Dr. Suzanne Smith Office
History 615 Race, Justice, and Memory in Twentieth Century America Spring 2013
Professor: Office: E-mail: Phone:
Dr. Suzanne Smith Robinson, B345 [email protected] (703) 993-2147
1) Course Time and Place: Thursday, 4:30-7:10 pm, University Hall 1203 2) Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:30-3:00 pm and by appointment. 3) Course Description and Objectives: This course examines African Americans' complicated relationship to the criminal justice system in the twentieth century. We will study how the end of slavery and the rise of Jim Crow segregation during Reconstruction directly influenced how the criminal justice system both responded to and reinforced racial inequality in modern America. We will trace the history of the concept of “black criminality” as well as how the convict lease system replicated power relations similar to slavery in the Deep South. We will also examine several pivotal criminal cases including: the 1925 Ossian Sweet Case, the 1930s Scottsboro case, the 1946 Moore's Ford lynching, and the 1955 Emmett Till case to explore how African Americans’ perception of and collective memories about discrimination in the criminal justice system formed over time. Finally, we will study the history of incarceration and the rise of the modern prison industrial complex. The goal of the course is to understand how the criminal justice system became, and continues to be, an institution that both reacts to and reinforces racial inequality in American society. 4) Grading and Assignments: In this course you will be graded in three major areas: 1) Class participation: (25%) 2) Written assignments: Response Papers (30%), due on Blackboard on Thursdays by 10am. Book reviews (20%) 3) Take-home final exam (25%) Due Thursday, May 9 by 5:00 pm.
Assessment: Class participation: Class participation is crucial to one's overall grade and will be assessed by attendance and active participation in class discussions. Written Assignments: Each class you are responsible for a response paper. The paper should address your reactions and interpretations of the readings and any screenings for that week. The papers are relatively informal in structure, yet should address a central question or issue that you found provocative from the readings and any related films. Most importantly, avoid summarizing--move quickly into an analytical response. The goal of the assignment is for you to communicate in short writing exercises (approximately 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages) what you learned that week about course themes through the assigned texts. You should also submit 1 or 2 discussion questions about the readings. The papers and discussion questions are due on Blackboard no later than 10:00 am on Thursdays. NO late papers will be accepted for a grade. Book reviews: During the course of semester, you are required to write two book reviews (5-7 pages). One of these reviews will be an extended response to the assigned book for the course for a particular week. This review will be due the same week the book is discussed. The other review will be a book on the topic of your choice. This review can be submitted for a grade at any point during the semester, but no later than Thursday, April 25. NOTE: The last day to DROP or ADD classes without a tuition penalty is Tuesday, January 29 and the last day to DROP classes with a tuition penalty is Friday, February 22. Decorum and Honor Code: Please make an effort to arrive in class on time. Turn off or silence cell phones before class begins. Laptops are to be used for note taking ONLY. All of George Mason University's academic policies and honor code apply to this course. Violators will be brought before the University's Honor Committee for disciplinary action. 5) Readings: David M. Oshinsky, Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice Kahlil Gibran Muhammad, The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern America Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age James E. Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro Laura Wexler, Fire in a Canebrake Christopher Metress, The Lynching of Emmett Till Danielle L. McGuire, At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance Robert Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire Eric Cummins, The Rise and Fall of California’s Radical Prison Movement William Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice
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Class Schedule: Week 1: Jan. 24
Course Introduction
Week 2: Jan. 31
“Worse Than Slavery”: Jim Crow Justice Reading: Oshinsky, Worse Than Slavery Stuntz, Collapse of American Justice, pp. 1-40 Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 3: Feb. 7
The Condemnation of Blackness Reading: Muhammad, The Condemnation of Blackness Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 4: Feb. 14
Rethinking Criminality in the Urban North Reading: Boyle, Arc of Justice Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 5: Feb. 21
Research Workshop: Fenwick Library Class meets with Jason Byrd, History Department Library Liaison Location: Fenwick Library Instruction Room A-214 Topics: Research Resources for class; Using Zotero **Note this session is optional for History 615 students**
Week 6: Feb. 28
Stories of Scottsboro: Perspectives on Narrative History Reading: Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 7: March 7
The Last Mass Lynching in America Reading: Wexler, Fire in a Canebrake Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 8: March 14
Spring Break—Enjoy!
Week 9: March 21
The Emmett Till Case Viewed Through Primary Sources Reading: Metress, The Lynching of Emmett Till Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
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Week 10: March 28 Criminal Justice and Gender Reading: McGuire, At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am. Week 11: April 4
The Rise of the America’s Prison Empire Reading: Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 12: April 11
No Class
Week 13: April 18
The Prison Rights Movement Reading: Cummins, The Rise and Fall of California’s Radical Prison Movement Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 14: April 25
The Collapse of American Criminal Justice Reading: Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, pp. 41-243 Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am. **Oral Presentations from History 711**
Week 15: May 2
Final Conclusions Readings: Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, pp. 244-312 Heather Ann Thompson, “Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History,” Journal of American History, December 2010 (Available on Blackboard) Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am. **Oral Presentations from History 711**
