Race, Class, Social Justice

Fall 2018 Syllabus

Course Description

What is social justice? How are identities, experiences, and structures of race, ethnicity, and class intertwined with social justice in the American context? Why does social jus- tice matter? What can individuals and communities do to develop socially justice out- comes?

We will closely read a number of texts to explore responses to these broad questions. Assigned readings are drawn from a wide variety of disciplines and contemporary popu- lar writings. In addition to traditional classroom practices of lecture, discussion, and writ- ing, this course moves decidedly beyond the classroom by requiring students to engage in a number of social justice activities on campus and in the Winston-Salem community. Students are expected bring enthusiastic participation to these experiences and to re- flect critically on their experiences in written work. Students will create a toolkit for social justice activity as the final project for the class.

Course Objectives

Students will critically engage a wide range of scholarly and popular texts focused on inequality, justice, community capacity building, and social action.

Students will become familiar with broad themes and approaches to social justice re- search, activism, and policymaking.

Students will develop skills of critical analysis and practical problem solving. Students will be introduced to multiple, contested ideas for remedying injustice. Students will produce a toolkit for action.

Students will participate and contribute to social justice activities on their own campus and in the community.

Reading Responses (30%)

Assessment

All students are expected to post THREE (3) 500-700 word reading responses on the course Sakai site by Tuesday 2:00PM. Students may choose to write in any three weeks over the course of the semester. The reading responses should be organized as follows:

Part 1: 200 word summary of the reading
Part 2: 200 word assessment of the most valuable contribution of the reading to our understanding of social justice as an concept. Can be critical or laudatory. Part 3: 200 word explanation of an important tool /practice/policy for addressing and enhancing social justice as suggested by the reading. This will often be non- obvious and will require the student to be both critical and creative.

The reading responses are brief and must get to the point swiftly and clearly. Respons- es will be graded on insight, accuracy, creativity, and clarity of writing.

Social Action and Social Action Reflections (30%)

All students must take part in at least THREE (3) direct social action initiatives as desig- nated on the syllabus or that are offered as opportunities arise throughout the semester. For each social action, students must write a THREE (3) page reflection essay. Stu- dents may participate in more than three social actions, but reflection essays are only required of THREE (3).

These reflections should be written in the first person and provide both an assessment of the action and of the student’s own self-evaluation of learning as well as the student’s theoretical and ethical understanding of what is meant by social justice.

A rubric for the Social Action Reflections is on the Sakai site.

Social Action Reflections are due within 10 days of the completion of the action.

Tool Kit for Social Justice (30%)

Students will create a final project offering a tool kit for social change based on what they have learned in this course. A full description is forthcoming.

Class attendance and participation (10%)

REQUIRED TEXTS

Readings marked with a * are available as links from the course website. Books are all available through the university bookstore.

Michael Arceneaux. I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé. 2018

Brian Barry, Why Social Justice Matters. 2005
Ari Berman, Give us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. 2015

Adam Braun. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Ex- traordinary Change. 2014.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself. 2012

Charles Epp, Steven Maynard-Moody & Donald Haider-Markel. 2014. Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Wesley Lowery. They Can’t Kill Us All. The Story of The Struggle for Black Lives. 2017 Diane Guerrero. In the Country We Love: My Family Divided. 2017

Maureen Linker. Intellectual Empathy: Critical Thinking for Social Justice. 2014. Michael Sandel, Justice, What’s the Right Thing to Do? 2009.

Extra Credit Opportunities

Week 1, August 28 Introduction

*Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror *Confession of the Murderers of Emmett Till
*Videos Linked to Sakai RESOURCES link Week 1

Week 2, September 4 Perspectives on Social Justice

*Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror continued

Brian Barry. Why Social Justice Matters. 2005 Focus on Sections I-V

Week 3, September 11 Perspectives on Social Justice: Help by Not Helping

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself. 2012

*Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, “The Nature of Government” and “Racism” *Steven Horowitz. Breaking Down the Barriers: Three Ways State and Local Govern-

ments Can Improve the Lives of the Poor. 2015

Week 4, September 18 Deliberation I

Michael Sandel, Justice, What’s the Right Thing to Do? 2009.

http://justiceharvard.org/justicecourse/

Week 5, September 25 Deliberation II

Maureen Linker. Intellectual Empathy: Critical Thinking for Social Justice. 2014.
*Tali Mendelberg & John Oleske. 2010. Race and Public Deliberation. Political Commu-

nication.

