COURSE SYLLABUS
CRD 176: “Comparative Race & Ethnicity”
Spring Quarter, 2015
Days/Times: TTR 8am 9:50am
Location: Wellman 119
Instructor: Jean-Yves Merilus
Office: 2331 Hart Hall
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday: 2:00pm-3:00pm
Course Description & Learning Objectives
This course is designed to introduce students to the social, cultural, and economic dimension of ethnicity
and race relation, both nationally and internationally. We study the main sociological frameworks and
concepts in race, ethnicity, gender, and community relation. Geographically, we focus on Latin America,
the Caribbean, the United States and Europe. The course will explore racial and ethnic relation vis a vis
issues of social inequality, economic globalization and international migration. The objective is to help
student understand how race and ethnic relations have been produced and reproduced within particular
spatial, historical, political and economic context.
Required texts
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Edwidge Danticat, 1998. The Farming of Bones. Soho Press. ISBN-10: 1616953497
Caitlin Killian. 2006, North African Women in France –Gender, Culture, and Identity. Stanford :
Stanford University Press , Paperback, ISBN : 0847-5421-7.
Andrew Geddes. 2003. The Politics of Migration and Immigration in Europe. Sage Publications.
Paperback, ISBN: 0761956697.
Guene, Faiza, 2006, Kiffe, Kiffe Tomorrow. Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN:0-15-603048-9
Also required: Selected Readings (SR) as assigned by instructor.
All books are for sale at the Campus Book Store
Assignments and Course Grading
The overall course grade is based on the number of points earned on submitted
assignments. There is no extra credit assignment. Your final grade is based on the
following:
Reaction Paper
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Attendance and Participation
5 points each
25 points
25 points
45 points
20 points
25 points
10 Point
Late Paper/Missed Exam Policy
The reaction paper will be due on Mondays at 11:59 pm on SmartSite. There will be no
extensions of due dates of any assignment unless, of course, you are ill. A doctor’s note
is required as proof of an illness on the date in question. You will receive a zero for
unverified absences and missed assignment. There will be no makeup exams unless
you are ill and you provide a doctor’s note. Also note, computer related problem is not a
valid excuse for missing an assignment, especially if you choose to wait the last minute
to submit it. Be aware of the increase traffic on smartsite during last minute submission.
This is a tentative Course Schedule. It is subject to change at instructor’s discretion)
Topic
Readings
DATE
Tuesday, March
31
Thursday, April 2
Introduction: racial ethnic relations, basic concepts
The Historical and social construction of Race and
ethnicity
Winant, 2000
Howard, 2000
Video: Race: The Power of an Illusion
United States:
Tuesday, April 7
Race and Ethnic Relation in America I: The Case of English
America
Video
Thursday, April 9
Race and Ethnic Relation in America II: The Case of Irish
and Italian American
Tuesday, April 14
Marger, 2006

Warren & Twine,
1997
 Barrett and
Roediger 2005
Race and Ethnic Relation in America III: The Case of Black Winant_2014
Americans
Thursday, April 16 Race and Ethnic Relation in America IV: The Case of Latino
American
Video
Tuesday, April 21
Latin America
Black in Latin America: Brazil, Mexico & Peru
Frazier, 2010: Race,
ethnicity and place…
Canache et al._2014
Wade, 2008
Thursday, April 23 Black in Latin America: Haiti, DR & Cuba
Wade, 2001
Tuesday, April 28
Danticat
The DR and Haiti I
Thursday, April 30 The DR and Haiti II
Torres-Saillant, 2014:
Introduction to
Dominican Blackness
Midterm Paper Assignment Distributed/Release
Tuesday, May 5
Globalization, Migration, racial and ethnic formation I
Castel, 2002
Thursday, May 7
Globalization, Migration, racial and ethnic formation II
Geddes 2013, Chapter
16.
Europe:
Tuesday, May 12
Migration and racial and ethnic formation, Europe
Geddes (chs. 1, 2, 3)
Thursday, May 14
State Responses to Migration, Europe
Geddes (6, 7, 8)
Tuesday, May 19
Ethnicity, Gender, and the French Republic I
Killian (chs. 1, 2)
Thursday, May 21
Ethnicity, Gender, and the French Republic II
Killian (chs. 3-6)
Tuesday, May 26
Globalization, Gender, Ethnicity, and Care work I
Thursday, May 28
Globalization, Gender, Ethnicity, and Care work II
International Labor
Organization, 2008
Misra et al. 2006
Discuss Final Exam
Tuesday, June 2
Thursday, June 4
Monday, June 8
Carlos Becerra Research Presentation
Instruction Ends. Bring up any questions about the class,
final.
Final Exam 5pm on Smartsite