**Take Home Final is due Thursday, May 9 at 5:00 pm. No late exams will be accepted under any circumstances.
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Professor: Office: E-mail: Phone:
Dr. Suzanne Smith Robinson, B345 [email protected] (703) 993-2147
1) Course Time and Place: Thursday, 4:30-7:10 pm, University Hall 1203 2) Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:30-3:00 pm and by appointment. 3) Course Description and Objectives: This course examines African Americans' complicated relationship to the criminal justice system in the twentieth century. We will study how the end of slavery and the rise of Jim Crow segregation during Reconstruction directly influenced how the criminal justice system both responded to and reinforced racial inequality in modern America. We will trace the history of the concept of “black criminality” as well as how the convict lease system replicated power relations similar to slavery in the Deep South. We will also examine several pivotal criminal cases including: the 1925 Ossian Sweet Case, the 1930s Scottsboro case, the 1946 Moore's Ford lynching, and the 1955 Emmett Till case to explore how African Americans’ perception of and collective memories about discrimination in the criminal justice system formed over time. Finally, we will study the history of incarceration and the rise of the modern prison industrial complex. The goal of the course is to understand how the criminal justice system became, and continues to be, an institution that both reacts to and reinforces racial inequality in American society. 4) Grading and Assignments: In this course you will be graded in three major areas: 1) Class participation: (25%) 2) Written assignments: Response Papers (30%), due on Blackboard on Thursdays by 10am. Book reviews (20%) 3) Take-home final exam (25%) Due Thursday, May 9 by 5:00 pm.
Assessment: Class participation: Class participation is crucial to one's overall grade and will be assessed by attendance and active participation in class discussions. Written Assignments: Each class you are responsible for a response paper. The paper should address your reactions and interpretations of the readings and any screenings for that week. The papers are relatively informal in structure, yet should address a central question or issue that you found provocative from the readings and any related films. Most importantly, avoid summarizing--move quickly into an analytical response. The goal of the assignment is for you to communicate in short writing exercises (approximately 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages) what you learned that week about course themes through the assigned texts. You should also submit 1 or 2 discussion questions about the readings. The papers and discussion questions are due on Blackboard no later than 10:00 am on Thursdays. NO late papers will be accepted for a grade. Book reviews: During the course of semester, you are required to write two book reviews (5-7 pages). One of these reviews will be an extended response to the assigned book for the course for a particular week. This review will be due the same week the book is discussed. The other review will be a book on the topic of your choice. This review can be submitted for a grade at any point during the semester, but no later than Thursday, April 25. NOTE: The last day to DROP or ADD classes without a tuition penalty is Tuesday, January 29 and the last day to DROP classes with a tuition penalty is Friday, February 22. Decorum and Honor Code: Please make an effort to arrive in class on time. Turn off or silence cell phones before class begins. Laptops are to be used for note taking ONLY. All of George Mason University's academic policies and honor code apply to this course. Violators will be brought before the University's Honor Committee for disciplinary action. 5) Readings: David M. Oshinsky, Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice Kahlil Gibran Muhammad, The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern America Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age James E. Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro Laura Wexler, Fire in a Canebrake Christopher Metress, The Lynching of Emmett Till Danielle L. McGuire, At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance Robert Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire Eric Cummins, The Rise and Fall of California’s Radical Prison Movement William Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice
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Class Schedule: Week 1: Jan. 24
Course Introduction
Week 2: Jan. 31
“Worse Than Slavery”: Jim Crow Justice Reading: Oshinsky, Worse Than Slavery Stuntz, Collapse of American Justice, pp. 1-40 Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 3: Feb. 7
The Condemnation of Blackness Reading: Muhammad, The Condemnation of Blackness Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 4: Feb. 14
Rethinking Criminality in the Urban North Reading: Boyle, Arc of Justice Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 5: Feb. 21
Research Workshop: Fenwick Library Class meets with Jason Byrd, History Department Library Liaison Location: Fenwick Library Instruction Room A-214 Topics: Research Resources for class; Using Zotero **Note this session is optional for History 615 students**
Week 6: Feb. 28
Stories of Scottsboro: Perspectives on Narrative History Reading: Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 7: March 7
The Last Mass Lynching in America Reading: Wexler, Fire in a Canebrake Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 8: March 14
Spring Break—Enjoy!
Week 9: March 21
The Emmett Till Case Viewed Through Primary Sources Reading: Metress, The Lynching of Emmett Till Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
3
Week 10: March 28 Criminal Justice and Gender Reading: McGuire, At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am. Week 11: April 4
The Rise of the America’s Prison Empire Reading: Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 12: April 11
No Class
Week 13: April 18
The Prison Rights Movement Reading: Cummins, The Rise and Fall of California’s Radical Prison Movement Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am.
Week 14: April 25
The Collapse of American Criminal Justice Reading: Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, pp. 41-243 Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am. **Oral Presentations from History 711**
Week 15: May 2
Final Conclusions Readings: Stuntz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, pp. 244-312 Heather Ann Thompson, “Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History,” Journal of American History, December 2010 (Available on Blackboard) Assignment: Response Paper and Discussion Questions due by Thursday at 10:00 am. **Oral Presentations from History 711**
**Take Home Final is due Thursday, May 9 at 5:00 pm. No late exams will be accepted under any circumstances.
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