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Peopling of New York Spring 2016

Instructor: Karen G. Williams Class Time: 12:50 pm – 3:30 pm

Boylan Hall 4121 Office Hours: Boylan Hall 2231, Wed. 11:30-12:30 pm and 3:45 – 5:00 pm

Email: karen.gwendolyn.williams@gmail.com ITF: Alexis Carrozza, acarrozza@gradcenter.cuny.edu ITF Office Hours: Boylan Hall 2231, drop-in hours on

Tuesday, 1-3:30 pm; Wednesday, 11:3-12:30pm, 3:3-5pm eportfolio: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/williams2016/

COURSE DESCRIPTION In this seminar, students investigate the role of immigration and migration in shaping the New York City’s identity, past, present, and future. Seminar topics include: the factors that have driven and drawn people to New York since the seventeenth century; the different ways that religion, race, gender, and ethnicity have shaped immigrant encounters with and within the city; the formation and social organization of immigrant communities in such neighborhoods as the Lower East Side, Harlem, Little Italy, Chinatown, Astoria, Flushing, and Stapleton; the impact of successive waves of newcomers on urban culture and politics; and the continuing debates over assimilation and Americanization. Extensive reading and writing assignments are enriched by visits to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Ellis Island, and other important sites. The culminating project of this seminar is the collaborative construction of neighborhood websites, which are then displayed on the

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Demonstrate a comparative understanding of different populations through research and writing about one or more immigrant groups or about an area of the city and its shifting population across time.

• Use qualitative, quantitative, and experiential approaches to studying people in order to come to an understanding of the diversity of people’s experience in and of the city.

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• Increase their understanding of past and present issues of migration, immigration, race, and ethnicity by analyzing current and historical primary and secondary sources and by engaging in debates about those issues.

REQUIRED READING You will be assigned between appx 50-65 pages of reading each week. When reading the articles or watching the videos you should be able to answer the following questions as these will be used to guide the discussions:

• What was the main problem or question the author(s)/ director was trying to answer? • How do the readings/ video relate to/ expand the course topic for the week? Previous weeks? • What method(s) did the author(s)/ director use? • What evidence (and/or specific examples) did the author(s)/ director use to prove their point? • What kinds of theories or concepts did they use to inform their study? • Are there similar or conflicting viewpoints presented in the articles/ videos? • What stood out to you? How does it relate to your experience?

COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1) Collegiality. Discussion is critical to this class, as we will be doing a close reading of the

material—meaning during discussions you are expected to reference the text.

2) Discussion Blog. Each student must post at least 4 blogs throughout the semester. You can post more if you want. Blogs are based on Lectures #1-7 and should focus on your reflections to the readings instead of summarizing them. You can also relate your blog to your group project, add personal experiences, link in another article from the news, ect. Blogs should be between 300 and 500 words. Blogs must be posted by Tuesday 10am. Please read through all the blog posts before coming to class, as they will inform our discussion.

3) Class Trips Field Notes. Each student must complete a field note write up for the two class trips.

Field notes will be posted onto the class main page and should be based on the observation guide. You can also collect photos, sound bites, etc. Each student will present their field note for either the first or second trip. Presentations are 7-10 minutes and will be presented the following class. Be creative!

4) Roots Exercise. Each student will complete a roots exercise. Root exercises will be posted onto the

main page. Due April 13th. We will review everyone’s post in class. Each person will have five minutes to talk about their post.

5) Final Web Project. You will be creating an ethnographic project of a neighborhood. The project

will engage all your senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste). You will work in teams to create the final project. a. Work Plan: 1. Who is in the group 2. Draft of the project description, what neighborhood 3.

Field day schedule and 4. Proposed ideas to represent each of the five senses 5. Who will do what. Work plans should cover these basic and can be in any form. Bring a hard copy of your work plan to class. Due: March 2nd.

