THEORIES OF RACE AND ETHNICITY
PROF. THOMAS MOODY
DEPT. OF PHILOSOPHY
UH401.45
537-5874
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The central issue of this course is how a democracy should deal with the fact that its citizenry is divided into racial and ethnic groups which have historically been at odds and continue to distrust one another. If a democracy is to hold together, minorities who do not see their favored policies enacted consistently by majorities must nonetheless trust that this process will in some way serve their interests or they have little or no motivation to continue as citizens of the democracy. Our central philosopher, Danielle Allen, discusses the ways in which lack of trust harms democracy and the ways in which distrust can be managed or replaced with trust among citizens. |
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Grades: the final grade is based on a total of 100 pts. 6 essays@10 pts.= 60 pts 6 individual essays @ 10 pts. 6 group essays @ 10 pts. Group essays are collective versions of individual essays: Your score will be the higher of your individual essay or the group essay that addresses the same question. If you fail to turn in an individual essay or participate in the group essay on a particular question, you will receive 50% of the score for the essay you did write. Your score will be the higher of the individual essay and the group essay you write on each assigned question. You will in fact write 7 essays. The lowest of these scores will be dropped. So 6 essays will count toward your final score.
Final exam: 40 pts. maximum See this link for a fuller explanation:grading requirements |
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Click on the link below to see your grades. They will be listed by the last 4 digits of your student i.d. Number. Please check your grades online regularly to make sure they are accurate.
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Class attendance and participation: I do not grade on attendance, but missing class will hurt your grade because we will do a lot of in-class writing for credit. If you are not in class on a day when we do such work you will not get credit for it and it cannot be made up. You should plan to be in class every day. If for some reason you do not think you can do this, then you should think seriously about dropping this class. Group work requires your participation and students who fail to participate will lose points from their scores. |
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f you are in need of an accommodation for a disability in order to participate fully in this class, please let me know immediately and if you have not done so, contact Services to Students with Disabilities at UH-183, 537-5328. |
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For University policies on course withdrawal, cheating and plagiarism, please see "General Regulations and Procedures" in the CSUSB Bulletin of Courses. Plagiarism occurs when you turn in work that is not your own but has been written by someone else: the author of a book or a website or Wikipedia or another student, husband, wife, girlfriend, friend. . . You written work must be written by you and you alone. Plagiarized essays will not receive credit. In serious cases students may be dismissed from the University. |
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The Philosophy Department Logic Lab is located in the basement of University Hall, UH 052 (x72667). This lab has computers with access to the Web. The official purpose of the logic lab is to provide students in logic, critical thinking and philosophy courses with computer assisted instruction in logic and critical thinking. In addition to providing students with instruction in logic and critical thinking, the Logic Lab is a place for students and faculty to meet and discuss philosophical issues. Faculty, majors and interested students can find informal discussions taking place there about everything from abstract objects and formal logic to the existence of God and animal rights. Come by and see us sometime. Student Assistants are on duty Monday through Friday. A schedule is available from the Dept. Office (x75869) or at the Logic Lab. There is free tutoring for some classes available in the Learning Center (UH 351) as well. |
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Text: Danielle Allen, Talking to Strangers
Reading and Assignments policy.
Readings and assignments are due on the day on which they are listed below. For example, when you come into class on Thursday April 5 you should have already read Chapters 1 and 2 of Allen's book and when you arrive in class on Tuesday April 10 you should have Essay 1 with you. (Assignments are tentative because I reserve the right to change things as we go.)
I expect that you will turn assignments in on time, on the days listed below in the reading schedule, during class time. If for some very good reason, you cannot make it to class, you will be allowed to turn in one assignment for full credit no more than one class day late. Any work not turned in during class time on the assigned day will be considered late: this includes work turned in later that same day. Subsequent late work, if any, will have 3 points (out of a possible 10) deducted from its score if turned in one class day late and 1 additional point deducted for each subsequent day late. Assignments turned in after the assignment has been discussed and its answer posted will not be accepted for any reason whatsoever. (If you have an illness or other event serious enough to keep you out for more than one class day, please bring a note from your doctor or other responsible person when you return to class. It is your responsibility to see to it that printers are functioning and the like, so it is unwise to wait until the last minute to write or print assignments. We will be doing in-class essay writing. Due to the nature of these assignments, there can be no makeup work on these essays.
Reading and assignment schedule:
Tuesday April 3
Thursday April 5
read Allen, Chapters 1 & 2
Tuesday April 10
Question Set One due NB: Question Set One is at the end of the “Introduction” page above.
In-class Group Work Essay 1
Thursday April 12 CLASS CANCELLED
Tuesday April 17
Thursday April 19
review of question one, Allen chapters 1 & 2
Tuesday April 24
Read Allen, ch's 3 & 4
Thursday April 26
In-class Group Work Essay 2
Tuesday May 1
read Allen, chapter 5
Thursday May 3
read Allen, chapter 8
Tuesday May 8
In-class Group Work Essay 3
Thursday May 10
Read Allen, Chapter 9
Tuesday May 15
Supplementary reading: Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book 8 & Book 9
Thursday May 17
Tuesday May 22
Allen, ch. 9 continued
Thursday May 24
Allen, ch. 9, continued
In-class Group Work Essay 4
Tuesday May 29
in-class presentations on Essay 4 questions
Thursday May 31
Allen chap 9 finish
In-class Group Work Essay 5
Tuesday June 5
Allen, chapter 9 conclusion
In-class Group Work Essay 6
Thursday June 7: last day of class
Group Work Essay 7
Discussion of take-home final exam.
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Final Exam: Tuesday June 12, 4-5:50 p.m. UH 251. Your final exams may be:
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