Ethnic and national identity

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

This subject looks at the evolution of concepts about ethnic and national identity over time, in both social science and everyday life. We explore the history of notions about what constitutes a "nation," in the sense of a "people," looking at what the term meant prior to the European nation-state and imperial projects of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and at what it means in the present era of multiculturalism, post modernity, globalization, and transnational trends such as migration. We examine how both ethnic and nation-state nationalism create narratives about the past that are intended to address present-day problems. We also look at the related concepts of race, religion, gender, and culture, examining how each one entails the others. We also study how ethnic and national identity in the West are seen in terms of shared biological legacies, shared histories, and shared cultural content, conceived in terms of 1) shared patterns of behavior—music, dress, food styles, embodied habits (e.g., posture), etc., and 2) inner qualities such as character, personality, or talent. Language ideologies are also briefly discussed, with an emphasis on how linguistic features (lexicon, phonology) serve non-linguistic purposes, for instance, signaling ethnic or national identity.

Communication intensive subjects in the humanities, arts, and social sciences should require at least 20 pages of writing divided among 3–5 assignments. Of these 3–5 assignments, at least one should be revised and resubmitted. HASS CI subjects should further offer students substantial opportunity for oral expression, through presentations, student-led discussion, or class participation. In order to guarantee sufficient attention to student writing and substantial opportunity for oral expression, the maximum number of students per section in a HASS CI subject is 18, except in the case of a subject taught without sections (where the faculty member in charge is the only instructor). In that case, enrollments can rise to 25, if a writing fellow is attached to the subject.

Students are expected to keep up with all assigned readings (approximately 150 pp. a week for the books; 100 pp. a week for articles).

Students must attend class and participate. Students who miss more than 3 classes will lose credit. Five videos/DVDs will be shown. The first class hour will be lecture, followed by 1/2 hour discussion.

These consist of a few sentences describing your reaction to one of the readings for that class session. Do not provide an analysis or summary; give us your response to it. These should take no more than 10 minutes to write. While these are not graded, they are required.

You will write three papers, 7 or more pages (roughly 2000 words) each. You must rewrite the first two papers in light of the comments you receive. The revised draft is the version that will be graded. Rewriting the third paper is optional, but highly recommended.

Students will present their third paper in class.

Plagiarism comes in two forms. The first involves using the words of a source, exactly or in very close paraphrase, without quotation marks. If you use the phrases from the original, you must use quotation marks. If you paraphrase, you must indicate the source, including page number(s). The second form involves taking ideas from a source without indicating the source. Although sanctions for plagiarism depend on its severity, failing the subject is a distinct possibility (I have failed students in the past).

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