Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
that examines the relationship between racism, antiracism, and the discourses and practices
germane to the politics of human rights; and 3) refine their capacities for critical thinking, social
analysis, and effective communication in both writing and public oral presentation.
MAIN TEXTS
The courses presentations, discussions, and writing assignments are organized around three
award-winning books and a plethora of article- and chapter-length readings, including essays
posted on blogs and online periodicals. The three required books are: 1) historian Carol
Andersons Eyes off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for
Human Rights (2003, Cambridge U Press, 978-0521531580); 2) civil rights lawyer and critical
legal scholar Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Jim
Crow (2012, The New Press, 978-1595586438); and 3) activist anthropologist Keisha-Khan Y.
Perrys Black Women against the Land Grab: The Fight for Racial Justice in Brazil (2013,
University of Minnesota Press, 978-0816683246).
The essays assigned (uploaded on our Illinois Compass 2g site) will expose students to a broad
spectrum of authors, activists and scholars whose vernacular and academic voices are in
dialogue. The occasional assignment of YouTube and vimeo videos will also expand our sense
of the depth and breadth of the social and political thought that has been and is being expressed
in multiple media and communicative formats.
REQUIREMENTS
In this class student participation will be at a premium. Regular attendance, therefore, is
necessary to fulfill the requirements and learning objectives of the course. A record of attendance
and unexcused absences will be maintained. More than three absences without documentation of
extenuating circumstances (e.g., illness, family death, excused absence owing to universityrelated commitments), will result in penalties being applied. Such penalties will adversely affect
students grade for participation. Irregular attendance will also diminish students ability to keep
up with and comprehend the course material, as reflected in readings as well as in lectures and
class discussions.
Intensive reading and writing are integral to the workings of this course. To facilitate our
discussion of the reading assignments, students are asked to have read the assigned material by
the class for which those readings are assigned. When readings are listed for an entire week,
assume that they can be divided between the Tuesday and Thursday classes. In some cases,
when a long list is assigned, instructions will be given on which particular articles are earmarked
for class discussions. There will be opportunities for individual and small groups of individuals
to work cooperatively to prepare presentations and lead class discussions. When no such
assignments are made, students are expected to formulate a question or a small set of 2-3
questions they would like to have the professor and the class to address in its discussion. These
questions should be emailed to the professor by 7 pm the night before class (Monday and
Wednesday).
Writing is important, and students are expected to devote considerable time in drafting their
essays, term paper, and take-home exams. Nothing should be submitted unless it has been
worked through two or three phases of drafting. No rough drafts! The foci for the short essays
2
3-4 pp) are to be determined by the students themselves based on their reactions to the assigned
readings and to issues that arise in class discussions. So long as these papers are effectively
written (adhering to criteria 2-4 listed below), students are encouraged to exercise their academic
freedom in terms of style and genre of expression. This will be discussed further in class.
By the end of the semester, the term paper (whose format will be clarified in class) is expected to
be the students best work. Term papers should be at least 10 pages in length. They will be
evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: 1) the application and articulation of an
interdisciplinary perspective, 2) the clarity of exposition or argumentation, 3) the overall quality
of evidence used to support the argument, 4) the adequacy of writing and organization (i.e., word
usage, grammar and spelling, logical flow), and 5) the relative quantity and quality of citations.
Students are urged to begin the process of deciding on an appropriate topic for these papers early
in the course, so that these topics can be approved by mid-October and the research can begin as
early as possible in the semester.
Outline of Requirements
Attendance and participation
Written assignments
3 Short essays (5 pp & 5 points each)
Proposal for term paper (3-5 pp)
Term paper/long essay (at least 10 pp)
Examinations
Mid-term and final essay exams (take-home)
Grading
Categories of Performance
Participation
Short essays (3)
Mid-term exam
Final exam
Proposal
Term paper
Points
25
15
15
15
5
25
Due Dates
All the time!
09/22, 10/15, 11/10
10/20
12/16
10/01
12/08
Extensions on deadlines Students will be allowed extensions on writing assignments and exams
ONLY if there are extenuating circumstances that can be documented.
Academic integrity and honesty An implied honor code is observed in all academic work at the
University. Every student has the responsibility to refrain from breaches of academic integrity
such as cheating and plagiarism. Further information on the Student Code for academic integrity
rules and procedures can be found at:
http://www.provost.illinois.edu/academicintegrity/students.html.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/lost-in-rawlsland/
Wk 2 09.01-03
Tues
The Struggle for Civil Rights, Human Rights, & Peoples Power
(as participatory democracy)
Through the prism of Julian Bonds activism:
Remembering Julian Bond
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-hickey/julian-bond-race-manpoet_b_7996214.html
Democracy NOW!
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/17/julian_bond_1940_2015_reme
mbering_civil
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Postscript: Julian Bond (1940-2015)
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/postscript-julian-bond-19402015-2
March 1960, An appeal for human rights (co-drafted by J. Bond)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Appeal_for_Human_Rights
Recommended:
Through a prism left of SNCC & NAACP, the Black Panther Party:
http://fusion.net/story/188909/the-black-panthers-were-fighting-forexactly-the-same-rights-as-black-lives-matter-protesters-newdocumentary-proves/
Thurs
Wk 3 09.08-10
Tues
Black Life and Death through the prism of anthropological engagementFaye V. Harrison, Who has the right to self-defense and life?
http://blog.aaanet.org/2013/07/24/who-has-the-right-to-self-defense-andlife-in-so-called-post-racial-society/
Faye V. Harrison, Reflections on the AAA die-in
http://savageminds.org/2014/12/12/reflections-on-the-aaa-die-in-as-asymbolic-space-of-social-death/#more-15727
Executive Committee, International Union of Anthropological &
Ethnological Sciences (IUAES)
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2014/11/25/opinion/002a2cor
http://www.iuaes.org/statement/ayotzinapa.html
R. Ada Hernndez and Shannon Speed, Ferguson to Ayotzinapa: racism
and criminalization of social protest
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2014/12/17/opinion/022a1pol
Thurs
Wk 4 09.15-17
Wk 5 09.22-24
Tues
Discussion
Thurs
Wk 6 09.29-10.01
Wk 7 10.06-08
Wk 8 10.13-15
Wk 9 10.20-22
Wk 11 11.03-05
Tues
Thurs
Wk 12 11.10-12
Wk 13 11.17-19
Wk 14 11.24-26
Thanksgiving Vacation
Wk 15 12.01-03
Final day of class, review, final exam distributed, term paper due
Wk 17 12.16
Likely final date and time: Weds, 8-11 am; finals due by 11 sm. Check for
finalized date at:
http://registrar.illinois.edu/fall2015schedulingguidelinespublic