Syllabus for SOSC 102 - Fall 2003

Temporal Concepts - California Ethnic History

 

Instructor: Gwen Sheldon, EdD (gsheldon@csuchico.edu)                        Class Meets T Th 11-12:15

Office Hours: MW: 1:30 – 3:30 PM, W: 11-11:30AM, T: 2:30-3                Office: Butte 707F         

                              Or by appointment                                                   Office Phone: 898-5204

 

SOSC 102 is an approved General Ed. Course both for Area D3 and for Ethnic Cultural Diversity.  The course content addresses the broad goals of the CSUC Gen. Ed. Program, as well as the specified goals of Area D3 & Ethnic, through a well-defined and rigorous program of reading, writing, lecture, class discussion, and research.  

Course Goals & Objectives:

1.   To broaden knowledge about the contributions and perspectives provided by cultural, racial, class, ethnic, religious and gender diversity over the course of California history.

2.   To introduce students to the use of historical and social scientific perspectives and methods of analysis, as applied to the study of California ethnic history.     

3.   To provide an understanding of how the patterns of cultural and social development in California, over time and within ethnic groups, have influenced both cultural and social institutions and the lives of individuals.

4.   To improve reasoning and communications skills, especially regarding interethnic relations.

 

Text: California: An Interpretive History, by Rawls and Bean
            Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California, CA Dept. Parks & Recreation
                        (Copies of this book are on 2 Hour Reserve in the Library under SHELDON G  as it is out of print)

 

Assignments & Grading         526 points

Writing Requirement (1500 words required by General Ed.): Personal Family History paper, Census report, Reflective papers, & Essay Questions

Expectations: Students are expected to keep up on reading, think and write critically, and actively take part in discussion.

 

12 weekly quizzes on readings (answered as discussion group) + a double-point group evaluation, 20 points @ = 280 points

3 Reflective papers discussing your reactions to readings, web sites & class discussions  10@ =30 points

Home Town Census Report done with a partner, comparing ethnic makeup of your hometowns. 50 points.

Personal Ethnic History Paper tracing your family history and applying historical and ethnic concepts studied. 100 points.

            Rough draft due one week prior to final due date - 15 points deducted if not brought to class for peer review.

Cultural Presentation on one of your ethnic identities, as discussed in your Personal Ethnic History Paper. 10 points
In-class writing, attendance & participation - approximately 36 points.

Cultural Event attendance – attend 2 events 7 points each = 20  points

 

Weekly quizzes - Given at the beginning of class approximately once a week,  20 points each
Purpose: To encourage students to keep up on the reading and for small group discussion of historical events.
Given approximately 10-15 concepts to study on the class prior.
Taken in groups of 5-6 people - same group throughout course.
Multiple choice + essay questions (include Cause & Effect, Context, Diversity of Viewpoint)
Group must discuss and write answers to only 1 question at a time.
Everyone agree who gets credit to sign off. (ie. If someone didn't contribute, may be excluded from credit.)
Evaluate everyone in the group at end of class for final 20 points.

 

Reflective papers -3 entries, due as scheduled, returned to students the following class meeting.
Reflect on and/or react to readings, internet sites, news or other ethnic related incidents.  Apply the basic ethnicity concepts discussed the first (and other) days to your own life experiences.  This is not a summary of something you read or we discussed, but rather your reaction to it (thoughts or feelings or related experiences) and application of course concepts of ethnicity.  Minimum ½ page, maximum 1 page typed double-spaced

 

Home Town Census Report - Due Thursday, October 30 (returned within 2 class meetings). Done with a partner or 2 from a different home town. Compare census data for your hometowns and for LA City and Beverly Hills. Sections on your home town will be graded individually (20 points), but analysis of and comparisons with LA and Beverly Hills will be by group (10 points).  Identify which towns/sections of the paper were done by each person.

 

Combine and compare the ethnicity data from the 4 communities by showing “percents” in columns. (Convert figures to percentages by dividing the figures for each group by the Total Population.)  (In Excel you can create pie charts showing the percent of each group.)  Make speculations about the data, how and why the mixes differ, in a 3-4 page report. (One page on each hometown and a page discussing the differences with Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.  Use historical information about the town, events and experiences you recall from living there. Discuss ethnic relations and divisions.  You might also look up other census information, such as income, education, etc., about the towns to help in the discussion

 

Personal Ethnic History Paper: Due on the last day of class, you will be asked to write a history of your own family and how they ended up in California and/or the USA. The paper should be approximately 4 pages long. Use the following guidelines and answer if possible:

  • Interview family members for their stories and recollections, artifacts, and any written histories (such as diaries, family Bibles, family trees, etc.)  
  • Identify when and what countries your family immigrated from.

