ClassInfo - Fall 2019 Political Science Classes

Fall 2019 | POL 3739 Section 001: Politics of Race, Class, and Ethnicity (17031)

Instructor(s): August Nimtz
Class Component:: Lecture
Credits:: 3 Credits
Grading Basis:: Student Option
Instructor Consent:: No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:: In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:: Regular Academic Session

09/03/2019 - 12/11/2019

Tue 06:20PM - 08:50PM

UMTC, West Bank

Carlson School of Management L-114
Enrollment Status:: Closed (30 of 30 seats filled)

Course Catalog Description:: Is it true that since the election of Donald Trump the United States is more racist than ever? Is racism on the rise elsewhere in the world? Consistent with the goals of liberal education, this course helps students navigate their way through what is often seen as one of the most perplexing and intractable problems in today's world - racial and ethnic conflicts. It supplies a set of theoretical tools that can be utilized in the most diverse of settings - including, though to a lesser extent, gender. Rather than looking at these conflicts, as the media and popular knowledge often does, as centuries-old conflicts deeply set in our memory banks, a script from which none of us can escape, the course argues that inequalities in power and authority - in other words, class - go a long way in explaining racial and ethnic dynamics. To support this argument, the course examines the so-called "black-white" conflict in three settings, the U.S., South Africa and Cuba. While all three share certain similarities, their differences provide the most explanatory power. Most instructive is the Cuba versus U.S. and South Africa comparison. Specifically, what are the consequences for race relations when a society, Cuba, attempts to eliminate class inequalities? The course hopes to show that while we all carry with us the legacy of the past we are not necessarily its prisoners.
Class Notes:: http://classinfo.umn.edu/?animtz+POL3739+Fall2019
Class Description:: What similarities are there, if any, between the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, and Palestine/Israel? Why does racial and ethnic conflict persist in so many regions of the world? To what extent does racial conflict in th U.S. reflect the increasing disparities in wealth? How is racial/ethnic oppression similar and different from sexual oppression? These are some of the questions that this course will address and attempt to answer. This will be done primarily through a comparative analysis of racial/ethnic/class conflict in the U.S., South Africa, and Cuba with particular attention on the experiences of Blacks in the three countries.
Grading:: 25% Midterm Exam
50% Final Exam
25% Reports/Papers
Exam Format:: Essay.
Class Format:: 75% Lecture
25% Discussion
Workload:: 100 Pages Reading Per Week
Textbooks:: https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/17031/1199
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:: 26 May 2015

ClassInfo Links - Fall 2019 Political Science Classes

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