606:531
Studies of the 20th Century:
Race, Education, and Affirmative Action

Master of Arts in Liberals Studies Program
Spring 2004




Instructor: Bill Tucker            btucker@camden.rutgers.edu                          Office: 225-6545
Office: Armitage 343                                                                                     Home: 354-0119
Office hours: Monday & Wednesday, 4:30-5:30                                           Department: 225-6520



Course Description:

"Education," wrote Horace Mann in 1848, "is the great equalizer of the conditions of men--the
balance wheel of the social machinery."   A century and a half later this observation from the first
great advocate of public education seems more appropriate than ever.   The number of years of
school is systematically associated with almost every measure of the quality of life, and education
has been the route to socioeconomic mobility for generations of immigrants.    

For some African-Americans too, education has helped to create a substantial middle class, though
not without controversy.  Unlike earlier demands of the civil rights movement for political and social
equality, affirmative action measures have been unable to claim such clear moral authority.  Indeed,
some blacks have campaigned vigorously against them.  In addtion, poor performance in secondary
school and on standardized tests has prevented many blacks from taking advantage of educational
opportunities.

This course will explore the intersection of these controversial issues involving race, education,
and affirmative action.

Evaluation:

     Grade in the course will be based on three factors:

Required Reading:

     Steele, S., The Content of Our Character (Harper Perennial, 1990)
     Loury, G., The Anatomy of Racial Inequality (Harvard University Press, 2002)
     Thernstrom, A. & Thernstrom, S., No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning
                                                         (Simon & Schuster, 2003)
     Lemann, N. The Big Test (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999)
     Steinberg, J., The Gatekeepers (Viking, 2002)
     Carter, S.L., Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby (Basic Books, 1991)
     Suskind, R., A Hope in the Unseen (Broadway Books, 1999)
     Bowen, W. & Bok, D., The Shape of the River (Princeton University Press, 1998)

     Articles as noted below, either on the web or available through electronic reserve

              

                                                                     CLASS SCHEDULE:

January 20:

          Class Topic: Introduction to the course

January 27:

          Class Topic: Social and educational changes in the last half century
                             One view of the persistence of racial differences

          Reading: Domhoff, "The American Upper Class" (from Who Rules America?)
                                        (electronic reserve)
                        Loury, The Anatomy of Racial Inequality

February 3:

          Class Topic: Some other views of racial differences

          Reading: Shelby Steele, The Content of our Character
                        Claude Steele, "'Stereotype Threat' and Black College Students"     
                                               (Note that this article is in three parts; parts two and three
                                                available from above link)

February 10: 

          Class Topic: Differences in the public schools
                              Funding the public schools

          Reading: Thernstrom & Thernstrom, No Excuses
                         Kozol "Children of the City Invincible" (from Savage Inequalities) (electronic reserve)

February 17:

          Class Topic: What happens locally?
                               First paper due

February 24:

          Class Topic: Development of the SAT

           Reading: Lemann, The Big Test (pp. 1-173)

March 2: 

          Class Topic: The SAT in practice

          Reading: Lemann, The Big Test (pp. 174-350)

March 9:

          Class Topics: Race differences in SAT scores
                               How important is general knowledge?

          Reading:  Herrnstein & Murray, "Affirmative Action in Higher Education
                                                            (from The Bell Curve) (electronic reserve)
                         D'Souza, "More Equal Than Others" (from Illiberal education) (electronic reserve)
                         Hirsch "Literacy and Cultural Literacy" (from Cultural Literacy) (electronic reserve)
March 16    Spring Break

March 23:

          Class Topic: Test scores and college admissions
                              Second papers due

March 30:

          Class Topic: The admissions process in an elite college

          Reading: Steinberg, The Gatekeepers

April 6:

          Class Topic: One student's experience in detail

          Reading: Suskind, Hope in the Unseen

April 13:

          Class Topic: The empirical case for affirmative action
                              Affirmative action and the law

          Reading: Bowen & Bok, The Shape of the River
                        Summary of  the University of Michigan cases
                        Oral Argument in Gratz
                        Oral Argument in Grutter

April 20:

          Class Topic: A beneficiary of affirmative action

          Reading: Carter, Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby

April 27:

          Class topic: Concluding remarks
                             Final paper due