Current Courses

Spring 2018

SOCIOLOGY

Prof. Margaret M. Chin – mmchin@hunter.cuny.edu
Soc. 82800 – Migrant and Immigrant New York City
Tuesdays, 2- 4pm, Room TBA, 3 credits

Over the course of the twentieth century, New York City has witnessed two major waves of immigration: from the Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants who arrived at the turn of the twentieth century to the Chinese, Jamaican and Mexican immigrants who now constitute the majority of the city’s immigrant population. New York City has also been on the receiving end of the great migration of African Americans. Together, these successive waves of newcomers and their children have changed the socioeconomic, political and cultural landscape of the city. We will examine migration across a diverse spectrum; distinguishing between forced and voluntary migration, “classic” issues of immigration, immigrant adaptation – assimilation and incorporation/integration; social mobility- the labor market, race and ethnic relations, gender and the family, transnationalism and the second generation. Throughout the course, we will use NYC experiences to highlight how these immigration and migration streams have transformed the city in the past and the present.

 

Prof. Carla Shedd – cshedd@gc.cuny.edu
Soc. 85800 – Race, Place, and Inequality
Mondays, 4:15 – 6:15pm, Room TBA, 3 credits

Amidst increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States, there is growing concern that
racial and ethnic minorities in American cities will face even greater inequalities with respect to
access to housing, resources, educational/employment opportunities, etc. This seminar critically
examines how racial/ethnic inequality is generated and maintained in contemporary American
society.  The readings will cover major theoretical approaches and (quantitative and qualitative)
empirical investigations of racial and ethnic stratification in several urban cities, notably
Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City.  This course will also explore the merits and
limitations of various paradigms that aim to explain racial inequalities and the concomitant social
policies that have been implemented and/or proposed to address the same.

 

Prof. Mucahit Bilici – mbilici@jjay.cuny.edu
Soc. 82800 – American Islam: Islamophobia and Muslim Civility
Thursdays, 2 – 4pm, Room TBA, 3 credits

This course is an introduction to Islam in America in its contemporary moment. It revolves around the citizenship of Muslims in America in an age of intensified Islamophobia. After an overview of the history of Islam in the U.S. and overall familiarization with the diversity of American Muslim cultures, the course will focus on certain aspects of 21st-century American Islam. What are the various forms by which immigrant Muslims incorporate themselves into the mainstream culture and the later generations perform their citizenship  as Americans? Among the topics to be covered in the course are Islam and the Founding Fathers, Muslims and the American Constitution, Muslim patriotism in America, and Second Amendment Muslims.

 

Prof. Jessie Daniels– jdaniels@hunter.cuny.edu
Soc. 85700 – Global Perspectives: Race and Racism of Interior Worlds
Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8:30pm, Room TBA, 3 credits

This proposed 3-credit graduate seminar is meant to offer a space for a critical interrogation of our understanding about the ways that race and racism shape our interior worlds. In this course, we begin from two premises. First, that ‘race’ is a social construct rather than a meaningful biological category, but one that is nevertheless real in its consequences; and, second, that racism is systemic, both structural and material. The questions explored here are meant to extend and deepen that structural analysis to ask what are the emotional, affective, and psychological ways that we experience race and racism in everyday life. To do this, we will read primarily personal essays and memoirs written by people exploring their racial identity and experience.

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