Overview

The purpose of this course is to study whiteness theory with a view to developing practical, relational, and creative responses to the normalization of whiteness in classrooms and other educational settings. Increasingly, progressive educators have taken up whiteness theory as a way to help white students recognize that racism is more than a matter of prejudice; it is also a question of how white privilege, dominance, and centrality are normalized. Whiteness theory is intended to make white cultural assumptions and privileges visible so that whites do not assume that their own position is neutral or normal. Although in many ways consistent with the aims of multicultural theory, whiteness theory is also distinct from multiculturalism. Multicultural theory involves fostering an appreciation of cultures other than the dominant culture; in its more radical forms, multiculturalism also involves problematizing the assumptions of the dominant culture. But because multicultural approaches are concerned with displacing white culture from its position of dominance, they usually do not focus on whiteness as a distinctive culture or identity. Whiteness theory focuses specifically on whiteness as a position and identity that, to a considerable extent, are gained at the expense of people of color.

Whiteness theory makes an important contribution to anti-racist inquiry by making visible the ways in which white privilege and dominance are actively fostered and maintained. But whereas whiteness theory is often concerned primarily with analysis, deconstruction, and critique, this class will move towards productive and creative ways to rethink and rearticulate whiteness. Each student is to develop a project in her or his area of interest that makes visible the workings of whiteness, while also lending support to new ways of moving. Examples of projects might include a high school social studies unit on the Civil War, a curriculum for museum docents, a restructuring of parent-teacher conferences, a workshop on documentary photographs, or a rethinking of relational pedagogy in the classroom.

The emphasis in the projects should be on setting a direction for yourself and laying the groundwork for new explorations and undertakings. I am less interested in seeing complete and polished lesson plans, for example, than in hearing about the thinking that goes into starting a different kind of lesson plan. Where do you begin to look for resources, how do you start to think about the existing structures of learning and meaning-making, how do you provide back-up for alternative ways of thinking and learning? To the extent that the emphasis in a lesson plan is on a polished product, it probably will not be all that useful to you — it will become an artifact, rather than a tool to initiate change. What I would like to see instead, therefore, is something that gives me a rich sense of how you can begin to think about preparing your students differently — prepare them to enter into a new kind of conversation with you and with one another. The same principle applies to other kinds of projects. The emphasis should not be on pristine plans or finished analyses but on alternative approaches that are somewhat open-ended, approaches for which you are figuring out some first steps.

The projects should include a written commentary (5-7 pages) explaining your thinking as well as concrete materials that you develop that would be useful to you in decentering whiteness in educational work. It may be helpful to think of the midterm analysis as providing an example of the kind of decentering you want to support (e.g., a deconstruction of whiteness in a painting or a novel) and then, for the final project, develop some of the tools, collect the resources, and undertake the pedagogical rethinking needed to help others enter into conversation with you about that analysis in your context (e.g., a museum or a sixth-grade classroom).

Structure

The class will meet twice a week, each time discussing the readings on the syllabus. To participate actively in class, it is essential that you read carefully, prepare questions, and jot down any issues you wish to discuss. I will make short presentations to provide necessary background information. My primary role, however, will be to ask questions, clarify points raised in our discussions, and summarize the important issues that we discuss.

Texts

Ann Berlak and Sekani Moyenda, Taking It Personally: Racism in the Classroom from Kindergarten to College (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001).

articles available on electronic reserve at the Marriott library

Course Requirements

In addition to the assigned reading, regular attendance, and participation grounded in the readings, course requirements include a midterm paper (5 pages), and a longer final project with a written commentary (the commentary section should be approximately 5-7 pages). All papers should be typed, double-spaced, and proofread. Students will also give presentations of their projects at the end of the course.

Schedule of Class Topics and Reading

Wed. 9 May                                                         I. Introduction

Reading:

• Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” in Race: An Anthology in the First Person, ed. Bart Schneider (New York: Crown, 1997), 120-26.

