“To see things as they really are…you must imagine them as they might be.”
-Derrick Bell-
Grades and Assignments
Grades:
Papers 30 points
Paper 1- 5 points Due 2/24
Paper 2- 10 points Due 3/16
Paper 3- 15 points Due 4/13
Class participation 15 points [online posts before class- one per class for 13 classes, 2 points for first reading/reflection assignment]
Online posts must be on time and must constitute a thoughtful engagement with the reading materials assigned. [1 point each for 13 classes with assigned readings]
Opening reading reflection: You will read Aisha Azoulay, “Chapter 4, Potential History: Not with the Master’s Tools, Not With Tools at All in Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism.
Reflection Prompt [2 pages include citations]: What is Potential History and how does it differ from the way in which you have been taught to think about history? Feel free to quote the text in support of your answer. [2 points]
Class attendance 5 points [for a total of 20 classes ¼ p per class] [no unexcused absences permitted]
Impossible project 50 points
Unit 1 -10 [5 group submission, 5 survey based] See IP webpage for details. Due 2/14
Unit 2 -10 [5 group submission, 5 survey based] See IP webpage for details. Due 3/16
Unit 3 - 10 [5 s group submission 5 survey based] See IP webpage for details. Due 4/13
Final presentation 20 [10 group submission, 10 survey based] See IP webpage for details.
5/11 submission of final slides
5/15 final presentation
*Group submissions will be graded by each professor and grades will be averaged. Survey-based grade will be based on peer survey results. You are each accountable to each other in your groups.
Assignments
Papers 1, 2 and 3 will all be responses to the same prompt. The difference is that for each unit you will be expected to draw on your cumulative knowledge to answer the prompt. This ensures that each paper will be different as you will have different materials to work with, reflect on znd combine. Each paper will be weighed more than the last giving you an opportunity and incentive to improve as you go. [Total 30 points]
Paper prompt: Define white supremacy as a problem and discuss historical resistance practices to white supremacy that can serve as inspiration for us today. As we reprise practices from the past, what are the pitfalls that we may encounter? Please be sure to include direct citations to our class readings. This paper will be graded on depth of engagement with the course materials and with class discussions.
Participation: Class participation consists of being prepared for class. You will be given points for your online reflections on reading. You are required to post a reflection by midnight the night before class. Your submissions will be time stamped. If you submit late, you will not be given a point. The other way to lose a point is if your submission does not constitute a thoughtful engagement with the readings. When two readings are assigned, you may response to one or both. If you respond by combining both readings, I will consider that submission for extra credit should you need to boost your grade at the end of the semester. However, those submissions cannot be added after the deadline. [Total 15 points, one per class with assigned reading and 2 for the first reading assignment and reflection]
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Attendance: No unexcused absences are permitted. You must email me as soon as you know you will be absent and you must have a legitimate explanation. 5 points total or ¼ point for each or 20 class between 1/31 and 4/15. The strictness of this policy is necessary for the success of this class.
Students in Rage Against the Machine and Machine learning and Society will tackle the Impossible Project: End White Supremacy during the spring semester of 2024. Working together across disciplines to study and propose new approaches to solving this pressing problem in our society here in Buffalo and globally, our young researchers will present their findings for a public live and virtual audience on May 15th, 2024 8:00-11:00 am (UB North Campus, Buffalo NY).
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For more information about our class project click here
Student Learning
Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: This course aims to advance student learning in four distinct yet interrelated categories: historical knowledge, historical thinking, historical skills, and collaboration. Historical knowledge pertains to the content of the course; that is, the information about who, what, when, and where. Historical thinking encompasses the kinds of questions historians ask, and how we go about answering them. The third category, historical skills, includes reading, writing, and oral communication skills that will help you succeed at UB and beyond. Finally, our class project will test your ability to work collaboratively with others, a skill that will have multiple uses throughout your future career. Each assignment is geared toward helping you grow in these four areas as follows:
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Course Policies
This class will be conducted under the assumption that all students are welcome to voice their views. Respectful expressions of disagreement and alternative perspectives are encouraged. Disrespectful,obstructive, or disruptive conduct will not be permitted in accordance with university policy:https://catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/obstruction.html.
If you have any disability which requires reasonable accommodations to enable you to participate in this course, please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources in 60 Capen Hall, 716-645-2608 and also your teaching assistant during the first week of class. The office will provide you with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations, which can be found on the web at:http://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/who-we-are/departments/accessibility.html.
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All students are expected to be familiar with and abide by the university's academic integrity policies, available in the Undergraduate Catalog: https://catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/integrity.html. These policies prohibit cheating, plagiarizing, falsifying academic material, and handing in previously submitted work, among other transgressions. Honesty and integrity are the foundation of our common mission as members of the university community. To promote fair treatment for all students, I am committed to enforcing academic integrity standards. Violations may result in failing the entire course and other penalties. Plagiarism detection software will be used to aid in determining the originality of student work. Before submitting written work, students should consult the short videos on plagiarism and citing sources available here: https://research.lib.buffalo.edu/onestopguide.
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COUNSELING SERVICES (Mental Health): As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning or reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. These might include strained relationships, anxiety, high levels of stress, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, health concerns, or unwanted sexual experiences. Counseling, Health Services, and Health Promotion are here to help with these or other concerns. You learn can more about these programs and services by contacting:
Counseling Services: 120 Richmond Quad (North Campus), phone 716-645-2720
202 Michael Hall (South Campus), phone: 716-829-5800
Health Services: Michael Hall (South Campus), phone: 716- 829-3316
Health Promotion: 114 Student Union (North Campus), phone: 716- 645-2837
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SEXUAL VIOLENCE: UB is committed to providing a safe learning environment free of all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking. If you have experienced gender-based violence (intimate partner violence, attempted or completed sexual assault, harassment, coercion, stalking, etc.), UB has resources to help. This includes academic accommodations, health and counseling services, housing accommodations, helping with legal protective orders, and assistance with reporting the incident to police or other UB officials if you so choose. Please contact UB’s Title IX Coordinator at 716-645-2266 for more information. For confidential assistance, you may also contact a Crisis Services Campus Advocate at 716-796-4399.
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PUBLIC HEALTH Compliance in Classroom setting
As indicated in the Student Compliance Policy for COVID-19 Public Health Behavior Expectations (https://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/who-we-are/departments/conduct/coronavirus-student-compliance-policy.html), the following is required:
When aboard a UB bus or shuttle or in a clinical health care setting, students are required to obtain and wear a high-quality, tight-fitting, high-filtration mask in accordance with current health and safety guidelines. Mask indoors and in other public campus settings are optional.
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-Stay home if you are sick.
-Abide by New York State, federal and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel restrictions and precautionary quarantines.
-Follow campus and public health directives for isolation or quarantine.
-Should you need to miss class due to illness, isolation or quarantine, you are required to notify the course instructor and make arrangements to complete missed work.
-You are responsible for following any additional directives in settings such as labs, clinical environments etc.
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Students who are not complying with the public health behavior expectations will be asked to comply. Should the non-compliant behavior continue, course instructors are authorized to ask the student to leave the classroom. Non-compliant students may also be referred to the Office of Health Promotion to participate in an online public health class to better educate them on the importance of these public health directives for the entire community.
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Course materials that I, Prof. Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller, have prepared, together with the content of all lectures and materials presented and prepared by me in this course are my intellectual property. Video, audio, and photographic recording of lectures is prohibited without my explicit permission. The selling or dissemination of exams, study guides, homework assignments and handouts is prohibited without my explicit permission. The selling or dissemination for commercial purposes of notes derived from my lectures is also prohibited without my explicit permission.