UPDATES ON ACADEMIC WORKER STRIKE AGAINST UC UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES

This course is unable to fully function without the essential support of our TAs. We will continue to hold regular meetings during the strike; however, the course schedule will be adapted as needed. Depending on the duration of the strike, portfolios and discussion board assignments may be shifted to optional extra credit. The following changes have been made in efforts to ensure fair and timely grading as soon as the strike is resolved.

**** PLEASE NOTE: As noted on original syllabus, there is no final exam for this class. The final version of your class project is your final; a link or version of the class project should be shared on the assignment portal by the end of finals week. ****

Updates to Course Schedule:

All portfolio assignments for weeks 8-10 have been marked as excused and will not count toward your final participation grade. Various extra credit opportunities have been added to the remaining course schedule in efforts to mitigate disruptions to your learning (see also extension for Discussion Board 3 extra credit, posted on Discussions board).
Discussion Board 4: The basic criteria was adjusted to only include materials assigned for Week 7 (Part C covering week 8 materials offered as optional extra credit).
Due to various disruptions caused by the strike, deadline extensions open to the class, and will be considered even if submitted after the deadline is past; see form link in “Course Policies” tab on Canvas homepage. Please disregard late policy and procedures for requests; fill out the form with a proposed date to submit your request. Your assignment may initially marked as “late” on canvas even if you have submitted a request. I will be checking regularly and note approvals on the assignment.
Discussion Board assignment for Module 5 has been shifted to optional extra credit and removed from the grade book (see instructions posted toward bottom of Extra Credit Board on Canvas "Discussions" page).
Extra credit opportunities will be open to you through the end of finals week following which all of the canvas portals will automatically close (instruction is currently scheduled to end Dec. 10; deadlines may be extended if the quarter is extended beyond the scheduled date).
All assignments offered as optional for extra credit may not appear in the canvas gradebook; all points will be manually calculated and added before any final grades are submitted.

Updates to grading policy:

- Participation grade: Your final participation grade will be largely based on portfolios submitted from Week 1 to Week 7 but may be boosted by extra credit opportunities (see below).
- Discussion Board Assignments:
  - If you choose NOT to complete any extra credit: Your grade will not necessarily be impacted. Your final discussion board assignment grade will largely be based on your average grade from Discussion Boards 1-4. Any extra credit for DI attendance or for discussion boards 3-4 will be automatically added to individual grades on canvas gradebook.
  - If you choose to complete ANY of the extra credit opportuniti: You may boost your final grade significantly. Especially for Discussion Board 5, which is weighted to offer original point distribution.
- Class project: Per the original “duties and responsibilities” agreement between myself and your TAs, I take on all grading responsibilities for the class project to be mindful of their workload. This means that you can expect to receive fair and timely grade for the final stages of your project (the storyboard and final version), regardless of the duration of the strike.
- Extra Credit Opportunities: Per the original “duties and responsibilities” agreement between myself and your TAs, I take on all responsibilities for calculating and distributing extra credit points. The following opportunities MAY NOT be reflected on the canvas gradebook, but WILL be calculated by me before your final grades are submitted to the registrar’s office. Whenever possible, I will leave a note on individual submissions let you know the points have been counted; please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions about how the points were distributed once final grades have been submitted.
  - DI Attendance: 2 points extra credit will be automatically added to weekly discussion board assignment corresponding with attendance. (current graded assignments do not yet reflect extra credit points; I will leave a note in the comments for any discussion board assignment noting the extra points were added).
  - Submissions to “Discussions” page on Canvas: Extra credit discussion boards are not automatically calculated into your final grade and thus may not be reflected in scores visible on the canvas grade book. The deadline for Discussion Board 3 has been extended through the end of the term and is posted near the bottom of the extra credit board.
  - Discussion Board 4. If you choose to submit a response for PART C (optional, included in the instructions), extra credit points will be included in your grade for that assignment, once grading commences (thus, you may receive up to 60/50 points as your score for the assignment).
  - Discussion Board 5. Is weighted as 10 points total toward your final grade, (meaning up to 1 letter grade for discussion board assignment grade) to offer original distribution of assignment opportunities.
  - Extra credit points may be distributed toward other assignment final grades that originally noted as needed (i.e. if you submitted an assignment for discussion board extra credit but do not need points in that area, I may distribute the points towards your participation or class project final grade so you are still rewarded for your efforts).
- Submission of final grades: Most courses taught at UC rely on academic workers for grading and are based on a myriad of course-specific forms of assessment. Given this complexity, there is no clear guidance on how instructors can ensure fair and timely grades. Faculty and Unit 18 representatives state-wide are working to make the administration aware that the only way to resolve the situation is to settle the strike now.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