Activities: Figure/ground drawing
discussion of Guidelines for Cross-Race Relations in the Classroom handout

Fri. 11 May                                                         II. Whiteness and Pedagogy

Reading:

• Ann Berlak and Sekani Moyenda, Taking It Personally: Racism in the Classroom from Kindergarten to College (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001), 1-85.

Mon. 14 May                                                         III. Race Relationships in the Classroom

Readings:

• Ann Berlak and Sekani Moyenda, Taking It Personally: Racism in the Classroom from Kindergarten to College (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001), 89-172.
• Alison Jones, “The Limits of Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Pedagogy, Desire, and Absolution in the Classroom,” Educational Theory 49, no. 3 (Summer 1999): 299-316.
• Kathy Hytten and John Warren, “Engaging Whiteness: How Racial Power Gets Reified in Education,” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 16, no. 1 (January-February 2003): 65-89.

Activity: discussion of Listening Virtues and Vices worksheet

Fri. 18 May                                                         IV. Mixed-Race Classrooms

Readings:

• Jennifer Kelly, “‘You Can’t Get Angry with a Person’s Life’: Negotiating Aboriginal Women’s Writing, Whiteness, and Multicultural Nationalism in a University Classroom,” in Creating Community: A Roundtable on Canadian Aboriginal Literature, ed. Renate Eigenbrod and Jo-Ann Episkenew (Penticton, BC and Brandon, MB: Theytys Books/Bearpaw Publishing, 2002), 147-86.
• Helen Fox, “Having a ‘Civil Conversation,’” in “When Race Breaks out”: Conversations about Race and Racism in College Classrooms (New York: Peter Lang, 2001), 65-79.
• Sherene H. Razack, “Storytelling for Social Change,” in Returning the Gaze: Essays on Racism, Feminism and Politics, ed. Himani Bannerji (Toronto, ON: Sister Vision Press, 1993), 83-100.

Wed. 23 May                                                         V. Guilt and Responsibility

Readings:

• The Combahee River Collective, “A Black Feminist Statement,” in All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women’s Studies, ed. Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith (New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1982), 13-22.
• Marilyn Frye, “White Woman Feminist,” in Willful Virgin: Essays in Feminism, 1976-1992 (Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1992), 147-69.
• Jeanne Perreault, “White Feminist Guilt, Abject Scripts, and (Other) Transformative Necessities,” West Coast Line 28, no. 13/14 (Spring/Fall 1994): 226-38.
• Minnie Bruce Pratt, “Identity: Skin Blood Heart,” in Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism, by Elly Bulkin, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Barbara Smith (New York: Long Haul Press, 1984), 11-63.

Activity: further discussion of Guidelines for Cross-Race Relations in the Classroom handout
further discussion of Listening Virtues and Vices worksheet

Th. 24 May                                                         VI. Innocence and Ignorance

Readings:

• Audrey Thompson, “Intellectual Alibis,” paper presented for the “Critical Whiteness Studies” plenary panel. Third International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (Urbana-Champaign, IL: May, 2007).
• Electronic handout summarizing whiteness theory frameworks:  http://www.pauahtun.org/Whiteness-Summary-1.html

Activities: Film and discussion: The Color of Fear

Tues. 29 May                                                     VII. Integrity, Coherence, and Definitional Logics

Readings:

• Arian Campo-Flores, “A ‘War’ for Inclusion: Hispanics Seek a Role in the New Ken Burns Film,” Newsweek 149, no. 17 (April 23, 2007): 47.
• Tom Holm, “Methodology in Cherokee Tribal History,” in American Indian Issues in Higher Education, ed. Spring Conference on Contemporary American Indian Issues (Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, 1981), 167-74.
• Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, “The Context of Colonialism in Writing American Indian History,” in American Indian Issues in Higher Education, ed. Spring Conference on Contemporary American Indian Issues (Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, 1981), 159-65.
• Kevin K. Kumashiro, “Queer Students of Color and Antiracist, Antiheterosexist Education: Paradoxes of Identity and Activism” in Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality: Queer Students of Color and Anti-Oppressive Education, ed. Kevin K. Kumashiro (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), 1-25.

