Return to today's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner discussion board and respond to the posts of two other students for a TOTAL of 600 words (combined for both)ILS 4320: (De)Constructing Race
Tentative Course Schedule Spring 2019
NOTE: This schedule may change as needed. Your presence in class ensures correct assignments
WEEK 1
T 3/5 Course Introduction; Reading and Analyzing Visual Texts; FW: What is Race?
New Historicism & Important Working Definitions;
The Negro Page by Aelbert Cuyp; Forming an Academic Argument; FW #2, Cuyp;
Power of an Illusion (Episode 1, "The Difference Between Us," PBS, Available for rent
on Vimeo); Take Notes as Your Watch Video
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/7):
- Read "How Privilege Becomes Provocation" by Parul Sehgal
- Read Introduction to "The Social Construction of Differences & Inequality" by Ore (2000); See Course
Readings in Ulearn
- Do Reader Response #1: Identify the central argument of each of the texts by Sehgal & Ore and argue
what you see as their important similarities or differences they share with episode 1 of the PBS series that we
watched in class today.
- Read and Study Syllabus Carefully; Complete Syllabus Quiz in Ulearn; See Quizzes link
- Set Up Blog; email the Web address to your page to Professor Harmon: [email protected] by class time.
R 3/7 Intersectionality Group Exercise; Discuss Sehga l& Ore
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/12):
- Watch Race: The Power of an Illusion (Episode 2, "The Story We Tell," PBS, Available for
- Complete Video Lecture Notes as a MS Word document (min. of 600 words) and post to Ulearn
- Read "Optional Ethnicities for Whites Only?" by Mary Waters (1996)
- Do Reader Response 2: How does the article by Waters uphold, complicate, or undo the
argument made by episode 2 of the PBS series?
- Read a Short Guide to Writing About Film, Chapter 3 in Course Readings in Ulearn &
complete quiz in Ulearn
WEEK 2
T 3/12 Share Reader Response 2 & Discussion; Introduction to Film; Clip Analysis & Blog Post?
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/14):
- Read "Reconstructing Black Masculinity" By Bell Hooks (2004); See Course Readings in
Ulearn
- Do Reader Response 3: If we look at these articles by Hooks and Fields from a New Historical perspective (See
- Power Point and Discussion from 1st class in Uleaern under course readings) as history as one of many
discourses and ways of seeing and thinking about the world and society as intricately interwoven, what do these
two authors add to this historical conversation and why is this added discourse of theirs important?
R 3/14 Blog Post & Share: Fields; Analyze Film Clip & Blog
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/19):
- Your Choice: watch The Color Purple (Stephen Spielberg, 1985) on Amazon, MudBound (Dee Rees,
2017) on Netflix, Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) on Amazon, or Twelve Years a Slave (Steve
McQueen, 2013); Choose Theme and Most Important Scene, Complete Invention Work, and Post to Ulearn
- Invention Work Counts as Reader Response 4 ; MIN. OF 3 FULL PAGES
WEEK 3
T 3/19 Film Analysis & Blog Post; Film Clip
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/21):
- First Draft of Essay 1; min. of 4 pages, upload to Ulearn AND to SmartThinking by class time
- Upload ST report and revision plan free write as one MS Word file by T 3/26; Go to SUBMIT
- ESSAYS/ASSIGNMENTS < SMARTHINKING REPORTS & REVISION PLANS
R 3/21 First Draft of Essay 1 Due; Group Presentation: D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) &
Group Exercise (Siena Lynch, Denier Weech, & Shancantalla Mather)
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/26):
- Read "Race & the American Cinema: The Two Cases of The Birth of a Nation" by Marija Dimitrovska
(2016) in Course Readings in Ulearn
- Read "Introduction: Toward a Comprehensive Monster Theory in the 21st Century" by Levina & Bui (2013) in Course Readings in Ulearn
- Do Reader Response 5: Based on Dimitrovska's article, make an argument about how you would expect each of
these films to reflect the cultural anxieties of their historical moments (1915 &2016).
- Complete typed Critique of Partner's paper; upload critique to Ulearn by class time; bring electronic version to
class
- Upload ST report and revision plan free write as one MS Word file; Go to SUBMIT
ESSAYS/ASSIGNMENTS < SMARTHINKING REPORTS & REVISION PLANS
WEEK 4
T 3/26 Peer Critique; Group Presentation & Group Exercise (Berenice Castaneda-Melchor &
Maddie Watson); (Film Clip): Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967)
HOMEWORK (DUE 3/28):
- Final Draft of Essay 1 Due with Reflection
Dinner (1 hour, 48 minutes); Complete discussion board post no later than 11:59pm today;
After 11:59 pm, return to today's discussion board and respond to the posts of two other
students in a min. of 600 words (combined for both)
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/3):
- Return to today's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner discussion board and respond to the posts of two other students
for a TOTAL of 600 words (combined for both)
- Read Introduction to "Cold War Civil Rights: Race & the Image of American Democracy" by Mary Dudziak
(2000)
- Watch Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968)
- Do Reader Response 6: Make connections between Dudziak's article and Schaffner's film. What does this film
reveal to us about the underlying anxieties regarding race during this particular historical moment?
WEEK 5
T 4/2 CLASS ONLINE: Watch Group Presentation (Aidan Gilmartin) & Complete Post on your
blog (see questions on last slide); Here is clip linked from presentation that you need to
watch for the blog posts; Watch Planet of the Apes film (1968), entire film, and complete
discussion board post no later than 11:59 pm.; After 11:59 pm, return to today's discussion
board and respond to the posts of two other students for a TOTAL of 600 words (combined
for both) ; answer question posted in forum instructions
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/5):
- Return to today's Planet of the Apes discussion board and respond to the posts of two other
students for a TOTAL of 600 words (combined for both)
- Study for Midterm review all articles read from beginning of term up to this point.