Undergraduate resources: The Associated Students Office of Academic Affairs strives to work alongside students to better their academic experiences at UC San Diego. If you or your peers have been impacted by the strike, in particular if you have been asked to take up struck labor through peer review or your financial aid or advancement in your academic program might be immediately impacted by delayed or withheld grades, and/or you have any other questions or concerns, please contact Rhianen Callahan, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Asacademics@ucsd.edu.
- Rhianen is currently majoring in Sociocultural Anthropology & Minoring in Ethnic Studies here at UCSD and has years of organizing experience. You can also reach them via gmail (rhianenmaecallahan@gmail.com) if you are interested in getting involved in undergraduate solidarity efforts on campus!
Bargaining Updates: See UAW website at: fairucnow.org
Unit-18 no-strike clause. This course, like 30-40% of all classes in the UC system, is taught by me, a lecturer, not a tenure track professor. UC has the authority to discipline and even fire any lecturer who cancels class or withholds their labor to join the strike.
Support for Academic Workers.
- For you and all of your professors, acting in solidarity means allowing a work stoppage to have its intended effect of revealing how the university administration relies on the missing labor.
- Faculty from the department of Anthropology have endorsed a Statement in Support of Academic Workers Strike against UC (read statement here).
- My union UC-AFT still stands in solidarity with the strike and will be using other creative, active, and legal ways to express their support. I have the right to hold class on the picket line or in another alternate location, such as zoom, as long as accessibility is assured for all students.
- A number of events organized by and in solidarity with UAW are taking place across campus (I will continue posting information here).
Our TAs are essential for your learning. The university administration’s refusal to meet the basic demands of our academic workers is responsible for disruption to undergraduate learning. Work done by your TAs will not be completed until University corrects its bad faith conduct, or until union membership decides to cease striking.
Not all teaching and learning occurs in the classroom -"El maestro luchando también está enseñando" - Until further notice, we will move classes to zoom or consider alternatives to our regular schedule in efforts to support of the strike. All efforts will also be made to support your learning - but not to "keep teaching" as suggested by the administration. Why? Because it is important to stand up and to take risks to challenge corporate-based visions of education that reinforce meritocracy, and to fight together to build a just, fair, anti-racist and democratic UC for everyone. Supplementary materials about the history of activism at UCSD as well as labor organizing more generally are now located in a separate module labeled “Teach-in Materials” at the bottom of the Modules page. I will continue sharing info about on campus events as I hear about them.

Screen Shot 2022-11-08 at 6.54.01 AM.png

On November 14th, tens of thousands of academic workers represented by UAW 2865 (the Union of Academic Student Employees at UC), UAW 5810 (Postdocs and Academic Researchers), and SRU-UAW (Student Researchers) will begin striking to resolve Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs). Academic workers are essential to the teaching and research mission of the University of California and their contracts should reflect that. As undergraduate enrollments rise, improved working and living conditions for academic workers are necessary to provide students with the best possible learning conditions and to ensure that the UC is living up to its own policy of nurturing and maintaining a diverse academic community. Our working conditions are your learning conditions. See Undergraduate Teach-In slides for more information; visit FairUCNow.org for more info on how to support our Academic Workers.

ANTH 21

Race and Racisms

Screen Shot 2020-10-01 at 3.07.01 PM.png

Start Here Requirements & Assessment Course Policies Course Schedule

This course explores historical constructions of race and racism in the United States with a critical focus on the expressions, lived experiences, and lasting effects of this history. We start by surveying the history of race and racism through the lens of different theoretical concepts to then consider the ways that race has been built into our institutions and everyday lives. We will apply different anthropological approaches from class readings to critically analyze public policy, popular media, and political debates to consider the multiple ways race and racisms is operating today, through cultural constructions and representations of the “Other”; through assumptions and attitudes that inform science and technology, institutions and political systems; through and everyday interactions and experiences, among others. Throughout the term, we will engage and apply our “conceptual tools” to critically interrogate race and racisms as well as its study, sharpening our skills as critically engaged analytical scholars along the way. Collectively, we grapple with the fact that, while it remains clear that we have no concise understanding about what race even is, its consequences are very real.

Instructor:

Dr. Amy Kennemore

Anthropology, Latin American Studies

E-mail: akennemore@ucsd.edu

Office hours: T/Th 12-1pm (or by scheduling an appointment via email)

In-person: Gildred LAS rm. 5

Virtual: Zoom Meeting ID: 977 2551 5531

TA CONTACT INFORMATION

Michael Hillyer

Email: mhillyer@ucsd.edu

Kassandra Contreras

Email: kcontrer@ucsd.edu

Nate Pak

Email: njpak@ucsd.edu

Office hours: Monday 3-4 pm, Wednesday/Friday 5-6 pm through Zoom (Please make appointments in advance!) (https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/8187076969)