Oberlin College

Department of History

 

 

FYSP 125: American Mixed Blood

Fall 2005

Tuesday, Thursday 3:00PM-4:15PM

Instructor: Pablo Mitchell

Office: King 141E, x8191

E-Mail: pablo.mitchell@oberlin.edu

Office Hours: Monday 10:30-11:30, Tuesday 11-12, (and by appointment)

 

From the coyote and the half-breed to the "tragic" mulatto, people of mixed ethnic and racial heritage occupy a conflicted and controversial place in American history. This course will chart the histories of people of mixed heritage from the colonial period to the present, exploring the relationship between the historical experiences of mixed heritage and broader trends in American history including slavery, imperialism, legal transformation, and changing cultural patterns. We will also consider current social theories of hybridity and mestizaje.

 

Required Texts:

Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony

Earl Lewis, Heidi Ardizzone, Love on Trial

Kevin Johnson, How Did You Get to Be Mexican?

William S. Penn, As We Are Now

 

All textbooks are available for purchase at Mindfair books, in the Ben Franklin store in town (and the college bookstore). Readings are available on reserve at Mudd Library and through ERES (password: FYSP125).

 

Grading:

Website Analysis Paper                                  10%

Secondary Source Review Paper                    20%

Primary Source Paper                                                 20%

Final Paper                                                      30%

Class Participation/Attendance                                    20%

 

Class Participation:

Regular attendance and thoughtful, prepared, courteous participation in classroom discussion are required features of the class. Due to the small size of the class, attendance and preparation are very important. Attendance (and absences) will be considered in determining your final grade.

 

Written Assignments:

The written assignments for the course will consist of a 2-3 page secondary source review paper, a 2-3 page primary source analysis, a rough draft of the research paper, and a 8-10 page research paper.

 

Papers are due on the date assigned and should be legibly typed or word-processed, with reasonable fonts, double-spacing, and 1 inch margins. I am a big believer in the economy of prose. Please attempt to stay within the assigned page limits. Late papers will be penalized 1 point (about 1/2 of a letter grade) for every 24 hour period the papers are late. Students must complete all written assignments in order to receive credit for the course.

 

Honor Code

All work in this class is governed by the Honor Code of Oberlin College. The honor code is available at: http://www.oberlin.edu/students/links-life/rules-regs/06-HonorCode.pdf If you have questions about how the honor code applies to any assignment or work done for the class, please feel free to consult the instructor.

 

 

Schedule and Reading Assignments:

 

September 7               Introduction

_____________________

 

September 12             Evaluating Knowledge: Mongrel America, Part I

Kevin Johnson, How Did You Get to Be Mexican, Preface, Chaps. 1-5.

 

September 14             Creating Knowledge: Beginning Research

 

_____________________

 

September 19             Evaluating Knowledge: Mongrel America, Part II

Kevin Johnson, How Did You Get to Be Mexican, Chap. 6-end.

Gary Nash, “Mestizo Nation,” in Hodes, Sex, Love, Race.

“A Miscegenation Vocabulary,” in Sollors, Interracialism.

 

September 21                         Creating Knowledge: Ethnography

 

_____________________

 

September 26             Evaluating Knowledge: Colonial America

A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Barbara K. Kopytoff, “Racial Purity and Interracial Sex in the Law of Colonial and Antebellum Virginia,” 81-139, in Sollors, Interracialism.

Daniel Mandell, “The Saga of Sarah Muckamugg,” in Hodes, Sex, Love, Race.

 

September 28             Creating Knowledge: Internet Sources

 

Website Analysis Paper (2-3 page) Due Friday, September 29, 2005 by 5pm

 

_____________________

 

October 3                   Evaluating Knowledge: Nineteenth Century America

Randall Kennedy, “The Enforcement of Anti-Miscegenation Laws,” in Sollors, Interracialism

Victoria Bynum, “Misshapen Identity,” in Hodes, Sex, Love, Race.

Sidney Kaplan, “The Miscegenation Issue,” in Sollors, Interracialism.

 

 

October 5                   Creating Knowledge: Census Records

 

_____________________

 

October 10                 Evaluating Knowledge: Mestizo Nations

William S. Penn, As We Are Now, 219-252.

 

 

October 12                 Creating Knowledge: Peer Review

Rough Draft of Paper Due at Beginning of Class, Discuss Drafts in Class

 

Secondary Source Paper (2-3 page) Due Friday, October 8, 2005 by 5pm

 

_____________________

 

October 17                 Evaluating Knowledge: Mongrel Manhattan, Part I 

Earl Lewis, Heidi Ardizzone, Love on Trial, ix-62, introduction-Chapter 4.

 

 

October 19                 Creating Knowledge: Census Records

 

_____________________

 

 

October 24,26                       October Break, no class

.

_____________________

           

October 31                 Evaluating Knowledge: Mongrel Manhattan, Part II              

Earl Lewis, Heidi Ardizzone, Love on Trial, 63-263, Chapters 5-end

 

November 2               Creating Knowledge: Periodicals (Newspapers and Magazines)

_____________________

 

November 7               Evaluating Knowledge: Expanding the Parameters

Peggy Pascoe, “Miscegenation Law, Court Cases, and Ideologies of "Race" in Twentieth-Century America,” in either Hodes, Sex, Love, Race or Werner Sollors, Interracialism,

Estelle Freedman, “The Prison Lesbian,” in Hodes, Sex, Love, Race.

William S. Penn, As We Are Now, 1-49, 67-86.

November 9               Creating Knowledge: Social Sciences

 

_____________________

 

November 14             Evaluating Knowledge: Putting Bodies on the Line

William S. Penn, As We Are Now, 126-139, 168-180.

Henry Yu, “Mixing Bodies and Culture,” in Hodes, Sex, Love, Race.

 

November 16                         Creating Knowledge: Peer Review

Rough Draft of Paper Due at beginning of class, Discuss Drafts in Class

 

Primary Source Paper (2-3 pg) Due Friday November 17, 2005, by 5pm.

 

_____________________

 

November 21             Evaluating Knowledge: Borderlands, Part I

Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony, 1-160.

 

 

November 23                         Creating Knowledge: Research

NO CLASS: Work on Final Research Project (may be used as makeup class)

 

_____________________

 

November 28             Evaluating Knowledge: Borderlands, Part II  

Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony, 161-end.

 

November 30             Creating Knowledge: Peer Review

Rough Drafts Due at the start of class, Thursday, November 30, 2005.

 

_____________________

 

December 5                Re-evaluating Knowledge: New Day Rising

Joel Perlmann, “Reflecting the Changing Face of America,” in Sollors, Interracialism.

Jamie L. Wacks, “Reading Race,” Sollors, Interracialism.

 

December 7                Research Presentations

 

_____________________

 

December 12              Research Presentations

 

December 14              Research Presentations

 

 

Final paper due date TBA.