R 4/5 Midterm Exam (Several Short Essays Written in Class); BRING LAPTOP & copies of all
readings for reference
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/9):
- Read "Dances with Things: Material Culture & the Performance of Race" by Robin Bernstein (2009)
- Read "Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960's to the 1990's" by Omni & Winant (1994)
- Watch Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler, 2013), running time 1 hr. 30 min.
- Do Reader Response 7: Through the material objects of this film, explain how Coogler constructs a
- performance of Black masculinity and argue if this "performed" masculinity resists, reinforces, or transcends
- racial stereotype. Include a quote from an article to support your argument.
WEEK 6
T 4/9 Group Presentation: Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) & Group Exercise (Film clip):
(Kayla Simpson, Uriah Anderson, Candace Wolchak, & Kemani Williams)
Discuss Both Articles in Context of a Film Clip from Fruitvale Station; Do Blog Post
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/11):
- Read "The Renowned Creates of Movieville, 1967 Year in Review," "Ghastly, Feb. '68, Kiss of the Warlock"
"Ghastly, Jan. '68, Curse of the Gypsy's Crypt," "Dread, Feb. '68, Castle of Blood/Dark Hunger"
& "Ghastly, Feb. 67, The Devil's Picnic"
- Be prepared for Quiz
R 4/11 Watch Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989), running time 120 min.
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/16):
- Read "Quare" Studies, or (Almost) Everything I Know About Queer Studies I Learned from My
Grandmother" by E. Patrick Johnson (2001) in Course Readings in Ulearn
Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom" by Eguchi, Calafell, & Files-Thompson (2014)
- Do Reader Response 8: In what specific ways do Eguchi/Calafell/Files-Thompson draw upon and then expand
- /further develop Johnson's definition of "Quare?"
F 4/13 LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW FROM AN ACADEMIC COURSE
WEEK 7
T 4/16 Discuss Do the Right Thing; Group Presentation & Group Exercise (Film Clip): Moonlight
(Barry Jenkins, 2016): (Markayla Brooks, DaeMesha Harris, Keanna Lumpkin, & Brooke
Ross)
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/18):
- Read "Ghastly: Beach Party Feeding Frenzy," "Spectral, May '66, Twin Terror Kinderscarton" "Dread,
March '68, The Devouring" & "March '68, Tales of the Eldritch and the Arcane"
- Complete Reading Quiz in Ulearn
R 4/18 Watch Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016); running time 1 hr. 51 min.
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/23):
- Complete Midterm Evaluation
- First Draft of Essay 2 Due; upload to Ulearn AND to SmartThinking by class time
WEEK 8
T 4/23 First Draft of Essay 2 Due; Discuss Moonlight & My Favorite Thing is Monsters
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/25):
- Submit your first draft of Analytical Essay to SmartThinking; Upload ST report and revision plan
free write as one MS Word file; Go to SUBMIT ESSAYS/ASSIGNMENTS < SMARTTHINKING
REPORTS & REVISION PLANS
- Read, "Tales of the Eldritch and Arcane, April '68," & "Horrific, March '68, Hell Wenches of the Inferno"
R 4/25 Peer Critique; Reading Quiz & Discuss My Favorite Thing ... ; Group Presentation: Race &
The Graphic Novel (Bryona Borden, Nicole Ruoff, Mary Flaherty, and Assilem Willis)
HOMEWORK (DUE 4/30):
- Final Draft of Essay 2 Due with Reflection
WEEK 9
Continue Discussion of My Favorite Thing...
HOMEWORK (DUE 5/2):
- Read "Terror, March '68, Robotic Hybrids of Zombieland" "Ghastly, April '66, The Plague from Above,"
"Dread, April '65, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," "Gory Stories: Frankenstein," "Dread, April '67," &
"Terror, April '68"
- Do Reader Response 9: Connect something from this section to one of the articles that we have read this term or
discuss a connection you see to one of the films that we have viewed.
R 5/2 Reading Quiz; Discuss My Favorite Thing is Monsters; Group Presentation & Group
Exercise: Get Out (2017): Martina Flojo, Rob Mistry, Teena Walker, and Nick Jones)
HOMEWORK (DUE 5/7):
- Read Reminder of My Favorite Thing is Monsters
- Do Reader Response 10: Connect something from this section to one of the articles that we have read this term
- or discuss a connection you see to one of the films that we have viewed.
- IMPORTANT WORK FOR FINAL EXAM: Watch Black Panther (134 minutes)
- TAKE NOTES ABOUT WAYS IT RESPONDS TO HISTORICALLY NEGATIVE
STEREOTYPES OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN AMERICAN FILM; HOW DOES IT
DESTROY THOSE NEGATIVE DEPICTIONS IN FAVOR OF SOMETHING MORE
POSITIVE?
- Submit notes of a minimum of 600 words to Ulearn by class time
WEEK 10
T 5/7 Watch Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017, 1 hr. 44 min.)
HOMEWORK (DUE 5/9):
- work on Final Exam
- Final exam due with Reflection on R 5/16
R 5/9 Reading Quiz; Discuss final section of My Favorite Think is Monsters & Review for Exam
WEEK 11
T 5/14 Reading Day (no class meeting); Work on Final Exam
