| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASIANAM 50 | ASAM HISTORIES | FUJITA-RONY, D. | This class will introduce students to the major issues affecting Asian Americans up through World War II, particularly in regards to race, class, gender, ethnicity, community, and nation. In addition, this class also will enable students to explore how we produce knowledge about this time period, with integrated discussions of different kinds of texts, images, and other sources. This course is open to all students and meets the Social and Behavioral Sciences (III) or Arts and Humanities (IV) and the Multicultural Studies VII- General Education requirements. (It can count for either GE III or GE IV but not both.) It is also part of a lower-division series for students who want to major or minor in Asian American Studies. |
| ASIANAM 55 | ASAM & THE MEDIA | BALANCE, C | This course begins with the recent Asian American YouTube phenomenon as a launching point to examine: 1) independent media by and 2) mainstream representations of Asians/Asian Americans throughout U.S. cultural history. We will examine popular cultural genres/media: documentary & narrative film, zines & blogs, karaoke & cover performances, TV shows, stand-up comedy, and popular music. Employing theories of cultural studies, media studies, and performance studies, we will discuss the style and impact of various popular cultural forms and representations created by, for, and about Asians/Asian Americans. This course will also feature a number of guest speakers – artists, scholars, and producers working in different genres, artistic mediums, and arts/media organizations. Class assignments include: lecture/discussion sections, weekly reading responses, in-class midterm, online group project/presentation, and a final short writing assignment. |
| ASIANAM 110 | ASAM AUTOBIOGRAPHIE | LEE,J | This course examines how and why Asian Americans write about change and transformation in autobiographical writing, particularly under the rubric of vocation. How does the vocational search correspond with or diverge from the process of forming a social identity? How does the formation of Asian American identity unravel the seeming stability of one’s professional vocation? We will read these works to reveal the constraints and possibilities of representing “oneself,” and in doing so also uncover the significance, illuminations, and pitfalls of narrating vocation as identity, identity as vocation. |
| ASIANAM 114 | ASNAM LIT/FLM ADAPT | SHROFF, B. | This course analyzes the historical context within which Asian American literary texts have been adapted into filmic texts. There is a vast body of Asian American Literature but very few texts have been adapted to cinema since issues of audience and market are primary considerations. A historical context demonstrates how representations of Asian Americans have changed from the stereotypical images in the 1920s to self-representations by Asian American writers and filmmakers in contemporary times. We analyze different literary genres such as novels, dramas and short stories, for example Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist novel, Le Ly Hayslip's memoir When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and David Henry Hwang's drama, M. Butterfly. Cinematic adaptations/versions of literary texts sometimes re-title and reconstruct texts as suitable for a mass audience such as Heaven and Earth directed by Oliver Stone, and others such as Hot Summer Winds directed by Emiko Omori which is based on two Hisaye Yamamoto short stories, Seventeen Syllables and Yoneko's Earthquake. We employ literary and film theory in reading the novels and plays to analyze language, structure, characterization and historical representation. We also discuss how the literary form translates into a visual medium, and the modifications of story/plot and characterization for the screen. We interrogate the strengths of each medium and the spatial and temporal capabilities of the cinematic medium. |
| ASIANAM 137 | ASIANAM LABOR | FUJITA-RONY, D. | This course will explore the history of Asian Americans and work from the nineteenth century to the present. Topics of discussion will include migration, colonialism, family, social organization, work culture, and activism. Requirements will include a five-page paper, a midterm exam, a final exam, a small group project, and regular class participation. |
| ASIANAM 151F | SO ASIAN AMER EXP | SHROFF, B | The class brings together diverse perspectives on the experiences of South Asians in America. South Asian countries include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh among others. From the historical presence of South Asians in America in the 1920s, to the experience of pop culture like bhangra remix, and the lives of working class taxi drivers in New York City, after 9/11. We examine the experience of South Asians in America as one of multiple belongings, and hybrid identities that are complicated connections between the culture of the U.S. and the homeland. Selected materials include stories by Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, sociological readings on domestic violence, and citizenship dilemmas after 9/11 and selected films like Turbans, Junky Punky Girlz and Knowing Her Place. |
| ASIANAM 151J | CHINESE AMER EXPER | WU, J | This course explores the history, culture, and contemporary life experiences of Chinese Americans. Through lectures, readings, discussions, and films, we will examine topics such as immigration, community and family formation, work lives, educational experiences, political engagements, cultural representations, and the identities of people of Chinese ancestry in the U.S. |
| ASIANAM 200A | THEORY&METH ASAM ST | LEE, J. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | BALANCE, C. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | FUJITA-RONY, D. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | KIM, C. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | LEE, J. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | LEE, J. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | VO, L. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | WU, J. |