Class meets in person in HH 306 on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm and live on Google Meet on Wednesday from 4:00 - 4:50 pm unless otherwise indicated. Assigned readings should be completed before class the day they are listed (since we'll discuss in class).

Note that UMD defines 1 credit hour as being equal to 3 hours of work. This is a 4 credit hour class, so in total you should expect to spend about 12 hours a week on this class. 4 hours are devoted to attending class, leaving 8 hours per week for reading, writing, etc. Please let me know if you find that you are spending significantly more time on this class than that. 

Week 1

• Tue Aug 26 :  [HH 306] First Day of Class. Introductions. What's In A Name? 

• Wed Aug 27 : [Google Meet] Read the Introduction of So You Want To Talk About Race (aka Talk About Race). Discuss. 

• Thur Aug 28 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 1 and 2 of Talk About Race. Discuss. What is a Personal Essay? 

  • Note that the Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2 are approximately 30 pages.

Week 2

• Tue Sept 2 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 3 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

• Wed Sept 3 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 4 of Talk about Race. Discuss.

• Thu Sept 4 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 5 and 6 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

  • Note that Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 are approximately 60 pages.

• Sun Sept 7 : Personal Essay #1 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : Discuss your personal experiences of race. What race do you consider yourself to be, and how has that factored into your life? What advantages or disadvantages come with being a member of your race? Have you experienced racism or prejudice due to being a member of your race? If so, and only if you are comfortable doing so, please discuss those experiences and the impact they have had on you. Have you had close friends or family of other races? If so, what races were they, and how did you perceive their race impacting their lives? What advantages or disadvantages did you perceive their race causing them? Did they experience racism or prejudice due to being a member of their race? If so, what impact do you believe that those experiences had on them, and did it have any impact on you? 

Week 3

• Tue Sept 9 : Read Chapter 7 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

• Wed Sept 10 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 8 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Thur Sept 11 : Read Chapter 9, 10, and 11 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

  • Note that Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are approximately 65 pages.

Week 4

• Tue Sept 16 : Read Chapter 12 and 13 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Wed Sept 17 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 14 of Talk About Race. Discuss

• Thur Sept 18 : Read Chapter 15 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

  • Note that Chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 are approximately 50 pages.

• Sun Sept 21 : Personal Essay #2 due by 11:59. 

  • Here is your prompt : Which two chapters in So You Want To Talk About Race have made the biggest impressions on you? These can be positive or negative impressions. A positive impression could be based on it having some connection with your life (past, present, or future) and/or being helpful in giving you ways to handle or understand a situation you may have faced or worry about in some way. A negative impression could be based on a chapter (or ideas in a chapter) contradicting your experiences or causing confusion or even disagreement with what you believe. What were these chapters about and why did they make the impression they did? Please support your observations with specific examples from your own experiences. Make sure to identify the chapters by number and/or the question it asks. Please make sure you have read Chapters 1 through 11 before deciding on these. If you have read even further that is better still. 

Week 5

• Tue Sept 23 : Read Chapter 16 and 17 of Talk About Race. Discuss. Wrap up Talk About Race.

• Wed Sept 24 : [Google Meet] Midterm 1 take home exam questions introduced.

• Thur Sept 25 :  [no class] work on Midterm 1.

Week 6

• Tue Sept 30 :  [no class] Midterm 1 due by 11:59 pm.

• Wed Oct 1 : [Google Meet] Introducing our Podcast Assignment and The 1619 Podcast (links to our Canvas Files where you can download the episodes)

  • • We will be discussing The 1619 Podcast over five class periods. Please download the mp3 files from Canvas. If you get from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. you will be asked to subscribe (which you should not do). Please make sure you listen to the episodes before the class period for which they are assigned.

• Thur Oct 2 : Listen to Ep 1 of The 1619 Podcast (42 minutes). Discuss.

Week 7

• Tue Oct 7 : Listen to Ep 2 of The 1619 Podcast (31 minutes). Discuss. 

• Wed Oct 8 :  [Google Meet] Listen to Ep 3 of The 1619 Podcast (34 minutes). Discuss.

• Thur Oct 9 : Listen to Ep 4 of The 1619 Podcast (39 minutes). Discuss.

Week 8

• Tue Oct 14 : Listen to Ep 5 Part 1 and Ep 5 Part 2 of The 1619 Podcast (65 minutes). Discuss. 

• Wed Oct 15 : [Google Meet] What are algorithms?

• Thur Oct 16 : Read Chapter 1 (10 pages, Introduction) of More Than a Glitch (MTAG). Discuss. 

• Sun Oct 19 : Personal Essay #3 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : Once you have listened to all five episodes of The 1619 Podcast, think back on everything you've heard. I'd like you to discuss the five most interesting or surprising facts or stories from this podcast, and why they caused that reaction. Please be specific in describing the facts or stories and also mention the episode each comes from. These should come from at least three different episodes. What made them interesting or surprising to you? Questions you might think about as you are working on this could (optionally) include : How do they connect to things you observe in the world around you or in your own life? Are there any unifying themes that tie these facts and stories together? Did any of these change your understanding of the past or present? Did any of these facts or stories contradict things you have previously learned or believe? Please write this as a single, unified personal essay and not as a list or a series of bullet points (e.g, the first thing was, the second thing was, etc.) Finally, please remember that I will not share or discuss your essays in whole or in part with anyone in any form. I consider your essays to be both personal and private and will treat them as such. Make sure to review the guidelines for Personal Essays but in brief remember that you may not use AI in any way and you should have a minimum of 500 words. Do not include an introductory and/or concluding paragraph that summarizes your essay since it's already quite short and these aren't necessary. Make sure that the Google Doc with your essay is shared so that anyone with the link is an editor. If you aren't sure how to  do that, please watch the following very worthwhile 2 minute video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q6h1fYuYM4

Week 9

• Tue Oct 21 : Read Chapter 2 (18 pages, Machine Bias) of MTAG. Discuss. 

• Wed Oct 22 : [no class] There will however be an exercise to complete on your own by 5:00 pm that will count for attendance today. I will post the exercise before class on Tuesday.

• Thur Oct 23 : [no class] Fall Break

Week 10

• Tue Oct 28 : Continue to discuss Chapter 2 of MTAG.

• Wed Oct 29 : [Google Meet]

• Thur Oct 30 : 

Week 11

• Tue Nov 4 : 

• Wed Nov 5 : [Google Meet]

• Thur Nov 6 : 

Week 12

• Tue Nov 11 :  

• Wed Nov 12 : [Google Meet]

• Thur Nov 13 : 

Week 13

• Tue Nov 18 : 

• Wed Nov 19 : [Google Meet]

• Thur Nov 20 : 

• Sun Nov 23 : Podcast due by 11:59 pm

Week 14 

• Tue Nov 25 : 

• Wed Nov 26 : [Google Meet]

• Thu Nov 27 : [no class] Thanksgiving Holiday

Week 15

• Tue Dec 2 : 

• Wed Dec 3 : [Google Meet]

• Thur Dec 4 : Last Day of Class. 

Final Exam