Now we will proceed to the discussion of four general topics that we will call "Minorities", "Social Problems", "Our Place in the World", and "Policy Choices". In each of these categories we have placed links that will provide us some new information or opinions to stimulate our discussions.
Remember that the readings I have selected are not meant to exhaust all of the possibilities for specific topics that might fall under the general topic category in which it has been placed. Especially for a general topic like "Social Problems", there are a myriad of specific topics like homelessness, alcoholism, etc., that could be discussed but for which I have not provided any discussion links. On the Saturday of class when we have student reports we will be able to greatly expand the list of specific topics that we will be able to cover in class.
To access an article, click on the blue headline.
IMPORTANT: Articles with "OU LIBRARY" next to the headline can be accessed through the OU Library. You must first go to the OU Library website and sign in, then use the search feature to look for "ProQuest" in databases and then open the ProQuest page. These links should then work as long as you remain signed-in and you have a window open for the OU Library website. (In case this does not work for you, the full citation for the article is provided next to the headline.)
Lots of different minorities exist in the United States. For this class let's begin by focusing on four categories that have received considerable attention in recent news.
WOMEN. Women's place in our society has changed rapidly in recent decades. Less than one hundred years ago women were not permitted to vote in national elections in the United States. Fifty years ago it was generally accepted that women would not be paid the same as a man, even when doing exactly the same job. So, the question for us is, "How far have women come? ...How much inequality still exists?... What needs to be done next?"
Basic Considerations: A Global Perspective
Let's begin by looking at some analyses of women from an international perspective.
Is There Income Equality between Men and Women?
Don't we already know the answer to this question, but here is a press release from the American Psychological Association that summarizes the findings of a study about managerial pay and provides data about how salaries for men can be affected as well by the lower wages of men.
Men and Women in College
Who is going to college, men or women? (Of course, you could just look around the classroom to answer this question.)
AFRICAN-AMERICANS. Relations between the races has been a central issue in America for almost all of our history as a nation. During the past fifty years much progress has been made. But, how are we doing today?
Was Gunnar Myrdal Right? OU LIBRARY (Donald R Kinder, Katherine W Drake. Political Psychology. Oxford: Aug 2009. Vol. 30, Iss. 4;)
One of the most famous discussions of the American racial situation occurred over 50 years ago and was contained in the book, "An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy", written by the Swedish academic, Gunnar Myrdal. This article provides a contemporary assessment of Myrdal's statement of fifty years ago that America appeared to be on the verge of eliminating racism. Why has this article been selected? It is an academic article that allows us to look at a process of attempting to objectively measure progress on a subject that is very difficult to measure. In doing so, it gives us insight into the challenges of research in the social sciences. The article also allows us to reflect on the differences between "feelings" and "behavior". If the authors of this article are correct, how do we explain the apparent progress that has been made in race relations over the past half century? For a further example of the difficulty of research in this area, click on this article from the Los Angesles Times about Obama Studies.
African-American Progress
The Brookings Institute offers this quick summary of indicators of change and progress.
LATINOS. Once little noted outside of a handful centers of populations, Latinos today are a major (and growing) minority population in the majority of states. Americans are divided in their attitudes about this growing group. Here are two articles to start our discussions on this topic.
Latinos and English
We often hear that the Latino immigrants do not want to learn English. Is this true? Is learning English the key to assimilation of American culture and attitudes?
MUSLIMS. Although still a very small part of our population, Muslim attitudes towards acceptance by mainstream American society and feelings of inclusion within the broader American community become critical considerations in light of the world situation.
Terrorism and American Muslims
The highly respected Council on Foreign Relations gives us a quick summary of various dimensions of the questions of terrorism and domestic Muslims.
FEAR, PREJUDICE; AND HATE. America has often viewed new arrivals (immigrants) with alarm, and many Americans have always had difficulty accepting people who are different. Why is this so?
The Physiology of Fear
This article from Newsweek magazine provides an interesting explanation of human behavior.
GLOBAL CULTURAL UNDERSTANING. America has often viewed new arrivals (immigrants) with alarm, and many Americans have always had difficulty accepting people who are different. Why is this so?
The Clash of Civilizations
Samuel Huntington wrote an article in "Foreign Affairs" in 1993 outlining his theory of a coming civilizational clash in the world. He later published a book with the same title that has been the subject of considerable debate and discussion. This is a somewhat long, but important, article. For the full text article, you will need to go to the OU LIbrary and find Foreign Affairs magazine in the LORA database, or follow the instructions for using Google Scholar linked to the OU Library as explained in the learn.ou.edu class postings for this class.
"Social Problems" is a title that could encompass a variety of issues, including many of the topics we have grouped under other headings. Since we already have a busy weekend, for the purposes of this class I have selected readings on just two different subjects: crime and drug abuse.
Juvenile Delinquency
Concern about the deterioration of behavioral standards of young people is not new. View this trailer from a movie of the 1950's to get a flavor of how Hollywood portrayed the "teenage savages" of that era.
Incarceration
America keeps a dramatically larger number of its citizens in jail than any other European country. And of those in jail, a disproportional number are minorities. Why? What are the consequences of this for society at large?
The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse
This study from the White House attempts to quantify the financial impact of drug Abuse in America.
Crime in Great Britain
This article from the New York Times gives us a picture of crime in the UK. How is this similar to our situation in the USA? How is it different? Is there anything we can learn from the UK in dealing with our own problems?
We make decisions about how to spend the public's money and the decision to spend money on one thing is effectively a decision NOT to spend money on something else. How do we set these priorities? Are we making the right choices?
Climate Change
We may all be affected by climate change, and we all share in the responsibility for what is happening to our planet. How might our society be affected as climate change produces increasing alterations to the earth? What are these alternations likely to be, and what do we foresee as possible social consequences of these changes? (This report is 31 pages long and it is optional whether you print it off in whole, but do make notes on the facts you found most interesting.)
Rising Fuel Costs and Aviation
Things are inter-related in ways that are sometimes surprising. Rising energy costs could affect where we choose to live (nearer to work), the cars we drive (smaller ones), and even our addiction to aviation. This article provides an interesting example of the complex relationships that change can bring.
Shipping Costs and Globalization
The article we just read about aviation dealt in possibilities. This article shows how rising fuel costs have already started to affect economic globalization.
Prof. Rodger Randle
1J10, Schusterman Center
(918) 660-3495
randle@ou.edu