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b. Field Notes and field note check in: There is no limit on how many field note entries you can

make but each group participant contributes at least 2 field note entries. Entries should be at least 500 words. I recommend completing a field note entry each time that you go to your field site. Final field notes should cover all the senses. Field notes can include sound bites, photos, food reviews, interviews, ect. This is your “raw” data. Each group will have 15-20 minutes to report back from the field. Due: March 16th.

c. Annotated Resource. Each group must complete an annotated resource list with at least 10

entries. They can be articles, movies, websites, books, ect. The sources should range in discipline and approach. A draft of the resources that the group will review should be uploaded by April 20th.

d. Tech Day check in. April 20th. Bring a mock up of your site to review with Alexis.

e. Reflection Paper – Each group member will complete a reflection paper on the project. This

paper is primarily personal reflections on what you learned and your experience but it should also be grounded in literature from the annotated bibliography and your field notes. Up to 1500 words. Again, you can use images, sound bites, etc.

Possible questions to reflect on: Describe how it felt to do this research. What were your ideas about the topic before you went into the project? Did your ideas change? Did you gain any new insights? Did your identity or your beliefs impact your ability to carry out accurate research?

6) Tenant Museum Project/ Extra Credit. Each student will create a “Your Story, Our Stories” page. This is opportunity to explore your families’s story. The story can be based on yourself or a family member. Final projects will be posted on the Tenement Museum Site. See “Your Story, Our Stories.” http://yourstory.tenement.org. Due by May 4th (can be completed anytime during the course). Projects should be linked to the class page once completed.

Grading Distribution: Collegiality 10%

Discussion Blog 10% Field Notes 20% Root Exercise 20% Final Web Project 40%

Tenant Museum Post Extra Credit Please note the following:

• People come to this class with different kinds of academic expertise, different life experiences, and different customs (both individual and cultural). These differences can, and hopefully will, contribute positively to the substance and quality of class discussion. However, because these differences are often related to social inequalities, they can also be a source of misunderstanding and frustration. It is thus important to keep in mind that active, respectful class participation is as much about listening to and engaging the ideas of others as it is about speaking one's own mind.

• Incompletes will not be granted, except in extraordinary circumstances and with proper documentation. After-the-fact requests for extensions and incompletes will not be considered.

• Personal Electronics. Please put away any electronics(e.g. cell phones, PDAs, mp3 players, headsets) that you have upon entering class and silencing your phones.

• Laptops and I-pads are permitted for note taking

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ACADEMIC DISHONESTY, PLAGIARISM & THE CONSEQUENCES Brooklyn College (and I) take cheating and plagiarism very seriously; if you are shown to have submitted a plagiarized material, you will receive a failing grade. Academic dishonesty = representing the work of others as your own as well as other forms of “cheating.” Don’t copy other people’s work. This means that you should not take the words or ideas of another person and submit them without acknowledging the original author. Examples of plagiarism include copying from another student’s homework assignment or taking phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or statistical findings from a variety of sources and piecing them together without citing them. “Cutting and pasting” from phrases, paragraphs or papers from course readings or the Internet and representing them as your own fall under this category. You must always indicate when you have used an idea from someone else’s work; anything else constitutes stealing from others and violates both the ethics of this class and established academic standards. There are now sophisticated search engines that prove beyond a reasonable doubt when students have downloaded web-based material and submitted it as their own. COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to change) Wednesday, FEBRUARY 3rd Introduction • Review the syllabus • Group introduction activity • What is a field note: review field trip and field trip assignment Wednesday, FEBRUARY 10th Ethnographic Observations Field Trip – The High Line <http://www.thehighline.org/> Note: Class will end at the field Site Make sure you bring your observation worksheet Readings Due: • Robert Emerson, et al., Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chapter 1 and 3 • Alma Gottlieb, “Ethnography: Theory and Methods Wednesday, FEBRUARY 17th Lecture #1 Immigration in New York • Class trip field note report backs in class, field note upload by Feb. 19th Readings Due • Nancy Foner (2001), “Introduction New Immigrants in a New New York” • Heidi Schierholz, “Immigration and Wages in the US,” EPI Briefing Paper, 2010 • Immigration Policy Center, “The Economic Strength in Diversity: The Economic and Political Clout

of Immigrants, Latinos and Asians in the United States,” 2013

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Wednesday, FEBRUARY 24th • Technology Day • In class work – work plans • Video: TBA Wednesday, MARCH 2nd

