Contemporary American Issues
Ms. Portman

Course Description
This seminar asks you to look below the surface of contemporary American society and explore the complex issues that make the United States unique. You will examine topics such as: What does it mean to be "American?" What defines American culture? What is affirmative action? Do we need hate crime legislation? How has your critical awareness of contemporary American issues changed the way you view your local community? Greater society? Media? Politics? Economy? You will learn that there are no easy answers when studying different conflicts within the United States, but in examining these issues you are participating in a critical study of contemporary American society.

Contemporary American Issues offers you the opportunity to study in-depth contemporary issues that are facing our country. The class is set up similar to a college freshman seminar. You are expected to complete a reading assignment each day and should be prepared to discuss the topic at hand. This discussion-based curriculum will allow you to work on your oratorical skills in terms of articulating sometimes very complex and controversial ideas.

Texts for the Class
Smith , Anna Deavere Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.
Rothenberg, Paula S. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. New York: Worth Publishers, 2004.
Supplementary Readings

General Expectations
You are expected to read all assigned readings and be prepared for class discussion. If you want to have an interesting class, then it is your responsibility to spend time not just reading the words— you should be thinking about and processing the material. Being well-read will help you to make significant contributions to class discussion.

Most homework assignments will include a reading assignment and questions for you to consider. Your responses will not be turned in unless otherwise noted, but I recommend that you write your answer down so that you will be prepared to discuss your ideas during class discussion. A clearly written answer will help you to think more clearly about the material being discussed.

Besides completing short writing assignments, you will be assigned several long projects. A few of the projects require you to interview someone, so you will need to have access to a tape recorder.

All writing assignments and projects must be turned in on time. I am a stickler for due dates; if you are having problems with an assignment, you need to come see me before it is due.

Most importantly, you need to be prepared to listen to each other during discussion. Some of the topics we cover will be very controversial. Try to keep an open mind and listen to your peers before shutting down or arguing with them.

Course Outline

I. Introduction
Who are we? How do we describe ourselves and why do these descriptions matter?
What does it mean to be “American?”
Violent Tensions, 1992 Los Angeles Riots
Reading of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith
Project in which students follow Deavere Smith’s model and interview different people around the topics of race, class, gender or culture

II. The Social Construction of Difference: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality
“The Cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Harro
“Prejudice and Discrimination” by Warren J. Blumenfeld and Diane Raymond
“Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender” by Judith Lorber
“Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity” by Michael S. Kimmel
“Pigskin, Patriarchy and Pain” by Don Sabo
“Racial Formations” by Michael Omi and Howard Winant
“Racial Relations Becoming More Complex across the Country” by Jonathan Tilove
“Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?” by Beverley Daniels Tatum
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh
“Class in America- 2003” by Gregory Mantsios
Interview Project

III. Stereotypes and The Media
“Where Bias Begins: The Truth About Stereotypes” by Annie Murphy Paul
"Children and Advertising," "Some Good TV Habit so Acquire" by Elizabeth Thoman
"Why it Matters…Diversity on Television" by Media Now
"Why Not Diversity?" by Herb Scannell
“At the Disney Channel, It’s a Diverse World After All” by Marc Wiengarten
“TV Arabs” by Jack G. Shaheen
“The All-Boy Network: Public Affairs Shows Reflect Shortage of Women in Power” by Howard Kurtz
“Despite Some Progress, Minorities Remain an Unseen Presence” by Matt Zoller Seitz
“Am I Thin Enough Yet?” by Sharlene Hesse-Biber
“More and More Young Women Choose Surgical ‘Perfection’” by Ann Gerhart
“Finding My Eye-Dentity” by Olivia Chung
“Media Magic: Making Class Invisible” by Gregory Mantsios
Project in which students study one area of the media and report on the representation of race, class, gender, or cultureIII. Understanding American Issues and

III. Discrimination in Everyday Life
“Census 2000 Shows America’s Diversity”
“America 2000: A Map of the Mix”
“A Letter to My Daughter” by Siu Wai Anderson
“On Being Black and Middle Class” by Shelby Steele
“Being Black, Living in the Red: Wealth Matters” by Dalton Conley
“The Wage Gap” National Committee on Pay Equity
“Wall-Martyrs” by Meg Cox
“Colleges Out of Reach for Low-Income Students” by Albert B. Crenshaw
“Yellow” by Frank Wu
“Asian American?” by Sonia Shah
“Yes, I Follow Islam, but I’m Not a Terrorist” by Nada El Sawy
“Anti-Muslim Crimes Jump after Sept. 11 in Jersey and U.S.” by Brian Donohue
“Poll Finds Latinos Are Objects of Negative Perceptions” by Michael A. Fletcher
“Men Behaving Badly” by Margaret Talbot
“Enough to Make You Sick” by Helen Epstein
“The Loneliest Athletes” by Jennifer Jacobson
“The Transgender Spectrum” by Lisa J. Lees
Students will create a survey to give out to other high school students about discrimination and examine different attitudes among their peers

IV. Making a Difference
“A New Vision of Masculinity” by Cooper Thompson
“C.P. Ellis” by Studs Terkel
“Out of the Closet but Not Out of Middle School” by Libby Copeland
“Why Don’t Gay People Just Keep Quiet? Listening to the Voices of the Oppressed” by William David Burns
“Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Role Allies as Agents of Change” by Andrea Ayvazian
“Combatting Intentional Bigotry and Inadvertently Racist Acts” by Fletcher A. Blanchard
“Moving Beyond White Guilt” by Amy Edgington
“After Welfare” by Katherine Boo
Students will create a list of 5 actions they can take to address the issues of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia our society.

V. The Big Four
Immigration Laws
Bilingual Education
The Homeless Crisis
Hate Crime Legislation
Affirmative Action
Two-part essay on one of the above

VI. Final project representing “Everyday People”
VII. Take Home Final