Posted 11/26/03

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Two papers; 1200-1800 words each paper (i.e., 2400-3600 words, total; this
comes out to two 4-6 page papers using 1 inch margins and 12 point font).
Word count is ONLY for text (not title page, references, footnotes, etc.).

You MUST stay within the word count.  Papers under 1200 words or
over 1800 will automatically be penalized one full grade for failing to
address the questions within the required constraints.

2. Each paper must have a TITLE PAGE, that includes the following information:
Title
Text of the question copied from further down on this page*
Your Code (celebrity name plus family member's birthdate)
Date handed in
The name of this class
My name
Word count

3. Citations and references need to be American Psychological Association format.
This is DIFFERENT from the format taught in Expository Writing.
You can get this format from any of the articles in psychological journals required
for this course (such as American Psychologist, Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Social Issues).

DEADLINE
1. Papers are due on Monday, December 15th.

2. They can be handed in at the Undergraduate Psychology Offices, in
Room 101 in Tillett Hall.  Submit your papers to one of the secretaries
there and **make sure she writes down your name and the time you
submitted, and also stamps your paper with the date and time.**  That way,
in the unlikely event that the paper "disappears" there will be a clear
record that you submitted it on time (I have never yet lost a paper or test
in my 17 years here).

3. If you plan to graduate this December, you MUST hand the paper in
by 12/15.  Otherewise, I may not be able to get your grade in on time.

4. Grace period.  Although the paper is due on 12/15, you will also have
a two-day grace period.  There will be no penalty for papers handed in
up to 4pm on Wednesday, 12/17.  

After that, grades will be reduced by one full grade for each part of a day
late.  For example, a "C" paper submitted at 4:05 on 12/17 will receive a "D."
An "A" paper submitted at 5pm on 12/18 will receive a "C."


THE QUESTIONS

Question 1:
What types of, and in what ways does, discrimination result from stereotypes?  From prejudice?  What types of discrimination result from neither stereotypes nor prejudice?  In the U.S. in 2003, does most discrimination derive from stereotypes and prejudice, or from other sources?  Justify your answer on the basis of the material covered in this course.

Question 2:
Consider the vast income inequalities between between 1.Asians & Whites and 2. other racial and ethnic minorities (hint: revisit the census data if you are not intimately familiar with the extent of those differences).  If America is fundamentally a racist society serving to benefit, protect, and advance the interests of Whites and especially White Protestants, how is it that Irish, Jewish, Asian, and Southern European  immigrants have fared so well in American society?  If America is not fundamentally racist, why are African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans still on the lower rung of the American economic ladder, and why are far fewer than 26% of our elected representatives African-American or Latino (about 13% of the population is African-American and another 13% is Latino)?

Additional considerations:
1. Your papers may draw on material from outside the course.  However, such material needs to
be described, explained, cited, and referenced.  Most of your information, however, should
come from within, not outside, the course.  Within-course information also needs to be
cited and referenced.