Lecture #3: Immigration and Model Minority • Work Plans Due Readings Due: • Peter Kwong, “What’s Wrong with the US Immigration Debate?” • Robert G. Lee. “Making the Model Minority Myth” Wednesday, MARCH 9TH Lecture #4: Race, Nationality and Language Readings Due: • Ginetta E. B. Caldelario, “Black behind the Ears” – and up Front Too? Dominicans in the “Black

Mosaic”. • Micheal Omi and Howard Winant, “Racial Formation.” Wednesday, MARCH 16th

Lecture #5: Color Blindness and White Privilege • Final project field note check-in Readings Due: • Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, Chapter 8 • Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”

Wednesday, MARCH 23rd No Class – Follow Friday Schedule Wednesday, MARCH 30th Field Trip: African Burial Ground - http://www.nps.gov/afbg/index.htm Meet at the Burial Ground at 1:45 pm. Take the “5” train to Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall Wednesday, APRIL 6th Lecture #5: Race and Ethnicity • Class trip field note report backs in class, field note upload by April. 8th • Guest Lecturers: Vasudha Gupta and Anurag Gupta, 2-3:30 pm

Readings Due: Review Be More Website: http://www.bemoreamerica.org/definitions.html Dive into the website: Watch the videos, follow links to articles and read them

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Wednesday, APRIL 13th Lecture #6: Gender and Race and Labor • Root Exercise Due Readings Due: • Devah Pager and Bruce Western, “Race at Work” • Tom Hum, “Persistent Polarization in New Yorks Workforce” • Global Women: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy” Chp. TBA Wednesday, APRIL 20th Tech Day Check-In • Each group will meet with Alexis to discuss their site. • Draft of annotated resources uploaded to group site. Wednesday, APRIL 27th NO Class SPRING BREAK Wednesday, MAY 4th Lecture #7: Prisons and Gentrification • Project Check In – Each group will have 10 minutes to give the class an update. • Videos on gentrification • Last day for extra credit Readings Due: • Paddock, Barry and Sarah Ryley, “Arrests for Transit Fare Evasion Surge in Recent Years…”

o Make sure you explore the map, charts on the site. • Ryley, Sarah, Laura Bult, Dareh Gregori-an, “Racial Disparities in Summons for Minor Violations in

'Broken Windows' Policing”. • Josh Saul, “When Brooklyn Juries Gentrify, Defendants Lose” • Ronald Weich and Carlos Angulo. “Justice on Trial: Racial Disparities in the American Criminal

Justice System” Optional:

• Play the Game: <https://www.aclu.org/aclus-school-prison-pipeline-game?redirect=school-prison-pipeline-game>

Wednesday, MAY 11th and Wednesday, MAY 18th Final Presentations and Movies Final Projects Due: May 25th by 9pm.

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Observation Guide Below is a list of questions to help guide your observations of the location (your site) and your subject (s). This is just a guide, so some of the questions may or may not be relevant. However, I highly recommend that you try to answer as much as you can because it will help you with writing your field notes. You may also want to take photos, sound bites, taste the food in the area, etc. DESCRIPTION OF LOCATION: What time of the day is it? Where is it located? What is the weather like? What is the neighborhood like immediately surrounding your fieldwork site? (Is it residential or commercial? Is it easy to get to your site?) What does your fieldwork site/organization LOOK like? (How is the space structured inside? How is it divided? Do any colors stand out? Are there decorations? What do these look like?) What does your fieldwork site SOUND like? (is it noisy or quiet? If noisy, what is the source of noises [i.e., street noises, choir music, people arguing, children playing, etc.] Do you think the sounds change according to time of day or time of week? Think about things such as squeaky chairs, loud buzzer noises, cell phones going off…) What does your fieldwork site SMELL like? (Describe any odors, such as food, cleaning products, fragrance, street smells, etc.)

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What does your fieldwork site TASTE like? (No, do not go around licking the walls and floors! Are people eating at your fieldwork site? What are they eating mostly? If you happen to try any food at your location, describe it – were the donuts stale, what was brought to the pot-luck? Etc.) What does your fieldwork site FEEL like? (Are there difficult stairs to climb? Is the furniture comfortable? Is the temperature noticeable?)