejudice and discrimination such as moral, historical, educational, health, economic, linguistic, political, psychological, and social dimensions. Other intellectual perspectives may be included. No course need embrace all disciplinary perspectives.
6. To examine the factors upon which prejudice and discrimination may be based, e.g.: race and/or gender as well as class, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, or disability.

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Class Meetings

1. Introduction to the Course
2. Empathetic Understanding and Prejudice
   Preface, pp. xi-xix, I. Introduction pp. 1-9, Articles 1-Madrid, 6-Takaki, 50-Anderson.
3. Discrimination and Racism
   II. Introduction pp.56-70, 7-Yamato, 8-MacIntosh, Govier's article on reflective analysis in the library.
4. 12-Dyson, 33-Taylor, 37-Marable.
5. 10-Thornton, 32-Gates, 39-Chan.
6. Catch up and prepare for an in-class essay.
7. Campus Rape and Violence Against Women
   98-Hall, 52-Martin and Hummer, 49-Kokopeli and Lakey.
8. Gender and Sexism
   17-Blood, Tuttle and Lakey, 42-Faludi, 45-Wolf.
9. 9. Interconnections Among Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Class
   3-Jordan, 9-Beck, 16-Cole.
10. 20-Lai, 23-Woo, 41-Steinem.
11. Oppression, Double Binds and Double Standards
    5-Frye, 28-Dujon, Gradford and Stevens.
12. 36-Funiciello, 46-Espin. MGS Center reports due.
13. Final draft of Argumentative synthesis essay due. Read articles on reserve in the library.
14. Media Influence on Norms, Values and Behavior
    6-Gunn-Ellen, 38-Churchill, 40-Lusane.
15. Lesbian and Gay Rights
    2-Moraga, 44-Smith, Xeroxed readings and Pharr on reserve in the library.
16. 27-Lorde, 43-Hammonds, 47-Jordan.
17. Activism and Social Change
    57-Lorde, 58-Reagon.
18. Group Presentations, Synthesis essay due.
19. Affirmative Action

Xeroxed readings and Ezorsky on reserve in the library.

20. Classism and Political Economy
    21-Eitzen and Zinn, 22-Amott, 24-Moore and Pinderhughes.

21. Equality and Educational Reform
    29-Michelson and Smith, 31-Williams.
22. 26-Sanchez-Ayendez, 53-Kautzer, 56-Praeger.
23. 11-Langston, 13-Ehrenreich, 54-Gray.

21. 14-Sklar, 15-Higgenbotham and Weber. Argumentative research essay due.

22. Intersections Among Class, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender
    25-Dill.
23. Activism in the Face of Complex Racial/Ethnic Identities
    51-Cho, 60-West.
24. Native American Women's Activism
    35-Brown, 59-Green.
25. Summary and Course Evaluation.