The course text: Ethnicity and Race by S. Cornell and D. Hartmann(2007); the 1st edition.
Project 1: Definitions
Use Cornell and Hartmann in Chapters 2 to 4 to discuss the core concepts of ethnicity and race. Enlist class discussion including support materials notably. Address the following points:
1. What definition of ethnicity has the most merit for the authors and which is represented in the text?
2. What gives ethnicity a “primordial” quality that separates it from other social identities? [See especially pages 48 to 56.]
3. Reference the Diamond article and the video “Race: Not Biological” to support the authors’ position that “race” is not a natural or biological category. What do they mean by race as a “social” concept? Reference the Rachel Dolezal case (see “Supplementary Readings”) for insights into the use of cultural as well as physical differences in making claims about racial identity.
4. In the view of the authors, how do race and ethnicity overlap? How are they different?