Requirements (Spring 2025)
Late Paper Policy: We all have limits to our time (including me!). For an assignment to count as completed "on time," I don't give extensions for time management issues alone. Just let me know you're struggling with time and get the work in as close to the deadline as you possibly can. But if you are struggling due to family, personal, medical difficulties and crises, please reach out and talk to me! We always work out an alternative deadline together, and then you will always have the opportunity to get the work in without penalty. Not all work goes the way we want it to, but it's all some form of learning! The most important thing is for you to feel like you can get the work done and move on.
1) Discussion leadership and avid participation (40%)Participation includes: Regular and prompt attendance, engaged discussion and Moodle forum contribution (including as film discussants), responsible and responsive blog peer review partnering and blog commentary online and in class, engaged and well-prepped discussion facilitation, assignments in on time.
2) Five informal blog commentaries (35%)
- Comments on your blog partner's Moodle forum due the following Monday, midnight.
Analysis of a contemporary event, controversy, performance, media product, or set of debates about race/ethnicity and transnational China utilizing anthropological approaches to racialization (defining your terms!), with reference to course materials (at least 5 course texts) and credible sources on relevant contexts and histories.
4) Extra Credit!!
Attend an online "race" or "ethnicity" or China-related lecture or event at Reed or elsewhere and upload to our Moodle Course-Related Announcements, News and Events forum an informal commentary (250 words) relating the event to issues raised in course readings/films.
Avoid Plagiarism! Plagiarism is the failure to acknowledge one's use of another's work. Many people mistakenly believe that plagiarism can occur only if the writer willfully appropriates someone else's words or ideas in a paper. This is not the case. Whether by intent or by omission, plagiarism occurs whenever one utilizes another's language, concepts, or creative work in any medium and fails to accurately cite the author or source. The Reed Honor Principle, which you have agreed to uphold as a student at Reed College, prohibits such acts of academic dishonesty. To avoid plagiarism, take comprehensive, accurate notes and consult a writers' manual for the proper form with which to cite your sources. More questions? See the Doyle Writing Center's Guidelines on Plagiarism and Citation.
NOTE: When you write papers and other course discourse, you are claiming the words and the ideas within them as your own. Thus for this class, you may not use generative artificial intelligence or large language models such as Chat GPT to compose all or part of your papers, Moodle blog posts, comments or discussion questions. Such materials written entirely or in part by others, including generative AI, will be considered violations of academic integrity and the Honor Principle. However, some uses of AI tools are permitted (see the course AI Tools Policy).
Course Organization:
Classes will revolve around faculty and student-led discussions of course readings and video clips. The main assignment is a series of five informal blog commentaries on the course materials, which will culminate in a final paper proposal. This work will be interactive all along, with assigned blog commentary partners reading and commenting on each other's commentaries. We will switch blog partners three times across the semester. Your commentaries will help you prepare for your final 10-12 page paper, in which you will discuss and analyze a relevant event, controversy, performance, media product, or set of debates with reference to anthropological approaches to race, ethnicity and racialization and course materials (at least five course texts), in addition to credible sources on the contexts and histories of your chosen event(s).
I will expect your avid participation--including regular attendance, prompt completion of assignments, and active involvement in discussions and Moodle forums whenever possible. In fact, participation will comprise a significant portion of your grade. Beginning week 2 class members will take turns posting discussion questions on the class moodle and helping to lead class discussions. Further, all students will sign up to be "film discussants" in class and online for at least 2 of the 5 assigned films.
Reading and writing assignments are meant to encourage close, critical engagement with the history and cultural politics of race, ethnicity and other forms of social differentiation, hierarchy and inequality in transnational China, as well as your thoughtful reflection on the issues they raise in the context of the anthropological perspective on racialization presented in class. The reading load is moderate and it is assigned per week. On average, you should expect to put in two to three hours of work outside of class for every hour of in-class time.
In the online syllabus, in addition to assignment guidelines, weekly further readings, links and related films are provided for your use. These materials are especially relevant or provide differing viewpoints; they offer points of departure for deepening your understanding of particular issues.
Required readings are marked on the syllabus for where they can be found. Several books are available in the bookstore (these have multiple chapters assigned); they will also be on book reserve (some in the form of ebooks). In addition, all required readings are available on-line, through ereserves. Ereserves can be accessed at the top of the course Moodle page. Please let me know if you have any trouble obtaining the readings. To facilitate discussion, you should have all the readings for the day and your notes ready to consult during class.
Sensitive Topics and Ethical Use of Images
Anthropology courses address some of the most sensitive issues humans face (kinship, race, gender, sexuality, class inequality, violence, state politics, etc.). At the same time, class discussion is the central activity of this course and students are required to be proactive in their preparation for it. I define active participation in class as promoting a positive and inclusive learning environment through respectful discourse with students and me about the topics at hand. While most of our readings, films and assignments will not directly portray graphic or violent material, I will use "Content Notes" to alert class members to any such content ahead of time. I prefer that term (vs. "Trigger warnings") because it avoids psychologizing us and does not assume what our responses to material will be. I also prefer the more neutral-sounding "Content Notes" because it encourages us not to prematurely foreclose our engagements with difficult material, but just to be aware of our own needs and to provide extra care for ourselves if necessary.
Similarly, please be thoughtful and respectful in your image-sharing practices (in your blogs, photo essays, and Moodle posts). All images or videos shared with class members or me should be framed or contextualized with some information about their sources, why they are relevant to the discussion and any Content Notes you feel are needed.
Disability and Accessibility Resources and this course
If you have a disability that may impact your work in this class and you have received an accommodations letter from Disability and Accessibility Resources, I encourage you to meet with me early in the semester or as soon as possible after receiving your letter. Discussing your accommodation needs early on can help clarify expectations and allow time to implement accommodations that require some coordination. If you have not yet requested accommodations through Disability and Accessibility Resources for this semester, or you are interested in learning about disability and accessibility resources at Reed, I encourage you to contact DAR at dar@reed.edu to request an appointment.
Ilness-related Absences
When your health allows, you are expected to be present and engaged in class. At the same time, each community member has an individual responsibility to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and other infectious diseases. Following public health guidance is part of living in an honorable community. For our class, masking is OPTIONAL, unless you have an active virus/cold, then please mask to protect others.
The following recommendations should guide your decision about coming to class:
- Self-isolation is the recommended course of action for anyone experiencing flu-like, especially respiratory symptoms, whether due to possible coronavirus or to other illnesses. Please stay at home if you feel sick, and contact the Health and Counseling Center (HCC) or your healthcare provider to discuss. If you test positive for COVID-19, the CDC recommends that: You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:
- Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
- You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).
- When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors. This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.
- Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.
- If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precaution for the next 5 days.
- The CDC suggests that people with the following symptoms may have COVID: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea. As always, please consult a medical professional (members of the HCC or otherwise) if you have any questions about your health or health safety.
If you need to miss a class, or series of classes, due to illness, self-isolation, and/or quarantine, you are responsible for emailing me to let me know as soon as possible. You are also responsible for coordinating with me to complete work that you might miss due to absences. I will always provide makeup options in cases of excused absence; this might include a written response, a Moodle post, or other check-in assignments.