Up209 Syllabus Spring 2008

UP 209 Critical Race Studies and Public Affairs Spring 2008 Student-initiated Course

This is a student initiated, and led course. All students enrolled will participate as “student-teachers/teacher students” to create dialogue, and share collective responsibility to achieve the course goals. Course Description: This course will focus on the foundation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) as applied to urban planning, policy and social work. Rather than surveying issues and concepts within a "race context," this course attempts to look at the causes and symptoms of institutional/structural racism, societal racial hierarchies and its application within the three fields of work. The first half the course will focus on understanding Critical Race Theory and the second half will focus on applied methods. Required Text: Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, ed., Critical Race Theory: The

Cutting Edge, 2nd Edition, 2000

NOTE: Additional articles will be added on-line throughout the course, if they are not included in the required text. Course Requirements: The final grade will be based on individual class participation, and the final project. 1. Attendance and participation: You are expected to be a prepared active participant in class discussion and developing the course. 2. Weekly assignments: Each week students will be required to submit short reading responses (one to two paragraphs). Write ups should reflect understanding of the material, questions that arose from the reading and discussion points for the class. Responses must be posted to the online class message board by midnight, the day before class. This is so that there is sufficient time for others to read your responses and to engage in classroom discussion.

3. Leading a classroom discussion: One of the goals for this course is to be able to develop our skills in group facilitation and to be able to grasp the concepts taught in the course. For each week that there are assigned readings, students can work on their own or pair up with another classmate to lead the classroom discussion for one week’s worth of readings. Those will be assigned by week 2. 4. Final Project: During the quarter, students will choose their topic of interest, based on a list of topics identified within one of the three fields in the School of Public Affairs (Urban Planning, Public Policy, or Social Welfare). This will be finalized by the Week 2 of the course. Because this is a student-initiated course,

Ideas that have been brought up to the CRS working group for the final project: • Using a research/term paper written for another class and re-writing with a CRS framework. In addition, students will do a presentation (preferably powerpoint or other interactive method) and present to the rest of the class on their topic. • Creating a strategic plan for instituting Critical Race Studies in the School of Public Affairs • Identifying a social justice issue and applying an interdisciplinary and CRS framework within all three SPA fields (i.e, Homelessness, Housing, Community Development, or the class’ topic of choice) • For week’s 7-10 students can continue building upon the course by adding readings/discussion for those weeks. This can be the space to enhance the interdisciplinary aspects of the course/work for SPA. The written analysis of the presentation will be in preparation for the final product for the course. We want to emphasize that the goal of the course is to create a working document and build curriculum that can set the foundation for CRT in our disciplines.

Grading 30% Weekly Responses 30% Presentations 40% Final Projects Method of evaluation will be discussed during week one. WEEK 1 Introduction: CRITICAL RACE THEORY: KEY WRITINGS (INTRODUCTION) Introduction of the Course What is CRT? How can CRS applied in planning, policy, social welfare and other disciplines. Homework Assignment: Read the Executive Summary, Introduction and your field’s section of the spring 2007 Critical Race Theory Report. Report can be accessed through the course’s wikipage: Http://crsucla.pbwiki.com WEEK 2 Discussion of Final Product for the Class Homework Assignment: Cheryl Harris- Critical Race Theory: An Introduction

Derrick Bell: Property Rights in Whiteness: Their Legacy, Their Economic Costs Cheryl Harris: Whiteness as Property Ian Haney Lopez, “The Legal Construction of Race,” White By Law James Baldwin, “White Man’s Guilt,” Black on White: Black Writers on What it Means to be White

WEEK 3 Narratives Homework Assignment: Richard Delgado, “Story Telling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative” Patricia J. Williams, “Alchemical Notes: Reconstructing Ideals from Deconstructed Rights.” Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, “Images of the Outside in American Law and Culture: Can Free Expression Remedy Systemic Social Ills?” Richard Delgado,“‘The Imperial Scholar’ Revisited: How to Marginalize Outsider Writing, Ten Years Later.” Robin D. Barnes, “Race Consciousness: The Thematic Content of Racial Distinctiveness in Critical Race Scholarship,” Harvard Law Review, Vol. 103, No. 8. (Jun., 1990), pp. 1864-1871. Writing Assignment: “Writing our Narratives” Please write your narrative pertaining to your experience in your academic department. We want to provide everyone with the opportunity to incorporate their storied into our class project. Because this is an opportunity to share your story, the following questions are intended to guide your narrative, not necessarily define it. (or meant for you to list your answers to each question) What has your experience been in your department as a person of color and/or as a person committed to anti-subordination/anti-racism/intersectional work? How has your experience impacted your interactions and relationships with other students and faculty in your department?

Has your experience impacted your scholarly/academic endeavors within department? For example, research, course writing assignments, group projects, capstone projects, etc. How has your experience been in your department as a person of color and/or as a person committed to anti-subordination/anti-racism/intersectional work impacted what your goals are after graduation?

WEEK 4 Interdisciplinary Approaches in CRT Juan F. Perea, “The Black/White Binary Paradigm of Race” Robert Chiang, “Toward an Asian American Legal Scholarship: Critical Race Theory, Post-Structuralism, and Narrative Space” Ian Haney Lopez, “Race and Erasure: The Salience of Race to Latinos/as” Devon Carbado, “Men, Feminism, and Male Heterosexual Privilege” Kimberlé Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color,” Stanford Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 6. (Jul., 1991), pp. 1241-1299. WEEK 5 Melvin L. Oliver, et al, “The Los Angeles Rebellion: A Retrospective View,” Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 6 No 4, November 1992, pp. 356-372. Lisa C. Ikemoto, “Traces of the Master Narrative in the Story of AfricanAmerican/Korean-American Conflict: How We Constructed ‘Los Angeles.’” Saul Sarabia, “The World’s Greatest Vanishing Act” Interdisciplinary Approaches to CRT (Continued), In Critical Race Theory Reader Darren Lenard Hutchinson, “Out Yet Unseen: A Racial Critical of Gay and Lesbian Legal Theory and Political Discourse” Manning Marable, “Beyond Racial Politics: Toward a Liberation Theory of Multicultural Democracy”

WEEK 6 Gary Peller, “Race Consciousness,”Duke Law Journal, Vol. 1990, No. 4, Frontiers of Legal Thought III. (Sep., 1990), pp. 758-847. Cheryl Harris- Whitewashing Race, Scapegoating Culture David Roediger, “From the Social Construction of Race to the Abolition of Whiteness,” Towards the Abolition of Whiteness: Essays on Race, Class, and Working Class History

WEEK 7- Group Project WEEK 8 – Group Project WEEK 9 – Group Project WEEK 10- Group Project If you have any administrative issues, please contact Professor Jackie Leavitt @ [email protected]