Th. 31 May                                                         VIII. Exoticization, Projection, and Selective Iconification

Readings:

• Herbert Kohl, “The Story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Revisited,” in Should We Burn Babar? Essays on Children’s Literature and the Power of Stories (New York: The New Press, 1995), 30-56.
• Naomi Wood, “Domesticating Dreams in Walt Disney’s Cinderella,” The Lion and the Unicorn 20, no. 1 (June 1996): 25-49.
• Andy Smith, “For All Those Who Were Indian in a Former Life,” in Ecofeminism and the Sacred, ed. Carol J. Adams (New York: Continuum, 1993), 168-71.
• Judy Sierra, “The Invisible One (Native American: Micmac),” in Cinderella, illus. Joanne Caroselli (Westport, CT: Oryx Press, 1992), 119-21.
• Joan M. Wolf, “Cinderella Walks the World! (A Cultural Look at Fairy Tales),” in The Beanstalk and Beyond: Developing Critical Thinking through Fairy Tales (Englewood, CO: Teacher Ideas Press, 1997), 33-42.

Activities:
Activity: Deconstructing whiteness in film

Fri. 1 June                                                         Midterm Paper due by 7 p.m.

Mon. 4 June                                                     IX. Racial Formation and Investments in Whiteness

Readings:

• George Lipsitz, “The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the ‘White’ Problem in American Studies,” American Quarterly 47, no. 3 (September, 1995): 369-87.
• George A. Martinez, “Mexican Americans and Whiteness,” in The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader, ed. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (New York: New York University Press, 1998), 175-79.
• Neil Foley, “Becoming Hispanic: Mexican Americans and the Faustian Pact with Whiteness,” in Reflexiones 1997: New Directions in Mexican American Studies, ed. Neil Foley (Austin, TX: CMAS Books, 1998), 53-70.
• Lionel de Montigny, “Racism and Cultural Indian Adaptations,” in The Only Good Indian: Essays by Canadian Indians, ed. Waubageshig (Toronto: New Press, 1970), 111-24.

Wed. 6 June                                                     X. Frameworks and Categories of Analysis

Readings:

• James D. Anderson, “Race-Conscious Student Assignment Policies and Reconstruction Legislation: A Historical Perspective,” AERA Distinguished Lecture, Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Chicago: April, 2007).
• Perry Gilmore, David M. Smith, and Apacuar Larry Kairaiuak, “Resisting Diversity: An Alaskan Case of Institutional Struggle,” in Off White: Readings on Race, Power, and Society, ed. Michelle Fine, Lois Weis, Linda C. Powell, and L. Mun Wong (New York: Routledge, 1997), 90-99.

Activities: Math worksheet

Th. 14 June                                                     XI. Writing and Rewriting White Stories

Guest Speaker: Dr. Rebecca Aanerud (University of Washington)

Readings:

• Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, 1984), 110-13.
• Ruth Frankenberg, “‘When We Are Capable of Stopping, We Begin to See’: Being White, Seeing Whiteness,” in Names We Call Home: Autobiography on Racial Identity, ed. Becky Thompson and Sangeeta Tyagi (New York: Routledge, 1996), 2-17.
• Biddy Martin and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, “Feminist Politics: What’s Home Got to Do with It?” in Feminist Studies, Critical Studies, ed. Teresa de Lauretis (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 191-212.

Tues. 26 June                                             XIII. Contradictions in Putting Anti-racism into Practice

Reading:

• Andrew Gitlin, Edward Buendía, Kristin Crosland, and Fodé Doumbia, “The Production of Margin and Center: Welcoming-Unwelcoming of Immigrant Students,” American Educational Research Journal 40, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 91-122.
• Charise Nahm Pimentel, “Building Relationships of Trust: George Pott’s Story,” in On Becoming a Multicultural Teacher: Three Case Studies of White Teachers in Diverse Classrooms [Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation] (Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 2006), 152-204.

Activities: Presentation of projects
Discussion of Whiteness Theory Teaching Tips worksheet

Fri. 13 July                                                   XIV. Whiteness and Religious Education

Guest Speaker:  Candis Harrington

Fri. 20 July                                                   Final projects due by 4:30 p.m.