English 1200

Ethnic Studies Focus

Professional Workshop

Tuesday, Nov 9 3:30-4:30 Bate 2021 Wednesday, Nov 10 4:00-5:00 Bate 2017 Joyce Irene Middleton Carla Pastor Gera Miles

English 1200 Ethnic Studies Focus

In this section of ENGL 1200, the class will explore what it means to be ‘ethnic’ in America, and there are many readings in the course textbook that will help students to read, write, and conduct research on ethnic studies. We will look at what place ethnicity occupies in American culture by reading Ethnic American writing, research, and films.

Diversity and Ethnic Studies

• ECU defines diversity in a broad context to include representation, integration and interaction of different races, genders, ages, ethnicities, cultures, national origins, abilities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identity, veteran statues, socioeconomic status, intellectual positions and perspectives .

The university considers diversity, the opportunities afforded by a diverse environment, and the authentic interaction among people from various backgrounds and persuasions to be essential elements in achieving excellence in academia.

A proposal to focus on ethnic studies in an ENGL 1200 course helps to promote and implement ECU’s initiatives and strategies on diversity.

Course Outcome Goals

• Formulate significant, analytical research questions about ethnic studies • Develop a strong research proposal on a variety of subjects in ethnic studies • Write rhetorical analyses of research essays and visual texts in ethnic studies • Think critically and rhetorically about ethnicity in essays, literature, and film • Question the varied relationships between images and writing in ethnic studies

Course Outcome Goals cont.

• Apply research and writing to problem-solving in ethnic studies • Convey results in research, to a variety of audiences, about your new learning in ethnic studies and writing • Familiarize writers with research on race, ethnicity, and diversity

Course Outcome Goals cont.

• Establish work plans and timelines for research and writing assignments • Locate and evaluate a variety of sources, including field-based, print, and electronic sources; this activity will also include a library instruction class • Organize source materials, write abstracts, and bibliographies • Integrate outside source materials into writing; using quotations properly • Cite sources accurately and responsibly in order to avoid plagiarism

Suggested Reading List Sherman Alexie.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Danielle Allen.

of Education

Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since

Brown v. Board Fantasia Barrio.

Life Is Not a Fairy Tale

Douglas Blackmon.

Slavery by Another Name

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva.

Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States

Susan Bordo.

to O.J.

Twilight Zones: the Hidden Life of Cultural Images from Plato

Suggested Reading List Adam Bradley.

Book of Rhymes: the Poetics of Hip Hop

Elaine Chaika.

Mirror

“Kinesics: the Silent Language” in

Language: the Social

Jack Chung.

“Chris Rock and the Burden of Laughter” in

Everything’s an Argument: with Readings

Ian Lopez,

White by Law 10 th Race Anniversary Edition: the Legal Construction of

Toni Morrison.

“Recitatif” Toni Morrison.

The Bluest Eye

Jill Nelmes, ed. "Ethnicity, Race, and Cinema —African American Film" in

Introduction to Film Studies

Suggested Reading List PBS Frontline Video:

Race: the Power of an Illusion

(parts 1, 2, and 3) Richard Rodriguez.

Brown: the Last Discovery of America

Richard Rodriguez.

Hunger of Memory

David R. Roediger, ed.

White Black on White: Black Writers on What It Means to Be

David R. Roediger.

“How Race Survived U.S. History: from Settlement and Slavery to the Obama Phenomenon.”

Suggested Reading List Tricia Rose.

The Hip Hop Wars

T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting.

Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women

Ronald Takaki.

A Different Mirror: a History of Multicultural America

Beverly Tatum.

Why Do All of the Black Kids Sit Together in the Cafeteria?

Bonnie Tsui.

American Chinatown: a People’s History of Five Neighborhoods

Tim Tyson.

Blood Done Sign My Name

Rebecca Walker.

Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self

Frank H. Wu.

Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White

Philip Q. Yang.

Ethnic Studies: Issues and Approaches

TWO APPROACHES TO ENGL 1200 THAT FOCUS ON ETHNIC STUDIES

I Carla’s Approach II Gera’s Approach

Carla’s Approach

Approach I

Project 1: Diversity and Cultural Identity Interview/Observation Study

• This project briefly introduces you to methods of field research and writing that are used in a variety of areas, including the social sciences, business, marketing, and education. It also asks you to focus careful, critical attention to ethnic diversity on ECU’s campus. You will attend at least two activities hosted by a cultural organization that you are not a member of. Once there, you will observe and document the rituals, values, and communication styles of the members of that organization.

Project 1: cont.

You may attend an activity hosted by any of the following student organizations, or you may choose a different on-campus student organization approved by me:

ECU Student Organizations

• Style of Motion (Break Dancing Group) • Black Students Union (BSU) • Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) • East Carolina Universities African Students' Organization (ECU ASO) • Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Student Union (GLBTSU) • German Club (DE Club) • Hmong Students Association (HSA) • Japan league (JL) • Phi Sigma Iota: National Foreign Language Honor Society (Phi Sigma Iota)

ECU Student Organizations cont.

