Race, Ethnicity, Politics and Political Participation in America

The Y661 course has a two-fold purpose: The first five weeks will be
devoted to an intensive review of the literature on African-American,
Asian and Latino political participation. In that context, the
literature will focus specifically on the role of contextual factors
in either facilitating or undermining political participation. In the
final eleven weeks, the course will focus on students working on a
publishable research paper (or a research note) based on the
literature examined during the first five weeks. Students will use
national or local-level data. Also, during the final eleven weeks,
the course will feature a workshop format, whereby students will be
expected to work together on different aspects of their respective
papers, ranging from the research question to the literature review,
methods, analysis and conclusion. The final grade for the course will
be based on short writing assignments, class participation, and the
final paper. The first reading assignment is expected to be completed
in advance of the first class meeting; it will be posted on Professor
Alex-Assensoh's WH309 office door one month before the beginning of
Fall 2004 classes. Alternatively, students may contact the professor
via e-mail for clarification or any relevant information that they
may need (yalex@indiana.edu), including the first reading assignment.