§      Consult at least 2 sources that discuss the ethnic/racial group your family identifies with & explain.  Use footnotes or endnotes to document sources where information was taken from. Include a bibliography at the end of the paper.   

§      Push – Explain what events or situations influenced your family to emigrate?  Economics, politics, family feuds, divorce, are examples.

§      Pull – What factors influenced your family’s choice of destination?

§      Context – What was the time period when your family immigrated to the USA. (If your family did not immigrate here, then explain how you got here.)  What was the tenor of the time (politics, economics, social movements, etc)?  What influential historic events occurred at that time?

§      Help –Who/what helped them migrate (consider technology, immigration laws, relatives, emotional support)

§      Obstacles – what obstacles did your family have to confront/overcome (stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, fear of change, assimilation, acculturation, ethnic stratification, etc.)

§      Culture – What cultural heritage does your family (or is typical of your ethnic group) demonstrate (religion, language, occupations, food, traditions, holidays, etc.)? Tell how you felt about cultural factors growing up and currently.

§      Rough draft due Thursday Nov. 20th - 15 points deducted if not brought to class for peer review. Final paper due December 4. Paper should be 3-5 double spaced pages.

§      During the last 3 days of class students will do a 5 minute cultural presentation sharing cultural information about their ethnic identity. This can include traditions, foods, dress, literature, etc., what you wish to share.

Important Notes:

Ø      Attendance in class is important every day.  Absence will result in loss of participation/discussion points.

Ø      Videos and video clips are shown, not for entertainment (although enjoyment is permitted), but for learning enhancement. Videos are used because they can communicate the impact of concepts and events on individual lives more realistically than lecture and discussion alone. Videos can often convey the flavor and viewpoint of a culture as it combines cultural features such as dress, food, speech, traditions, etc. with information. You are not free to leave during videos, even if you have seen the video previously, as you are asked to view the videos during class considering specific ethnic concepts you might not have considered when viewing them previously.  Discussion will follow each video.

Ø      Students will be asked to fill out an assessment of the course concerning assignments and learning outcomes at the end of the class.

Ø                              If you have a documented disability that may require reasonable accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services (DSS) for coordination of your academic accommodations.  DSS is located in Building E.  Building E is adjacent to Meriam Library and Bell Memorial Union (BMU).  The DSS phone number is 898-5959 Y/TTY or Fax 898-4411.  Visit the DSS website at http://www.csuchico.edu/dss/

Tentative Class Schedule – dates may be adjusted for quizes

Day

June

Reading for quiz

Topic(s)

Due

T

Aug 26

 

Introduction 

 

Th

Aug 28

CA: 1

Ethnicity & Race Concepts, CA Geography

 

T

Sept 2

CA: 2, 5V: p4-8

Native Americans   Quiz 1

 

Th

4

CA: 3

Spanish Explorers

 

T

9

CA:4   

Spanish Missions   Quiz 2

 

Th

11

CA: 5

Mexican Period

 

T

16

CA: 6,7

American Westward Expansion  Quiz 3

 

Th

18

 

 

American Westward Expansion

 

T

23

CA: 8,9

Gold Rush    Quiz 4

Reflective paper 1

Th

25

 

 

Gold Rush

 

T

30

CA: 10,11

 

Early Statehood - Impact on Native Population 

 

Th

Oct 2

CA: 11

5V: p8-19, 59-65

Early Statehood - Impact on Native Population    Quiz 5

 

T

7

CA: 13, 14

Immigration Policies Using Census Information

 

Th

9

CA: 15, 16

5V: p105-121

The Chinese experience

Quiz 6

 

T

14

 

The Railroad

 

Th

16

CA: 19, 23 p.269-272

Emergence of Southern CA & Mexican American experience  Quiz 7

 

T

21

CA: 29, p.410-415;

5V: p207-218

Mexican American experience

 

 

Th

23

CA 25, 26

Depression & Okie Immigration  Quiz 8

 

T

28

 

The Grapes of Wrath

 

Th

30

CA: p276-280, 27, p402-406,

5V: p161-179

WWII & Japanese Internment   Quiz 9

Census Report

T

Nov 4

 

Japanese Internment

 

Th

6

CA: : 399-402, 410-415.

