2017
Fall 2017
SOCIOLOGY
Prof. Richard Alba – ralba@gc.cuny.edu
Soc. 81900 – Quantitative reasoning in the Study
of Ethnicity, Race, & Migration
Wednesdays, 2 – 4pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
This course will focus on the practices and logics of contemporary quantitative analysis in the study of immigration and ethnicity/race. We will study some of the major quantitative techniques (e.g., logistic regression, event-history analysis) and examine their applications in recent published research. Exercises in applying the techniques also will be a regular feature of the course. One emphasis will be on a critical examination of the logics behind contemporary quantitative practices and the substantive inferences to which they lead. The goal of the course will be a sophisticated understanding of quantitative analysis, useful whether one is a consumer of quantitative research or producer of it.
Prof. Phil Kasinitz – pkasinitz@gc.cuny.edu
Soc. 85800 – Race and Ethnicity
Thursdays, 11:45 – 1:45pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
Race and ethnicity are constantly changing and evolving, yet they remain among the most persistent forms of structured social inequality. Focusing on the United States, but with reference to other multi-ethnic societies, we will examine the evolution of the concept of “race” and its relationship to racism; the heritage of slavery and segregation and their impacts contemporary life; the origins of modern racism and anti-Semitism, “scientific racism,” why and how the salience of ethnic identity increases and decreases at particular historical moments, the relationship of race and ethnicity to migration, nationalism, colonialism and class, the growth of the Latino and Asian American populations and what that means for American notions of race, etc. In addition we will take an in depth look at how racial boundaries change, competition and cooperation between ethnic groups in contemporary America and how “racialized” minorities are (or are not) incorporated into different societies. Readings will include works by W.E.B. Dubois; Jean Paul Sartre, George Fredrickson; William Julius Wilson, David Roediger, John Iceland, Richard Alba, Tariq Madood, Alejandro Portes, Stephen Steinberg and Mary Waters.
Prof. William Helmreich – helmreichw@gmail.com
Soc. 823010 – The Sociology of New York City
Thursdays, 4:15 – 6:15pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
This course is about the sociology of the Big Apple—all five boroughs. The purpose is to understand the pulse and rhythm of this great city On the trips we will tour the city and walk its streets focusing on the unknown, as in my book, (Princeton U. Press) Meals and transportation are included. Issues focused on include community, immigration, gentrification, spaces, social life, and ethnicity. Selected readings and a paper are the requirements.
Prof. Pyong Gap Min – PyongGap.Min@qc.cuny.edu
Soc. 82800– Asian Americans
Thursday, 6:30– 8:30 pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
- This course has two main objectives. First, it intends to help students conduct research on Asian Americans effectively by providing information about Asian American experiences and research methods. Second, it will help students to prepare to teach social science courses on Asian American experiences.
- To achieve the intended objectives, it will provide an overview of Asian-American experiences by covering Asian Americans both as a whole with regard to particular topics and major Asian ethnic groups separately.
- Major Asian American groups to be covered separately are Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, South Asian, Korean, and Indo-Chinese (Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians).
- General topics to be covered are immigration (history and contemporary trends), settlement patterns, socio-economic adjustment, prejudice and discrimination experienced, family and gender issues, community organization, ethnicity (ethnic attachment, ethnic identity, and ethnic solidarity), religious background, and intergenerational transition.
- Specific topics and theories to be covered include the following: the model minority thesis, ethnic and pan-Asian ethnic identities, Asian Americans’ marital patterns, multiracial Asian Americans, Asian Americans’ positioning in U.S. race relations, the effects of globalization on Asian immigration patterns, Asian Americans’ transnational ties, Asian Americans’ political development.
- The instructor will devote a significant amount of time in every class to teaching relevant research methods for Asian American experiences.
- Students will look at fresh data on Asian American experiences derived from the 2000 and 2010 Censuses and recent American Community Surveys and recent research findings.
- Students will discuss major issues related to Asian American experiences and review a comprehensive literature on Asian American experiences. These components of the course will help doctoral students to decide dissertation topics related to Asian American experiences.
