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Hewlett Syllabus |
Susan Sanchez-Casal: Coming of Age in America
COLL 130F: An interdisciplinary analysis of what it means to come of age as an “American.” Particular attention paid to factors of culture, race, class, gender, disability and sexual orientation. Discussion based on the ways in which different fields – the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences – define and present youth and Americanness. (Writing-intensive.) (Proseminar.) Open to first-year students only. Group attendance at lectures, films, campus events required. Three sections writing-intensive. Maximum enrollment, 16.Required Books
Beverly Tatum, Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
Luis Rodriguez, Always Running
Lorene Cary, Black Ice
Bernard Lefkowitz, Our Guys
Mark Doty, Firebird
Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa
All of these books are available for purchase in the College Bookstore. There are also a number of texts on library e-reserve.
Course Requirements
In-Class Work
•I expect that you will attend all class sessions fully prepared and ready to participate actively. The classroom is a collaborative learning space; accordingly, active class participation is not an option, but an essential part of the learning process. Your mere physical presence does not “count” as class participation any more than six blank sheets of paper count as an essay. My definition of class participation means that you are actively engaged in the process of learning, which helps you to develop not only your speaking skills but also the vital skill of critical thinking and listening.
•Anxiety about speaking in class should not deter your participation in the collaborative learning process. In order to prevent any hesitation you may feel about voicing your ideas in class, you must bring in 1-2 written discussion questions or thoughtful comments on the reading to each class session. You should also write down any clarification questions you have. We will discuss the distinction between clarification and discussion questions during the first week of class. Questions will be shared during class and will occasionally be used in group work, so type them or write them out on a separate sheet of paper, ready to hand in.
•After the first week of class, each of you will sign up to start class discussion on a specified day by asking a provocative opening question. This task does not absolve you of the responsibility for writing down questions and comments every day. We will discuss what makes a good “opening question” in class, and you may check in with me or with Hilary King if you are unsure about your question.
•To give you an idea of what good class participation involves, I have included the following guide to participation grade levels:
A-level: Your active, thoughtful and consistent participation reveals thorough preparation and consistent attention to class discussions. Your frequent contributions to class include both your own ideas and responses to other students’ comments.
B-level: Your participation is A-level in quality but not entirely consistent OR you share your own ideas frequently but do not pay much attention to other students’ comments.
C-level: Your participation is thoughtful but infrequent OR regular but perfunctory and reveals a satisfactory level of preparation and competence.
D-level: Your participation is rare and/or reveals poor or careless preparation.
F-level: By the end of the semester, your classmates and I still have no idea what your voice sounds like.
Writing
•Since this is a writing-intensive course, you will be required to complete four graded individual essays, as well as several shorter assignments and one or two non-graded informal essays.
•Papers two and three will be peer-edited. For peer editing sessions, you must bring two copies of your completed draft to class to exchange with your classmates. You will receive instruction in class about how to peer-edit most effectively.
•Before paper #2, you must have a conference with a tutor from the Writing Center. You will make this appointment on your own. Keep in mind that you must bring a full draft of your paper to the conference, and you should schedule the conference no less than 48 hours before the paper is due. IMPORTANT: The Writing Center is typically very booked, so make sure that you make your appointment with a good degree of lead time.
•All writing assignments must be carefully proofread and free of spelling and grammatical errors and stylistic lapses. If your essay is not free of such errors, it will be returned to you for correction. Since this is a writing intensive course, we will work diligently this semester to improve your writing, and I expect that you do not come to class already knowing how to produce a flawless paper. But I do expect you to execute with extreme accuracy the level of writing that you are already capable of producing.
Weekly Responses and Self-Evaluation
•Each week that we do not have a paper due, you will be responsible for handing in a one-page typed informal reflection on the week’s readings. These reflections should respond to focus questions I have given out and/or to the questions that you and your classmates posed to the week’s reading. Weekly responses will be due at Friday meetings.
•Since this is a proseminar, each Thursday afternoon we will spend some time evaluating our individual and collective progress in the class. Most weeks, I will ask you to reflect, in writing, on the class discussion and on your performance within it. These written reflections will not be graded, but will be taken very seriously as part of your self-evaluation, so be as fair and honest as you can.
Group Project
• This is a semester-long project that constitutes a significant portion of your work in this class. You and several of your classmates will join together to think about and work toward creating social change on an issue of your choosing. During the first two weeks of class, you will explore potential issues and come up with a list of choices for your project. Completed projects are due the last week of the semester. You will receive further information about the group project in class.
Miscellanea
•I am always happy to discuss your progress in the course with you. I encourage you to stop by during my office hours; you do not need to make an appointment in advance. However, since these are open hours, be prepared to wait outside my office if I am consulting with another student. If you cannot make my open office hours and wish to schedule an appointment, email me or speak to me in class (email is an extremely effective and quick way of getting in contact with me, since I check email both in my office and at home).
You are permitted two unexcused absences this semester. IMPORTANT: be aware that absenteeism and lateness minimize your contributions to class and disrupt the continuity and coherence of the class atmosphere. If you miss three or more class sessions, you will have missed ten percent or more of your total class time. Therefore: each absence beyond two unexcused absences will lower your final course grade by one grade level (e.g., a B+ would become a B, and a B- would become a C+). If you have more than six unexcused absences you may fail the course. Excused absences will be given only in the case of verifiable medical or personal emergency. Absences due to other causes (illness of a non-emergency nature, participation in athletic contests, travel, etc.) should be kept within the two class-sessions limit. Chronic lateness will count toward absences.
