On
the History of Science
and the Origins of Race
SS
490.07
North
Hall 112
Department of
Social Science & Cultural Studies
Pratt
Institute
Spring
2008
Thursday
9:30- 12:20
_____________________________________________________________________
B.
Ricardo Brown, Ph.D.
Associate
Professor of Cultural Studies
Office:
Dekalb 419 Office
Hours:
TBA.
Phone:
1.718.636.3600 Email:
BRBrownIII@earthlink.net
URLs:
http://www.oocities.org/brbgc
_____________________________________________________________________
Course
Description
We
often try to understand race as it confronts us today, either as a
source of diversity and multiculturalism or as a social problem. This
is not surprising given the fact that racism is a
historical
production and so today we still exist amidst its' vast accumulation.
But racism presupposes the existence of Race,
of something so essential to us that it is visibly manifested
by our
bodies, and these manifestations fall into a limited number of
scientifically defined types. Race began as a scientific concept
within the discourse of Natural History, but with far
reaching
connections to nationalism, sexuality, industrialism, and
authoritarianism. To place our contemporary discussion of human
variety into a historical context, this class will
investigate the
history of scientific discourses on race from Blumenbach’s
classification of humanity into the five familiar races, to
Gobineau’s Essay
of the Inequality of Human Races,
the Social “Darwinists”, and Dugdale’s classic
study of degeneration The
Jukes.
Along the way,
we will examine the debate on the origin of species, whether races
represent different
species of humans (the monogenesis/polygenesis
dispute in Antebellum America), phrenology, intelligence testing,
criminal anthropology, the culture of poverty, and degeneration.
Throughout the semester, you will be prompted to apply what we are
learning to the discussion of contemporary ideas and conflicts
regarding race and racism. At the same time, these
readings should
encourage you to rethink your basic assumptions about authority and
domination, and the relations of the production of scientific
knowledge both in the past, and in our
own time.
_____________________________________________________________________
Course
Requirements
The
requirements of the course are different for undergraduates and
graduate students, see
section
of essay requirements below.
Presentations
and Commentaries
Students
are expected to give at least one presentation during the semester on
the readings for the class. The presenter will prepare a two page
typed commentary (approximately 650
– 700 words), which will be
read or summarized in class. Copies will be distributed at the
beginning of class (those presenting must see me immediately before
class so that copies can
be prepared or bring your own copies to
class. Those not presenting should prepare a commentary on the
readingss for the week (three pages or approximately 1000 words). At
the
end of the semester, each student should have a collection of
15-30 pages) and 1 three page presentation. The commentaries will be
collected 3 times during the semester.
Or
to put it another way:
If
you are presenting a commentary:
Prepare
three typed pages to be read or summarized to the class
(approximately1000 words). Meet
me in my office immediately before class in order to make copies for
the class.
If
you are not presenting a commentary:
Prepare
a 1-2 page (approximately 700 words) commentary on the reading and
the in class commentary on the reading.
The
presentations and commentaries will account for 40 percent.
Short
Essay (Requirements
for
Undergraduates)
A
short essay (5-10 pages) will be due at the end of the course. The
essay question will be distributed at the final class.
Short
Essay (Requirements for Graduate Students)
NA
Class
Participation
Education
is not a one way street and we can not expect to simply passively
receive knowledge unless we expect to live a passive life.
Participation is mandatory and will be factored
into the final grade.
Absences
and Lateness
Persistent
absences or lateness will result in a reduction of your final grade.
Incompletes
Incompletes
will be granted only in accordance with the established policy of the
college. The request must be made in advance of the last week of
class. It must be made in writing. An
incomplete is “available only if the student has been in
regular attendance, has satisfied all but the final requirements of
the course, and has furnished satisfactory
proof that the work was
not completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond
control” (Pratt
Institute Bulletin). If you do
not
turn in your paper on time,
and you do not have an approved
incomplete, you will fail the course. If
you do not complete your work be the beginning of the next semester,
I will not issue a
change of grade except under the most
extraordinary circumstances.
_____________________________________________________________________
Readings
The
readings for the class will be drawn from a wide variety of sources.
The primary texts that you will want to purchase for this course are:
Gossett,
Thomas. 1963. Race:
the History of an Idea in America. Oxford University Press, 2
edition (July 21, 1997) ISBN: 0195097785
Gould,
Stephen Jay. 1996. The
Mismeasure of Man.
2nd.
Revised Edition. New York, W.W. Norton. ISBN: 0393314251
Appleman,
Philip, ed. 1979. Darwin:
A Norton Critical Edition.
New York: W.W. Norton, 3rd edition. ISBN:
0393958493
It
is suggested that you also purchase:
Mosse,
George L. 1985. Toward
the Final Solution: A History of European Racism.
New York: Howard Fertig. ISBN: 0865274282
Suggested
sources for purchasing the readings:
Labyrinths
Books http://www.labyrinthbooks.com
The
Advanced Book Exchange www.abebooks.com
Barnes
and Nobles www.bn.com
Amazon http://www.amazon.com
St.