MALS 77400 – International Migration CRN# 36314
“Undocumented, Illegal, Citizen: The Politics and Psychology of Belonging in the United States”
Thursdays, 4:15-6:15pm, Rm. 3309, 3 credits, Profs. Colette Daiute and David Caicedo (CDaiute@gc.cuny.edu)
Cross-listed with IDS 81620 , PSYC 80103, U ED 75100
This course will focus on the recent history of citizenship challenges, as related to contemporary migration and higher education. The current movements of people fleeing violence and injustice worldwide have been met with some innovative policies, yet also with fences, detentions, travel bans, and other means. After reviewing such migration patterns and reactions, we focus, in particular, on the politics and psychology of what it means to belong in the U.S. today, officially and unofficially. Interestingly, much of this process has been mediated in public higher education, especially the community college. Course topics include history of 21st century migration, the Dream Act, DACA, DAPA, state policies, social movements, human rights treaties, and critical education programs as mechanisms of change. We also consider diverse perspectives on the issues, such as by generations of refugees, unaccompanied children, sanctuary movements, and relevant contexts, primarily higher education but also agricultural and domestic employment, child/family detention centers, and public media. As an offering in the “Futures Initiative,” the course design will be adaptable to students’ interests. Pending student goals, for example, we will focus on projects such as a) considering different ways of thinking about contemporary migration and citizenship; b) examining databases of narratives, survey responses, and conversations by students and faculty reflecting on the role of the community college for belonging in America; c) developing methods for examining discriminatory language and action; d) curating debates in blogs about migration and human rights; e) interacting with initiatives like “CUNY Citizenship Now!” and Dreamer clubs; f) developing a tool kit of analytic methods sensitive to social science and humanities inquiries. The course involves reading scholarly articles, policy documents, reporting on relevant innovations, writing reflection papers, and designing practice-based research projects.
Soc. 84600 – Labor and Inequality: Gender, Race, Class, Immigration and the New Precarity
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
This course will explore the causes and consequences of growing precarity and polarization in the U.S. labor market, and the accompanying growth of class inequality. We will consider parallels to earlier historical periods as well as the implications for the labor movement. The impact of recent labor market transformations on groups that were historically marginalized — especially women, African Americans, and immigrants — and the widening class inequalities within each of those groups will also be examined.This is a reading course with a seminar format. Students will be expected to carefully read the assigned texts and write brief weekly papers about them, as well as actively participating in class discussions. In addition, each student will be required to write a research paper on a topic related to the course content and approved in advance by the instructor.
Soc. 85800 – Muslim Integration in Europe and North America
Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
This new course explores some of the key integration dilemmas faced by rapidly growing Muslim populations in the West. It will draw upon case studies of Muslim minority groups in major settler societies in Western Europe and North America (i.e., Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States and Canada). The emphasis throughout the course is on empirical and theoretical works and controversial policy debates concerning the integration of Muslims across the two continents. Muslims in Europe are very well-researched, due to their numerical and substantive significance, but Muslims in America are one of the least studied of all minority groups, despite their disproportionate media coverage. Moreover, the Muslim-American experience is conspicuously absent from courses on immigration, ethnic and racial studies, and even religious studies in the social sciences and the humanities.Specifically, this course will take into account the way in which global immigrant cities such as New York, Toronto, Paris, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam have an effect on the immigrant Muslim experience, and in turn, are transformed by these immigrants and their descendants. Furthermore, the course will comparatively address patterns of accommodation, or lack thereof, of secular and democratic national contexts vis-a-vis Muslim minorities. These can range from outright exclusion to Islamophobia, to reactive solidarity and ethnic/religious mobilization, and ultimately integration. Other pressing issues of the post-9/11 era include youth radicalization (or so-called “homegrown terrorism”), the European refugee crisis, and subsequent right-wing anti-Muslim parties and policies. These will be addressed in this course as well.The following topics will be covered, as related to Muslim integration:
· Theories of assimilation, integration, and incorporation
· Contrasting demographic and socioeconomic characteristics
· Comparing national and local contexts of reception
· Ethnic and religious group boundaries
· The new second generation
· Radicalization and terrorism
· European refugee crisis
· Ethnic and religious mobilization
· Immigration and integration policies
Soc. 75600 – Race & Multiculturalism in a Global Context
Mondays, 2-40pm, Room TBA, 3 credits
Studying race and multiculturalism in a global perspective is an increasingly important phenomenon. The global economy, growing rates of immigration, and rapidly advancing information and media technologies have brought diverse groups in closer contact in more areas of the globe, even those previously regarded as racially and ethnically homogenous. This course will cover a myriad of issues under the rubric of race and multiculturalism, encompassing a large multidisciplinary body of research and beginning with a review of the very concepts of race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism. Throughout the course, we will explore what interracial intimacies, multicultural policies, multiracial families, and cross-racial coalitions show us about contemporary race relations, and the intersections of race, gender, religion, and class. Subjects covered include interracial/mixed marriage, transracial adoption, race/multiculturalism in law and politics, multicultural education, and multiracialism in the media and popular culture. We will focus on these issues in contemporary America, as well as globally covering varied countries and regions. A variety of theoretical frameworks including critical race theory, cultural studies, and post-colonial writings, as well qualitative and quantitative methodologies for studying these issues will be addressed to engage in comparative intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.