•All writing assignments must be handed in on time. Late papers will be graded down one letter grade level per day late.
Course Schedule
Week One: On Femininity, Masculinity, and Coming of Age
Tuesday 9/3 Introduction
Thursday 9/5 Susannah Meadows, “Meet the Gamma Girls”
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
Curtis Sittenfeld, “Your Life as a Girl”
Junot Díaz, “Fiesta 1980”
Friday 9/6 film, Skin Deep, and discussion
Personal essay due
Week Two: Race and Racial Identity
Tuesday 9/10 Beverly Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Ch. 1-7
Thursday 9/12 Claude Steele, “Race and the Schooling of African Americans”
Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"
Ana Celia Zentella, “The ‘Chiquitafication’ of US Latinos and Their Languages”
Friday 9/13 Padilla and Hamilton admissions videos
Choices for project groups due
Weeks Three & Four: La Vida Loca: Gang Life and Coming of Age
Tuesday 9/17 Luis Rodriguez, Always Running
Thursday 9/19 Rodriguez, Always Running
Satya Mohanty, “A Realist Approach to Culture and Politics”
Friday 9/20 Video: Chicano!
Meet with project groups
Tuesday 9/24 Rodriguez, Always Running
James Diego Vigil, Ch. 1-3 from Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California
Thursday 9/26 Malcolm X, “Learning to Read”
Jean Anyon, from Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work
***7:30 PM, Events Barn: Luis Rodriguez, “Creating Community in Violent Times” (attendance required)***
Friday 9/27 Luis Rodriguez visits class
Essay #1 due
Weeks Five & Six: Education and Social Location
Tuesday 10/1 Lorene Cary, Black Ice
Thursday 10/3 Cary, Black Ice
bell hooks, "Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education"
Friday 10/4 Robert Moses visits class
Saturday 10/5 “Making Change” conference, Red Pit, 8:30 AM-5:30 PM
(strongly recommended)
Tuesday 10/8 Katie Adelstein, “Social Class at Hamilton College”
John Larew, "Why are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting Into Our Top Colleges?"
Thursday 10/10 Ronald Takaki,“Breaking Silences”
Friday 10/11 Honk if You Love Buddha (film)
Weeks Seven & Eight: Education and Intimidation
Tuesday 10/15 Bernard Lefkowitz, Our Guys
Thursday 10/17 Hilary King facilitates class (Professor Sánchez-Casal away at professional conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Lefkowitz, Our Guys
Tuesday 10/22 Fall Break
Thursday 10/24 Hilary King facilitates class (Professor Sánchez-Casal away at professional conference in St. Louis, Missouri)
Lefkowitz, Our Guys
Friday 10/25 project groups meet
Weeks Nine to Eleven: Sexuality, Sexual Violence, Sexual Pleasure
Tuesday 10/29 Lefkowitz, Our Guys
Hank Nuwer, "Greekthink"
Thursday 10/31 Emilie Morgan, “Don’t Call Me a Survivor”
Lori L. Heise, “Violence, Sexuality, and Women’s Lives”
Junot Diaz, “Drown”
Friday 11/1 Sexuality and Sexual Assault at Hamilton: A Panel Discussion
Essay #2 due (Please bring two copies for peer edit)
Tuesday 11/5 Ellen Ross and Rayna Rapp, “Sex and Society: A Research Note from Social History and Anthropology”
Mark Doty, Firebird
Submit Peer Edit Worksheet
Thursday 11/7 Doty, Firebird
Ungraded Personal Statement 2 Due
Friday 11/8 Professor Vivyan Adair visits class
Readings to be completed for this session:
Vivyan C. Adair, “Poverty and the (Broken) Promise of Higher Education”
Tonya Mitchell, “If I Survive It Will Be Despite Welfare Reform”
Tuesday 11/12 Doty, Firebird
Thursday 11/14 Steven Seidman, "Contesting the Moral Boundaries of Eros"
Rebecca Walker, “Lusting for Freedom”
Friday 11/15 Project groups meet
Weeks Twelve to Fourteen: Bodies and Body Image
Tuesday 11/19 Joan Brumberg, Fasting Girls
Thursday 11/21 Brumberg, Fasting Girls
Essay #3 due Please bring two copies for peer edit
Tuesday 11/26 Abra Fortune Chernik, “The Body Politic”
Stephen S. Hall, "The Troubled Life of Boys: The Bully in the Mirror"
Graciela Rodriguez, “Breaking the Model”
Dyann Logwood, “Food for Our Souls”
Erin J. Aubry, “The Butt: Its politics, its profanity, its power”
Thursday 11/28 Thanksgiving break
Tuesday 12/3 Simi Linton, chapters 1–3 of Claiming Disability
Thursday 12/5 Clea Simon, “Everything Falls Apart”
Lucy Grealy, “Pony Party”
Friday 12/6 Disability Action Group visits class
Project groups meet after presentation
Week Fifteen: Conclusion
Monday 12/9 Essay #4 due
Tuesday 12/10 Discussion of projects
Thursday 12/12 Discussion of projects
Friday 12/13 Last day of class celebration
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