Marks Bookstop http://www.stmarksbookshop.com
The
Strand second-hand
store on 12th
street
www.strandbooks.com
_____________________________________________________________________
Outline
of the
Course of Study
Week
I. Introduction to the Course
Week
II. Race before Enlightenment: Natural History and the
Classification of Nature
Thomas
Gossett, 1963. “Early Race Theories” from
Race: the History of an Idea in America,
pgs.3- 17.
Week
III. The Question Concerning the Origin of Species and the “Regular
Gradation in Man”
Gavin
De Beer. “Biology before Darwin” in Appleman, pgs. 3-10.
Charles
Darwin. “An Historical Sketch of the Progress of Opinion on The
Origin of Species, Previously to the Publication of This Work”
in Appleman, pgs. 19-27.
Stephen
J. Gould.”Age-old fallacies of thinking and stinking,”
from The Mismeasure of Man,
pgs.391-399.
Stephen
J. Gould. “Racial geometry,” and “The moral state
of Tahiti – and of Darwin,” from The Mismeasure
of Man, pgs. 401-412
Week
IV. The Question Concerning the Origin of Species: The American
School Monogenesis vs. Polygenesis
Stephen
J. Gould. American Polygeny and Craniometry before Darwin, from The
Mismeasure of Man,
pgs. 62-104.
Thomas
Gossett. 1963, “Nineteenth Century Anthropology” from
Race: the History of an Idea in America
Week
V. The Origin Of Species and The Descent of Man
Charles
Darwin. “Recapitulation and Conclusions” from The
Origin of Species, and
The
Dissent of Man
in Appleman, pgs. 43-88, 108-131, 187-210.
Week
VI. The Sciences of Life and Man
Thomas
Gossett. “Race and Social Darwinism” from
Race: the History of an Idea in America,
pgs. 144-175.
Inherit
the Wind
Week
VII. Degeneracy
Max Nordau. 1892. Degeneration,
pgs. 1-40.
Degenerate
Art (Documentary Film
in
class)
Week
VIII. Criminal Anthropology
Stephen
J. Gould. “Measuring Bodies: Two Case Studies on the Apishness
of Undesirables” from
The Mismeasure of Man,
pgs. 141-175.
Week
IX.
Thomas Gossett.
“Teutonic
Origins Theory,” and “Study of Language and Literature,” from Race,
the History of an Idea, pgs. 84-143.
Week
X.
The
Anthropologist (Documentary
Film in class)
Week
XI.
The
First Americans? (Documentary
Film in class)
Week
XII. The Germ-Plasm and Racial Destiny
George
Canguilhem. 1988 [1977]. “On the History of the Life Sciences
Since Darwin,” from Ideology
and Rationality in the History of the Life Sciences,
pgs. 103-124.
Week
XIII. Eugenics
Daniel
J. Kevles. 1995, In
the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity, pgs. 3-20, 70-112, 129-148
Week
XIV.
The
Floating Signifier
Stuart
Hall. Race,
the
Floating Signifier.
Video Lecture
Week
XV. Copies of Commentaries
Due (you will need to keep a copy for use in answering the essay
question).
Essay
Question Distributed
SYLLABUS
ATTACHMENT
ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY
Pratt
Institute considers Academic Integrity highly important. Instances of
cheating, plagiarism, and wrongful use of intellectual property will
not be tolerated.
- • Faculty members
will report each incident to the registrar for inclusion in students’
files.
- ·More than one
report to the registrar during a student’s program of study at Pratt
will result in a hearing before the Academic Integrity Board, at which
time appropriate sanctions will be decided. These may include dismissal
from the Institute.
- ·The nature and
severity of the infraction will be determined by faculty members who
can: ask students to repeat an assignment, fail students on the
assignment, fail students in the course and/or refer the incident to
the Academic Integrity Board.
For
more details about these procedures please see the Pratt Student
Handbook, the Pratt
Bulletins,
and the pamphlet entitled Judicial
Procedures at Pratt.
CHEATING
If
students use dishonest methods to fulfill course requirements, they
are cheating. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:
- • Obtaining or
offering copies of exams or information about the content of exams in
advance.
- • Bringing notes in
any form to a closed book exam.
- • Looking at another
student’s paper during an exam.
- • Receiving or
communicating any information from or to another student during an
exam.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism
is a bit more complicated, but the rules of documentation and
citation are very specific and are tailored to different academic
disciplines. Types of plagiarism include: Including any
material from any source other than you in a paper or project without
proper attribution. This includes material from the Internet, books,
papers, or projects by other students, and from any other source.
Using your own work
to fulfill requirements for more than one course
The extensive use
of the ideas of others in your work without proper attribution
Turning in work
done by another person or a fellow student as one’s own.
Please
remember that all work must be the student’s own. If it is not,
the source should be cited and documented appropriately.
If
there are aspects of this statement that are not understood, ask
faculty members for help.
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