• Student Association of Latino Spanish Affairs (S.A.L.S.A.) • The French Club (French Club) • The Spanish Club (Spanish Club) • ECU Swing Dance Club • Pagan Student Association ECU PSA • Greater Works Campus Ministry • ECU Campus Ministry International ECU CMI • ECU College Republicans

Project 2: Historical Context and Significance Project

Select two items from the North Carolina Collection that discuss race and racial relations in North Carolina. One item must be at least 50 years old and the other written within the last 5 years. The items can be taken from the popular media or academic field, but both must be from a similar media form.

Project 2: Historical Context and Significance Project cont.

Write an article about these items for inclusion in an educator’s guide to the library’s resources for the study of racial relations in North Carolina. In other words, you should imagine that the audience for this guide are educated professionals (teachers, school administrators or educational policy makers) who are interested in locating resources to further their students’ understanding of past and current racial relations in North Carolina.

This article should be 1200+ words, should include a visual, and should explain the items and their significance in understanding racial relations in North Carolina.

Project 3: Majority and Minority Culture in the Media Project

Investigate how the media portray majority cultures in relation to minority cultures in advertising, news industries, films, and video games. Look at stereotyping. Write an informative article for the

The Daily Reflector

informing their readers about your findings. Your letter should be approximately 1200 words.

OR….

Project 3: Majority and Minority Culture in the Media Project cont.

Write an issue-based argument that supports or opposes the portrayal of majority cultures in relation to minority culture in advertising, news industries, films, or video games. Write an article for the

The Daily Reflector

informing their readers about your findings. Your letter should be approximately 1200 words.

Project 4: Proposal Letter about Diversity on ECU’s Campus

Write a formal letter to ECU’s Chancellor with a proposal to improve diversity on campus. This proposal should integrate at least 5 secondary sources and should reflect your understanding of diversity from your research, class readings, and class discussions. Your letter should indicate that you are aware of other ECU initiatives to improve diversity on both of the campuses, but must focus on your specific plans to improve ECU’s diversity initiatives. Your letter should be approximately 1200 words.

Gera’s Approach

Approach II

• Associated Topic Paper Progression • Explain a Concept (define it) • Argument (take a position on it) • Propose a Solution • (fix it) • Goal: Student is an expert on their chosen subject by the end of the semester

A Pool of Possible Topics

• Student paper topics will be limited to concepts important to Ethnic Studies • Topics outside the suggested list must be pre-approved by the instructor

Ideas for Students focused on the American Landscape: Race & Ethnicity

RACE

Racial Aesthetics (Skin bleaching, Eyelid and Nose surgery) Racial imagery in

American Comics/Cartoons/Race-building Propaganda

Images of Enmity in War Propaganda Race-based medicine Racial “types” in American Movies and their presentation

ETHNICITY

Ethnic cleansing 5 th column Ethnogenesis Hispanic paradox (Hispanic Epidemiological Paradox and Latino Epidemiological Paradox) Physiognomy

Ideas for Students focused on the American Landscape

CULTURE

Jim Crow Passing Whiteness Gang culture Profiling Primitivism of the Native Americanization/Assimilation Colonial Mentality

RELIGION

Creationism Evolutionism Judaism (Race, Religion, or Ethnicity?) Anglo-Saxon Protestantism

Rhetoric and Ethnic Studies Research Progressive Increase in Writing and Research Difficulty from the Concept Paper to the Solution Paper Reading Assignments Mirror the Rhetorical Style of the Paper Being Written by the Student

• Example of Paper Topic Progression CONCEPT DEFINE/ANALYZE/PROCESS: Skin Bleaching (Could be Scientific, Social, or Cultural) • ARGUMENT POSITION: Dying to be White: The Harmful Effects of Skin Bleaching in Jamaican Society SPECULATIVE: Light is Beautiful: Reasons for the Aesthetic Privileging of Light Skin in East Asian Culture • SOLUTION PROPOSE A SOLUTION: Skin Bleaching Awareness: Raising Self Esteem Among Victims of a “Colonial Mentality” Alternatives to Skin Bleaching (Natural Skin Whitening)

Textbook American Voices: Culture and Community, 6 th Edition (And, most likely, the last edition) Suggested Readings for Concept Paper Jorge R. Mancillas,

Bilingualism: Assimilation is More than ABCs

Anna Quindlen,

The Mosaic Vs the Myth

Miriam Schulman,

Affirmative Action or Negative Action

Suggested Readings for Argument Paper Fox Butterfield,

Why They Excel

Linda M. Hasselstrom,

A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun

Cynthias Tucker,

Double Standard on Drug Sentences

Suggested Readings for Solution Paper Katherine S. Newman,

Dead-End Jobs: A Way Out

Patrick O’Malley,

More Testing, More Learning

Nicholas G. Jenkins and Amit Rind,

National ID Cards Would Be the Dragnet We Need

Ethnic Studies Film Series

The main goals of the film series are to:

• Encourage linguistic and cultural exchange at ECU • Present different views on current world events • Promote global diversity on campus, ethnic studies, and intergroup dialogues • Support the international community at ECU • Enjoy seeing films from around the world • Think about representations of ethnicity in popular films

Admission is FREE!

All students, faculty, staff, and friends are welcome.

EXTRA CREDIT MAY BE OFFERED for STUDENTS in ETHN studies classes who come to each of these film screenings and then write about their responses to the film focusing on themes of ethnicity.