Programs

Asian American Studies

Asian American studies examines, across the disciplines, the past and present positions of Asians primarily in the United States. Its methods and theories draw from allied fields such as ethnic, women’s, queer, critical, and Asian area studies, as well as from disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. Its subject matter is as capacious as the “Orient” and the naming, classifying, and ranking of those peoples, lands, and waters by Europeans, and Asian engagements with those discursive constructs and material realities. The United States, although simply one site of those global relations, figures prominently within Asian American studies, and in turn the field claims an apprehension of the nation-state from the perspective of the Asian American experience. Importantly, thus, Asian American studies enables explanations of majority-minority relations, interactions among peoples of color, and the intersections of racial and other social formations in the U.S., in effect, “American” studies, along with the transnational concentrations and flows of capital, labor, and culture.

Program of Study

Program for class of '09 and some '10 degree students.
The program’s curriculum builds upon the foundational course ASAM W1010 Introduction to Asian American studies, which surveys the methodologies and theories central to the field of study, offers a critical analysis of key concepts and texts, and provides a historical overview of Asians in the Americas. Asian American subjectivities are explored in introductory courses on Asian American literatures and cultures and on diasporic and transnational communities and social formations. Advanced courses on gender and sexuality, Asian American women, race and art, Asian American youth cultures, and Asian Americans and the law allow students to deepen their understanding of Asian Americans and their social locations. Students are also encouraged to develop a specialization in a specific discipline, such as anthropology, art, English, history, political science, or sociology. It is strongly recommended that Asian American Studies majors undertake study of a foreign language relevant to their area of specialization. Students should consult with their major adviser to develop an appropriate program of foreign-language study.

Program for NEW students and some class of '10 degree students.
The reforms to the CSER curriculum that were first sketched out in 2006-07 are now in place. Most important is the establishment of a common core for all of our majors and concentrators, composed of two courses: Colonizations-Decolonizations, which will be team-taught by Professor Mae Ngai and myself this Fall, and Race in Scientific and Social Practice which will be taught in the Spring by Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj. These two courses provide a common conceptual and historical foundation for CSER students. We are very excited about offering this new opportunity to our students. I wish to thank Professor Mae Ngai and Professor Abu El-Haj for their leadership in developing these offerings, and College Deans Yatrakis and Quigley for their support for curricular development. We welcome student feedback in this first pilot year. Students enrolling in one of the majors or concentrations in 2008 should review the requirements of each major in the fall.

It is required that Asian American Studies majors undertake study of a foreign language relevant to their area of specialization. Students should consult with their major adviser to develop an appropriate program of foreign-language study.

Courses, Fall 2009

ASAM W3900 Seminar in Asian American Studies: Asian Americans and World War II
Gary Okihiro ~ W 2:10 - 4:00 PM ~ 420 Hamilton
ASAM W3922 Asian American Cinema
Eric Gamalinda ~ M 11:00 AM - 12:50 PM ~ 420 Hamilton This seminar focuses on the critical analysis of Asian representation and participation in Hollywood by taking a look at how mainstream American cinema continues to essentialize the Asian and how Asian American filmmakers have responded to Hollywood Orientalist stereotypes. We will analyze various issues confronting the Asian American, including yellowface, white patriarchy, male and female stereotypes, the “model minority” myth, depictions of “Chinatowns,” panethnicity, the changing political interpretations of the term Asian American throughout American history, gender and sexuality, and cultural hegemonies and privileging within the Asian community.
ASAM W3945 Asian American Trauma
Sel Hwahng ~ M 4:10 – 6:00 PM ~ 420 Hamilton
CSER W3928 Colonizations/Decolonizations *required*
Gray Tuttle & Natasha Lightfoot ~ T 4:10 - 6:00 PM ~ 420 Hamilton This course explores the centrality of colonialism in the making of the modern world, emphasizing cross-cultural and social contact, exchange, and relations of power; dynamics of conquest and resistance; and discourses of civilization, empire, freedom, nationalism, and human rights, from 1500 to 2000. Topics include pre-modern empires; European exploration, contact, and conquest in the new world; Atlantic-world slavery and emancipation; European and Japanese colonialism in Asia, Africa, the Middle East. The course ends with a section on decolonization and post-colonialism in the period after World War II. Intensive reading and discussion of primary documents.
CSER W3990 Senior Thesis Seminar
TBA ~ Day & Time TBA

Courses, Spring 2010

ASAM W1010 Introduction to Asian American Studies *required*
Gary Okihiro ~ Day & Time TBA
CSER W3906 Race in Scientific and Social Practice *required*
Cassie Fennell ~ Day & Time TBA This class presents a genealogy of the development of the race concept since the 19th century. Most centrally, we will examine the ways in which race has been conceptualized, substantiated, classified, managed and "observed" in (social) science and medicine. We will read that history of science in tandem with philosophical, anthropological and historical literatures on race and the effects of racial practices in the social and political world writ large. The class will address a series of questions, historical and contemporary. For example, how has the relationship betwen "race" and "culture" been articulated in the history of anthropology in particular, and in racial theory more broadly? How and why were particular phenotypes understood to signify meaningful biological and social differences? Can there be a concept of race without phenotype--a soley genotyppic racial grouping? More broadly, we will examine how particular scientific projects have intersected with, authorized or enabled specific social and political imaginations.

