Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "SOSC 303- 1"
COURSE NAME: "Sociology of Race and Ethnicity"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2026

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Benjamin Lee Scribner
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 8:30 AM 9:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: SOSC 202
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course explores how race and ethnicity are not fixed categories but living social constructs shaped by power, history, and everyday experience. With a focus on both U.S. and global perspectives, the course connects theory to the world students inhabit today, where questions of racial justice, migration, and racial/ethnic identity are at the forefront of public debate. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the critical tools to analyze and engage with forces shaping race and ethnicity in contemporary society.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

Students will engage with both classical and cutting-edge sociological theory while examining pressing issues such as settler colonialism, immigration, urban segregation, mass incarceration, and media representation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will develop the following proficiencies and skills during the course:

• Recognize key paradigms, concepts and terminology used in sociological theories of race and ethnicity.

• Understand sociological research design, data collection, and analysis as they apply to the study of race and ethnicity.

• Critically examine how race is structurally embedded within social institutions and systems in local and global contexts

• Analyze how gender, class, and other categories of inequality intersect with race and ethnicity and apply them to their own biographies.

• Explain the social construction of race and ethnicity from a historical and contemporary perspective.

• Develop the analytical skills needed to understand, explain, and develop sociological arguments about race and ethnicity both orally and in writing.

TEXTBOOK:

NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Final Exam	Essay-based exam in which students critically engage with the theories and concepts presented in class lectures, discussions and readings.	30
Final Research Paper and presentation	Students will develop a research paper on a topic agreed upon with the professor, drawing from class readings and further bibliographical research. Students will present the paper in class and answer questions from peers and the professor.	30
Class participation	Attendance (in person or remote) is mandatory except for valid reasons as per the Student Handbook. Participation is graded based on the student's comments, questions, active note-taking and general active engagement in class discussions and activities.	15
Mid-term Exam	In-class short-essay exam covering the core concepts discussed so far	30

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Students are required to attend class. Absences are only excused for medical, family emergency, or similar important reasons. See the student handbook for the full policy on excused absences and to find the Excused Absence Request Form. Four absences are allowed without penalty. More than four absences will lead to a lowering of your final course grade (1% for the first class missed, 2% for each successive class). Students may ask the Academic Dean’s Office for an exemption to their instructor’s attendance policy if they have already exhausted the number of allowed absences. To request that an absence be excused please submit the Petition: Exemption from Instructor's Attendance Policies.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

		TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: a final version will be made available in class
Week	Topic	Reading
1	Introduction to the course: What is Race The origins and development of racism	Hirschman, C. “The Origins and Demise of the Concept of Race.” Population and Development Review, Vol. 30, No. 3. (Sept., 2004), pp. 385-415. Edmondson, L. “Trans-Atlantic Slavery and the Internationalization of Race.” Caribbean Quarterly. Vol. 22, No. 2/3, Essays on Slavery (June - September, 1976) , pp. 5-25 (21 pages)
2	Sociological Approaches to Race and Ethnicity	Blumer. 1958. “Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position.” The Pacific Sociological Review, 1(1): 3-7. American Sociological Association. 2003. The Importance of Collecting Data and Doing Social Scientific Research on Race. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
3	Colonialism’s legacies Settler Colonialism Mixed ethnic and racial identities in Latin America	Wolfe, P. (2006). “Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native.” Journal of Genocide Research (2006), 8(4), December, 387–409 Excerpts: Telles, Edward E., ed. (2014). Pigmentocracies: Ethnicity, Race, and Color in Latin America. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Recommended: Glenn, EN. “Settler Colonialism as a Structure”. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2015, Vol. 1(1) 54–74.
4	Racial Formation Theory	Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. (2015). "The Theory of Racial Formation." Pp. 105-36 in Racial Formation in the United States. New York: Routledge.
5	Race as Performance	Patel, Sunita. 2005. "Performative Aspects of Race: "Arab, Muslim, and South Asian" Racial Formation after September 11." UCLA Asian Pacific American Law Journal 10:61-87. Extracts: Fanon, F. (1986). Black Skin, White Masks. Pluto Press. Extracts: Ignatiev, Noel (1995) How the Irish Became White. Routledge Classics.
6	Urban Sociology: Race, Cities and Segregation	Extracts: Wacquant, Loïc. 2008. Urban Outcasts Recommended: Massey, D., and Denton, N. (1988). American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Harvard University Press. Cambridge.
7	Incarceration and Policing	Gauthier, J., & de Maillard, J. (2023). Police racism in France and Germany: Occupational socialisation and institutional guidelines. In J. Beek, T. Bierschenk, A. Kolloch, & B. Meyer (Eds.), Policing race, ethnicity and culture: Ethnographic perspectives across Europe (pp. 31–??). Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526165596.00008 Extracts: Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness
8	Race, Economy, and Wealth Race in the World System	Extracts: Marable, M. (1983). How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America. South End Press.
9	Critical Race Theory	Bhopal, Kalwant. 2023. "Critical Race Theory: Confronting, Challenging, and Rethinking White Privilege." Annual Review of Sociology 49:111-28.
10	Race and Representation	Campbell, Christopher P. 2017. "Representation: Stuart Hall and the ‘Politics of Signification’." Pp. 11-18 in The Routledge Companion to Media and Race, edited by C. P. Campbell. New York: Routledge. Hall, Stuart. 1997. Race: The Floating Signifier [Lecture transcript]. Media Education Foundation.
11	“Old Racism” vs. “New Racism” Intersectionality	Bonilla-Silva, E. (2018), Racism Without Racists (Ch.3). New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Collins, Patricia Hill. (1990). “Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination” from Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990 pp.221-238
12	Immigration and nativism	Guildea A. (2025). White masculinity and the radical right in Europe: an intersectional analytical framework. Frontiers Sociology. 2025 Jul 17.
13	Whiteness Affirmative Action and DEI	DiAngelo, Robin. 2011. “White Fragility.” International Journal of Critical Pedagogy 3(3): 54-70.
14	Anti-Racism	Bonilla-Silva, E. (2018), Racism Without Racists (Ch. 11). New York: Rowman & Littlefield.