5V: p19-28, 65-74, 216-223

50's & 60's   Chicano Movement

Quiz 10

Reflective paper 2

T

11

 

Chicano & Indian Movements

 

Th

13

CA: 31, p406-410

 

African American Struggles  Quiz 11

 

T

18

 

Berkeley & the Free Speech Movement

 

Th

20

 

 

Paper Draft

 

24-28

Thanksgiving Break

Turkey & Family Time

 

T

Dec. 2

CA: 35, 36

70's-90's Recent Asian Immigrants 

Quiz 12

 

Th

4

 

California today

Paper

T

9

 

Cultural presentations

 

Th

11

 

Cultural presentations

 

Th

18

10 AM

FINAL

Reflective paper 3

 

 

CA = California, An Interpretive History

 

 

 

 

5V = Five Views An Ethnic Historic Site

Survey for California

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compare census data for these 2 town zip codes plus 90210 and 90002 or 90003.

Go to the internet website http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer . Enter the Zip Code, click Search.
Click on STF3B. Click in the checkboxes for P1, P8, P9 & P10; then click SUBMIT at the top.
Click HTML format and SUBMIT.  This brings up the tables. Repeat for each zip code.
 

 Research Paper - On a specific event in California history applying historical and ethnic concepts studied. If the event was discussed in class, this must be much more in-depth covering additional material.  Cannot be simply a summary of what was covered in class.  Discuss the 1) context of the event, 2) cause and effect and 3) diversity of the way the event might be seen by various groups of people. Must cite at least 4 references (at least 2 books or journals) besides the textbooks.  Approximately 4 pages.  A draft of the paper must be brought to class on Tuesday, June 18 for peer review.  Papers not brought for review will have 20 points deducted from the grade.  Students will give input to each other on papers during class. References must be cited in the paper.

Home Town Census Report - Due Thursday, June 14 (returned within 2 class meetings). Done with a partner or 2 from a different home town. Compare census data for your hometowns and for given cities.

Go to www.census.gov .  Click on American FactFinder. 

Select Show Me Population, Race and Hispanic or Latino (2000) for A Place. Select California .

On the next screen for Select A Place select Los Angeles City and click on GO.  Print or download the data that includes Hispanic or Latino (lower section). Click on Download, with Comma delimited (spreadsheet format) & save on your disk naming file by city. Repeat for Beverly Hills as the Place. Repeat for your and your partner(s)' home towns as Place. Open the files in Excel. (Perhaps combine into one file.) Combine and compare the ethnicity data from the 4 communities by showing percents in columns. (In Excel you can create tables and pie charts)  Make speculations about the data, how and why the mixes differ, in a 2-3 page report.  You might use historical information about the town, discuss divisions, events and experiences you recall from your experience.  Note that Hispanic data is separate from the racial data because Hispanics can be different races or racial mixes.

 

Web Page:

http://www.csuchico.edu/~gsheldon/syllabi/sosc102/SYL_sosc102.html  

 

Go to www.census.gov .  Click on American FactFinder. 

 

For percents with Hispanic and other groups combined go to Population, Race, Hispanic or Latino & Age. In the FOR drop box select  City or Town. Then select California for the state.  In the Select a place box select the name of the town and click on GO.  Be sure to take the data for Total Populatoin (not just Over 18)

 

For a breakdown within categories (Native American, Asian, etc) go to:

Select Show Me Race and Hispanic or Latino (scroll down to find).  In the FOR drop box select  City or Town. Then select California for the state.  In the Select a place box select the name of the town and GO.

 

Go to www.census.gov .  Click on American FactFinder. 

Select Show Me Population, Race and Hispanic or Latino (scroll down to find).  In the FOR drop box select  State-City & Town. Then select California for the state. When the table comes up select the top 3 rows that have the column headings, copy and paste into an Excel document.

Geographic area

Total population

 

Hispanic or Latino(of any race)

Race