Overview
Week 9 Discussion - Constructing Ethnicity
Read/Watch
Cornell & Hartman, Chapter 4: Constructing Realities / Constructing Ethnicities, plus the videos “Ethnicity and Identity,” “The Struggles of the Ethnically Ambiguous,” “Preserving Hmong Culture: Life After War,” and “Preserving the Ways: Culture and Traditions.”
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew-V10az97w&t=1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vge43MZTPU4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-OOY-OkNno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48RoRi0ddRU
Initial Post: 350–500 words
Prompt: Using Chapter 4’s constructionist perspective, explain how ethnic identities are made, maintained, and changed in the real-world cases shown across the videos.
In your post, you must do all of the following:
- Define ethnicity vs. nationality using the Ethnicity and Identity video, and give one specific example from the Peruvian Festival scene that shows a blended identity (e.g., symbols, language, food, clothing).
- Apply two constructionist concepts from Chapter 4 (choose at least two): boundary; meaning; assertion vs. assignment; thick vs. thin identity; hidden ethnicity (optional). For each concept you choose, connect it to one concrete moment from the videos (quote or describe a specific scene/detail).
- Compare two different identity pressures shown in the videos. Choose two of these pairings: ethnically ambiguous identity struggles (Struggles of the Ethnically Ambiguous); cultural preservation after war and migration (Preserving Hmong Culture); cultural survival under historical suppression (Preserving the Ways); assimilation and cultural erosion concerns (Ethnicity and Identity). Explain how power and social expectations shape identity in each case (who gets to define the identity—insiders or outsiders?).
- End your post with one discussion question that invites classmates to respond (not a yes/no question).
Citations: Use simple page citations for the chapter like (Cornell & Hartman, Ch. 4, p. __). If you don’t have page numbers, cite by section/topic from the chapter (e.g., “assertion vs. assignment section”).
Requirements:
Spell check
400 word minimum