| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|
| ASIANAM 51 | THE U.S. & ASIA | FUJITA-RONY, D. | Explores the historical and contemporary transnational linkages between the U.S. and various regions in Asia and their resultant flows of people, goods, and ideas. Special attention given to the role of militarism and processes of globalization, and the histories of cultural contact/conflict. Requirements will include a five-page paper, a midterm exam, a final exam, and class participation. |
| ASIANAM 110 | REP BODIES & IDENTI | KUNTE, N | This course is an examination of how literary representations of the Asian/American body delineate Asian/American identity(s). We will examine what cultural, social, political possibilities we find in literature that takes Asian/American corporeality as its subject in order to take into account issues of gender, sexuality, and labor. We will do so in order to question the durability of Asian American identity in our contemporary moment of war, global capitalism, and transnational migration. We will read the work of authors such as Fae Myenne Ng, Karen Tei Yamashita, and David Henry Hwang. |
| 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 Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, The Namesake, 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. | Same as HIST 152A. 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 151C | KOREAN AMER EXPER | CHO, J. | We will investigate the question how do Korean Americans influence the world, and how does the world influence Korean Americans? Our study will look at transnational factors that compel Korean Americans to work in global, local, material, and imagining arenas of the Korean “nation.” The first half of the course introduces affect through fiction excerpts, studies of pre-immigration racial identity, history of U.S.-Korea relations, and issues of religion, gender, and family, in connection to our core reading on Korean American students in the university. The second half examines contemporary racial formation, political organizing, adoptee social movements, and imagining the future of Korean American communities through emerging cultures.
Class meetings will primarily be dedicated to discussion and small group work, with occasional screenings and guest speakers. Outside of class, students will author individual posts at the class blog site. Major projects include a short ethnography paper, and final research project on an emergent cultural practice relating to Korean Americans. |
| 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, Knowing Her Place and Pardes—the latter a Bollywood version of the South Asian in America. |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | STAFF | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | VO, L. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | LEE, J. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | KIM, C. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | FUJITA-RONY, D. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | BALANCE, C. | |
| ASIANAM 290 | DIRECTED RESEARCH | STAFF | |