Clemens


 * __Sociology Research Paper:__**


 * __Initial Question:__**

Is race a socially established idea or a biological fact?


 * __Unique Audience:__**

Mr. Hopkin, race discussion forum on US message board, Mr. Wood

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Mr. Hopkin: He agreed with me that race is an idea that is built upon certain phenotypes, which are biological facts. Thus, our interpretation of race as a social construct matched. He suggested mentioning geography somewhere in the presentation because he said that these phenotype differences arise as a result of the geographical differences in general.

Mr. Wood: His ideas were nearly identical to the ideas that I presented. Indeed, just like what I previously concluded with Mr. Hopkin and my research, he agreed that race is a social construct that is founded upon certain phenotype differences that are really ambiguous to categorize. Yet, he focused more on discussing the social aspect of race than discussing the biological aspect as Mr. Hopkin did. He suggested me to consider the American history in general: how race was built every time there was a massive immigration coming into U.S., and the laws on races were created to maintain the WASP hegemony.

discussion forum: I found some feedback helpful. For instance, the comment that suggested me to consider the definition of race first was quite helpful to reach my conclusion because the idea was that race's definition itself really varies. In other words, race itself is a socially constructed idea based on the fact that it lacks a concrete definition that remains quite constant between different societies' interpretations.


 * __Reading List:__**

"Demonstrating the Social Construction of Race" by Brian K. Obach

"The Status of the Race Concept in Physical Anthropology" by Matt Cartmill

""Race" and the Construction of Human Identity" by Audrey Smedley

"Race and Anthropology: A Core Concept Without Consensus" by Leonard Lieberman, Blaine W. Stevenson, and Larry T. Reynolds

"Ethnicity, Race, and a Possible Humanity" by Abash Abizadeh

-The above five journal articles can be accessed through online at jstor.org. I will read them soon before the break starts.

[|**A Different Mirror** : A History of Multicultural America] By Takaki Ronald -I will order it by 3/15 on kyobobook.co.kr and it will arrive within 7 days.