*Vincent Price , Joseph N. Cappella & Lilach Nir .Does Disagreement Contribute to More Deliberative Opinion? Political Communication 2010.

Week 6, October 2 Memoir I

Diane Guerrero. In the Country We Love: My Family Divided. 2017Week 7, October 9 Memoir II

Michael Arceneaux. I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé. 2018

Week 8, October 16 Philanthropy I

Adam Braun. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Ex- traordinary Change. 2014.

*Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity. 2014. Part 2 (Pages 167-234)

Week 9 October 23 Philanthropy II

*Michael Edwards “From love to money: can philanthropy ever foster social transforma- tion?” New Philanthropy and Social Justice: Debating the Conceptual and Policy Dis- course. Edited by Behrooz Morvaridi. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015, pp. 33-46

*Indraneel Dasgupta and Ravi Kanbur Does philanthropy reduce inequality? 2008 *Rob Reich: A Failure of Philanthropy: American charity shortchanges the poor, and

public policy is partly to blame. Winter 2005

*Craig Jenkins. Channeling Social Protest: Foundation Patronage of Contemporary So- cial Movements from Elizabeth Clemens, Private Action and the Public Good. Yale Uni- versity Press.

*Women and Giving. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Philanthropy Roadmap.

Week 10 , October 30 Voting

Ari Berman, Give us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. 2015

Week 11, November 6 Media

Wesley Lowery. They Can’t Kill Us All. The Story of The Struggle for Black Lives. 2017

*Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Marc Choueiti, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Ariana Case, & Angel Choi “Inequality in 1,100 Popular Films: Examining Portrayals of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, LGBT & Disability from 2007 to 2017”

*Bijan Stephen, “How Black Lives Matter Uses Social Media to Fight the Power.” From Wired.com

Week 12, November 13 Civic Action and Volunteerism

*Keith Morton. The Irony of Service: Charity, Project, and Social Change in Service Learning.” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 1995. 19-32

*John Wilson. Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 26 2000, pp. 215-240 *Aimee Dars Ellis. Engaging in Social Action at Work: Demographic Difference in Partic-

ipation. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 2013, 1, 60-67

*Aaron Einfeld and Denise Collins. "The Relationships Between Service-Learning, So- cial Justice, Multicultural Competence, and Civic Engagement." Journal of College Stu- dent Development 49, no. 2 (2008): 95-109

Week 13, November 20 No Class Meeting

Week 14, November 27 Protest

*Jane Mansbridge and Aldon Morris. Oppositional Consciousness: The Subjective Roots of Social Protest. 2001. Chapters 1, 2,4 and 9

*Barber, William. Forward Together: A Moral Message for the Nation Chapters 1, 13 and 14

*Tabatha Abu El-Haj. “Defining Peaceably: Policing the Line between Constitutionally Protected Protest and Unlawful Assembly.” Missouri Law Review. 2015

Week 15, December 4 Policing/ Criminal Justice Reform

Charles Epp, Steven Maynard-Moody & Donald Haider-Markel. 2014. Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

*Rios, Victor M. 2012. “Stealing a Bag of Potato Chips and Other Crimes of Resistance.”Contexts 11(1):48-53.

*Robinson, Amanda L., and Meghan S. Chandek. 2000. “Differential Police Response to Black Battered Women.” Women & Criminal Justice 12(2-3):29-61.

*The Century Foundation, Two Views on Policing *The Ferguson Report

December 10 by 5pm **Final Tool Kit Due **