TEACHSOC: Re: Monographs for Sociology of Race/Ethnicity

[Nijole Benokraitis]

Great tips, Kelly! Thanks! I've never used the amazon.com reviews to launch the class discussions that you've suggested but will probably do so when classes begin. The autobiographical exercise sounds especially interesting and should work well.   Unlike Kenyon College, about a third of our students are African American (especially in the social sciences), and most are first-generation college students from working-class backgrounds. And unlike research universities, our classes are small (usually about 35 students) and everyone wants to participate in class discussions. In fact, if I left, I don't think most of my students would even notice ;-).   The major problem I've had in racial/ethnic courses is that 1) most white students--especially those who are pretty conservative--are very cautious about not offending black students, and 2) African American students are just as cautious about not expressing their anger (rage, in some cases) and putting white students on the defensive. (Most of our Asian American students are in the tech/business majors and we have very few Latino students). So, it always takes me a bit of time and effort to nudge (and sometimes shove) my students into addressing racial and ethnic issues as honestly as possible. I've made a few dents, but that's about it. As a society, we just don't want to talk about racial/ethnic issues...   During several semesters, the Directors of our Diversity Office (black women both times) have conducted a class on racial-ethnic interaction, prejudice, discrimination, etc. They've been very good, but we've had mixed results. My white students felt more comfortable about airing some of their feelings about welfare and a few other issues, but many of my black students often felt that the speaker was too "neutral" in managing the class discussions on racism. So there. Have other TeachSoc subscribers had different experiences?   Thanks again, Kelly, niki __________________________________________ Nijole (Niki) Benokraitis, Ph.D.,  Professor of Sociology University of Baltimore, 1420 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201 Fax: 410-837-6051; Voicemail: 410-837-5294 [EMAIL PROTECTED]         ----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly Besecke To: Nijole Benokraitis Cc: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 9:56 AM Subject: Re: TEACHSOC: Re: Monographs for Sociology of Race/Ethnicity I have a tip!  I use "Why are all the black kids..." in my intro course in a predominantly white college.  When I began using it, I went on Amazon.com and printed out all the customer reviews.  There are a lot, and a big range of reviews that you could use in multiple ways, but what I did was highlight some of the really harsh, defensive reactions from what I take to be defensive white people, read them out loud to my students, and ask them where they think these reactions are coming from, what they think is going on.  This has the effect of addressing head-on whatever thoughts and feelings they might be having but may be reluctant to discuss, or that might otherwise emerge in the form of vitriol, but this method softens it, deflecting it from themselves--it opens up the discussion so they can talk about their reactions and others reactions without attacking each other or feeling attacked.  It makes it possible to discuss white defensiveness and liberal racism more openly. Another thing I do, in the first day of teaching it, is do the exercise she talks about in the first chapter--ask students to get in small groups and talk about their earliest memory associated with race, what emotions it brought up, whether they talked with anyone about it.  Then we talk about it in the large group. In general, this book really lends itself to different kinds of autobiographical reflection for students. Kelly Besecke ______________________________________________________________ Assistant Professor of Sociology Department of Sociology * Palme House 105 * Kenyon College * Gambier OH  43022 tel: 740-427-5854 * fax: 740-427-5815 * email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nijole Benokraitis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > In the past, my students have enjoyed Black Picket Fences  and No Shame in My > Game. This semester, I'll be using, and for the first time, "Why Are All the > Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?"  If any of you have used > Cafeteria, any tips? > > niki