POLS 4365 - Race & Ethnicity
About the Course
This course explores the historical and contemporary efforts by racial and ethnic minorities to gain full inclusion in the U.S. political system. Topics include identity, social movements, and the Prison-Industrial Complex.
Syllabus (as of 2022)
Select Reading
Eberhardt, J. (2020). Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. ISBN: 9780735224957.
Oluo, I. (2018). So You Want to Talk About Race. ISBN: 9781580056779.
Markel, H. (2020, March 30). The long history of blaming immigrants for disease. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-history-blaming-immigrants-times-sickness-180976053/
Masuoka, N., & Junn, J. (2013). The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration. University of Chicago Press.
Select Assignment
PSA Midterm Assignment
You will need to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) in a form of a poster OR 45-second recorded presentation.
What is a Public Service Announcement?
Public service announcements, or PSA's, are short messages produced on film, videotape, DVD, CD, audiotape, poster, or as a computer file and given to radio and television stations. Generally, PSA's are sent as ready-to-air audio or video tapes, although radio stations (especially community or public stations, such as campus radio or National Public Radio affiliates)sometimes prefer a script that their announcers can read live on the air. They can be done very simply with a single actor reading or performing a message, or they can be elaborate, slickly produced messages with music, dramatic story-lines, and sound or visual effects.
Components:
Must have a picture and a slogan.
Poster must include research information about your topic (relevant laws).
The topic of your PSA should be related to racial and ethnic politics.
List of suggested topics (you are not required to choose one of these topics):
1. Gun Control
2. Reproductive Rights
3. Marijuana Legalization
4. Raising the Minimum Wage
5. Criminal Justice Reform
6. Arming Educators
7. Criminal Voting Rights
8. Charter Schools
9. Electoral College
10. Gender Identity
Key points to remember about the writing of a PSA:
The content of the writing should have the right "hooks" -- words or phrases that grab attention --to attract your audience. The PSA should usually (though maybe not 100% of the time) request a specific action, such as calling a specific number to get more information. You ordinarily want listeners to do somethingas a result of having heard the PSA.
Writing your PSA:
Choose points to focus on. Don't overload the viewer or listener with too many different messages. List all the possible messages you'd like to get into the public mind, and then decide on the one or two most vital points. For example, if you educate people about asthma, you might narrow it down to a simple focus point like, "If you have asthma, you shouldn't smoke."• Brainstorm. This is also a good time to look at the PSA's that others have done for ideas.
Check your facts. It's extremely important for your PSA to be accurate. Any facts should be checked and verified before submitting. Is the information up to date? • Identify a "hook". A hook is whatever you use to grab the listener or viewer's attention. A hook can be something funny, it can be catchy music (for those recording), it can be a shocking statistic, it can be an emotional appeal -- whatever makes the listener or viewer interested enough to watch or listen to the rest of your PSA.
Select Student-Created PSAs:
