Assignment:

For your first discussion section on Friday, please read Samuel Huntington’s provocative and controversial article, “The Hispanic Challenge” (in your Reader). Read this article at least twice and as closely as you can. In preparation for your discussion section, respond to the questions below. Your response should be no more than one, typed, double-spaced paragraph. Hand in this assignment to your TA on Friday.

Question:

Does Samuel Huntington welcome 1) Hispanics and 2) Catholics into the American nation-state? If so, under what terms?

There is no single, correct answer to this question. Some of you will agree, and be glad you have found someone who shares your views. Some will profoundly disagree, and even be offended. We are only interested in seeing how you make your argument.

For your information, I define ‘nation-state’ as a “symbolic community to which people voluntarily devote their primary political loyalties despite the many particularistic differences (ethnicity, race, creed, religion, partisan affiliation, tribe, etc.) that might otherwise divide them.”

In preparing for your section, be sure to read your additional assignments in the Reader and on the Course Web Page. Don’t worry, they are very short.

Naturally, in order to complete the above assignment, you will need to purchase your Reader at the Lafortune Copy Center.

Here are some addresses that will be useful to you throughout the course:

Return to Modern Nation-State page