Photography has served as an extremely versatile and expressive medium of Japanese visual culture.  We will study photographic responses to and documentation of such varied phenomena as surrealism, war, and environmental pollution. Photography itself underwent dramatic transformations in Japan from the daguerrotype to the digital, and Japanese corporations were at the forefront of many of these technological developments. Focusing on Japanese photography from the end of WWII to the present, this course emphasizes the role of photographic imagery in shaping Japanese social and aesthetic experience.
Days: MO WE  03:30-04:50 PM

We begin with the elements and evolution of documentary film language and genres in the United States as a foundation for understanding how Asian American media artists utilize   mediums of film and video toward particular communication goals.
We will also trace movements of documentary subjects and techniques in the context of Asian Americans’ historical exclusions, racialized representations, and social roles in nonfiction films. As we view a range of works by and about Asian Americans, we will consider how various makers engage strategies for production style and content, target audiences, subjectivity, emotional truth in evolving environments of technology and access, social movements, ethnic notions. Students will pose their critical understanding of cinematic  language and social meaning to the considerations and challenges a creator or storyteller faces to record lived experiences, and acts of stewardship for a documentary film.
Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM

This class examines the relationship between Asian Americans and mass culture. While we delve into how Asians have historically been represented in US popular culture, the focus will be on how Asian Americans/diasporans have represented themselves and their communities in different pop cultural media. While most people tend to think of pop culture as offering an escape from the “real world,” the premise of this class is that popular culture very much reflects, resists, and shapes how we approach the most pressing issues of our day. In our discussions and analysis, we will approach 21c Asian American popular culture as being actively engaged with the social, political, and economic upheavals and uncertainties of the era in which it was made. The syllabus will be organized around several key topics, such as K-pop, affect, the impact of COVID-19, anti-Blackness. Class materials may include literature, memoir, and graphic novels; film and television; popular music; visual and digital media. Students will be expected to use Discord and Spotify.
Days: MO WE  10:00-10:50 AM

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.
Days: TU TH  09:30-10:50 AM

This course examines how the global reach of popular Hindi-language cinema of India referred to as Bollywood film creates new representations of nationalism and national narratives. Increasing travel, changing modes of life and material expansion even within India and within the Indian diasporas have generated transnational and international movements of people, media and commodities and Bollywood is a major player in these movements and markets.

The masculinist space of nation as represented in older films is transformed as gender and sexuality intersect with social categories of class and particularly caste and religion. As an increasingly transnational and global product,  Bollywood’s glittering, glitzy dance and song routines reconstruct femininity and masculinity, gender and sexuality, and family identities in ways that attempt to challenge patriarchal,  and nationalist discourses. Selected films include The Lover Wins the Bride, Monsoon Wedding and My Name Is Khan.

As a counterpoint to Bollywood's conventions of gender production, we analyze some independently produced films that deploy the language of Bollywood, and attempt to contest its conflicted messages of gender and nation.
Days:   12:00-12:00 AM

This course introduces histories of Korean Americans from the early 20th century to the present. We will investigate how social, cultural, political, and economic forces in the United States, in Korea, and around the world impact ways in which Korean Americans develop their identities and communities. The first half of the course examines autobiographical accounts on early migration to the U.S., ethnographic study on racial identity, history of U.S.-Korea military and cultural relations, immigration factors, and intergenerational religious practices. We will further study how Korean Americans have and continue to negotiate intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, in projects of political and community organizing, adoptee social movements, undocumented youth, and fluidity in “ways to be Korean” consciousness-work throughout the Korean diaspora.

Class meetings will primarily be dedicated to discussion and small group work, with occasional media screenings and possible guest speakers.
Days: TU TH  03:30-04:50 PM

This course surveys social, cultural, and political aspects of contemporary Korea.  We will examine and interpret some of the key cultural institutions and social changes including family and gender relationships, the impact of Korean War and national division, rapid industrialization and its legacies, social movement, labor and marriage migration, and popular culture and culture industry.  We will also explore the life and society of North Korea and issues of North Korean refugees in South Korea. As part of class activities, we will follow closely some of the current events and interpret them in light of what we learn in class for the purpose of enhancing the students’ critical skills to analyze Korean society.  Course materials include scholarly articles, films, and literature.

(same as 26101 GlblClt 103A, Lec A;   and 64535 Intl St 179, Lec E)

Days: MO WE  11:00-11:50 AM

We begin with the elements and evolution of documentary film language and genres in the United States as a foundation for understanding how Asian American media artists utilize   mediums of film and video toward particular communication goals.
We will also trace movements of documentary subjects and techniques in the context of Asian Americans’ historical exclusions, racialized representations, and social roles in nonfiction films. As we view a range of works by and about Asian Americans, we will consider how various makers engage strategies for production style and content, target audiences, subjectivity, emotional truth in evolving environments of technology and access, social movements, ethnic notions. Students will pose their critical understanding of cinematic  language and social meaning to the considerations and challenges a creator or storyteller faces to record lived experiences, and acts of stewardship for a documentary film.
Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM

National schools, period styles, or cultural movements beyond U.S. cinema, as defined by national borders or by geographic regions, such as Latin America. May be approached from a comparative perspective.

Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of the Lower-Division Writing requirement.

Repeatability: Unlimited as topics vary.
Days: MO WE  02:00-03:20 PM

Selected topics in the philosophies of Asia, e.g. Jainism, Buddhism, Yoga, Vedanta, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto.

Repeatability: Unlimited as topics vary.
Days: TU TH  02:00-03:20 PM

Nonviolence is more than a political and social strategy. It can be a comprehensive way of life and ethical stance requiring a reflective account of violence and its sources toward self, others, and collective social-ecological wholes. Beginning with the ancient Indian religious-philosophical tradition of Jainism as it co-developed with Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh perspectives, we will ask what the nonviolent life entails through the perspectives of Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Next, we'll examine diverse nonviolent strategies in the 19th-20th century related to Women's suffrage, War-resistance, Animal/Earth Liberation, and Worker/Economic freedoms. Finally, we'll consider ethical challenges of nonviolence, including lying, forgiveness, non-violent communication, relations to anger, the possibility of loving enemies, the ethics of punishment and rehabilitation and criticisms of nonviolence. Students will have the chance to hear from local practitioners and explore a case study from the Global Nonviolent Action Database.
Days: TU TH  02:00-03:20 PM

Emphasis/Category: Locating Asias (Nation, Culture, and Diaspora)
This course surveys social, cultural, and political aspects of contemporary Korea.  We will examine and interpret some of the key cultural institutions and social changes including family and gender relationships, the impact of Korean War and national division, rapid industrialization and its legacies, social movement, labor and marriage migration, and popular culture and culture industry.  We will also explore the life and society of North Korea and issues of North Korean refugees in South Korea. As part of class activities, we will follow closely some of the current events and interpret them in light of what we learn in class for the purpose of enhancing the students’ critical skills to analyze Korean society.  Course materials include scholarly articles, films, and literature.
Days: MO WE  11:00-11:50 AM