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Courses, Spring 2009

ASAM W1010 Introduction to Asian American Studies *required*
Gary Okihiro ~ T/R 2:40 - 3:55pm ~ 413 Kent Interdisciplinary, intercultural introduction to the field of Asian American Studies. Major themes include methodological and theoretical formulations central to the field (e.g. racial, gender, and sexual formations, modes and relations of production and class, nation and transnation, oral history, and communities research), history and contemporary issues of identity, family, community, immigration, labor, education, and anti-Asianisms.
CSER W3906 Race in Scientific and Social Practice *required for NEW majors/cons*
Nadia Abu El-Haj ~ W 11:00am – 12:50pm ~ 420 Hamilton This class presents a genealogy of the development of the race concept since the 19th century. Most centrally, we will examine the ways in which race has been conceptualized, substantiated, classified, managed and "observed" in (social) science and medicine. We will read that history of science in tandem with philosophical, anthropological and historical literatures on race and the effects of racial practices in the social and political world writ large. The class will address a series of questions, historical and contemporary. For example, how has the relationship betwen "race" and "culture" been articulated in the history of anthropology in particular, and in racial theory more broadly? How and why were particular phenotypes understood to signify meaningful biological and social differences? Can there be a concept of race without phenotype--a soley genotyppic racial grouping? More broadly, we will examine how particular scientific projects have intersected with, authorized or enabled specific social and political imaginations.
CSER W3990 Senior Thesis Seminar
Claudio Lomnitz ~ M 4:10 - 6:00pm ~ 420 Hamilton The Senior Paper Colloquium provides undergraduate seniors with an academic context in which to develop their senior papers/theses for the majors administered by the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (Comparative Ethnic Studies, Latino/a Studies, Asian American Studies). The Colloquium is required for all students who want to write a senior paper/thesis. In the senior paper/thesis, students explore in depth some topic of special interest to them by conducting extensive background reading and research.
The Senior Paper Colloquium focuses primarily on developing students’ ideas for their research projects and workshopping their written work. The course is designed to develop and hone the skills necessary to complete the senior paper. Students will receive guidance in researching for and writing an advanced academic paper. Conducted as a seminar, the colloquium provides the students a forum in which to discuss their work with each other. In the seminar, students will give and receive feedback and comment on each other’s work. While most of the course is devoted to the students’ work, during the first weeks of the term students will read and discuss several ethnic studies-oriented texts to help them gain insight into the kinds of research projects done in the field. These texts will serve as models on which students can base their own projects.
ASAM W3927y Asian American and Racialization
Leyla Mei ~ R 2:10 - 4:00pm ~ 420 Hamilton Hall This course examines the racialization of Asians in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the present.  We begin with the premise that racialization is a process by which a population is constructed - and constructs itself - as a group with specific attributes and characteristics.  As such, what it means to identify or be identified as a member of a racial group is historically contingent and constantly changing.  The ways in which Asians in the U.S. have been racialized have stemmed from a number of mechanisms, and have had social and political consequences, as well.  We will look at a number of historical moments to investigate how immigration laws, public health regulations, social movements, and popular culture have shaped the ways in which Asian Americans have understood themselves and been seen by others.  At the same time, race has interacted with other categories of difference, including gender, sexuality, class, immigrant status, and nation, to shape this process.  While the topics we focus on during this class will be necessarily selective, our goal will be to understand the racialization of Asian Americans within the larger context of both U.S. history and, at some points, global political events.

Courses, Fall 2008

ASAM W3922x Asian American Cinema
Eric Gamalinda ~ W 8:10 - 10:00pm ~ 420 Hamilton Hall This seminar focuses on the critical analysis of Asian representation and participation in Hollywood by taking a look at how mainstream American cinema continues to essentialize the Asian and how Asian American filmmakers have responded to Hollywood Orientalist stereotypes. We will analyze various issues confronting the Asian American, including yellowface, white patriarchy, male and female stereotypes, the “model minority” myth, depictions of “Chinatowns,” panethnicity, the changing political interpretations of the term Asian American throughout American history, gender and sexuality, and cultural hegemonies and privileging within the Asian community.
ASAM W3918x Asian Americans and Psychology of Race
Shinhee Han ~ M 11:00am – 12:50pm ~ 420 Hamilton This seminar provides an introduction to mental health issues for Asian Americans.  In particular, it focuses on the psychology of Asian Americans as racial/ethnic minorities in the United States by exploring a number of key concepts: immigration, racialization, prejudice, family, identity, pathology, and loss.  We will examine the development of identity in relation to self, family, college, and society.  Quantitative investigation, qualitative research, psychology theories of multiculturalism, and Asian American literature will also be integrated into the course.
CSER W3928 Colonization/Decolonization *required for NEW majors/cons*
Mae Ngai & Claudio Lomnitz ~ T 4:10 - 6:00pm ~ 420 Hamilton This course explores the centrality of colonialism in the making of the modern world, emphasizing cross-cultural and social contact, exchange, and relations of power; dynamics of conquest and resistance; and discourses of civilization, empire, freedom, nationalism, and human rights, from 1500 to 2000. Topics include pre-modern empires; European exploration, contact, and conquest in the new world; Atlantic-world slavery and emancipation; European and Japanese colonialism in Asia, Africa, the Middle East. The course ends with a section on decolonization and post-colonialism in the period after World War II. Intensive reading and discussion of primary documents.

Related Courses, Fall 2008

ENGL W4632 Intro to Asian American Lit and Culture
Wen Jin ~ M/W 5:40-6:55pm
BC3136 Aian American Women
Christie J Cynn ~ T 2:10 - 4:00pm

Requirements

Class of '09 & some '10 ONLY:

All NEW Students: