Comparative Studies 241:
Introduction to Asian American Studies
Autumn 2000
University Hall 114 Tuesday and Thursday 10:30-12:18
Instructors:
Prof. J. Wu (History) Steve Yao (English)
Dulles 261 413 Denney Hall
292-9331 292-6105
wu.287@osu.edu yao.27@osu.edu
OH: Thursday: 2-3:30 and by appointment OH: TBA
Course Description and Objectives
This course introduces students to the field of Asian American Studies, a field of inquiry that deals with the history, experiences, and cultural production of Americans of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Filipino, and Southeast Asian ancestry. In this course we will address such topics as the history of Asian immigration to the United States; popular and self-representation of Asians in various cultural media; questions of race and ethnicity; and the category of gender as it is inflected along racial and class lines.
Course materials represent a variety of disciplines (Sociology, Literature, History, Political Science, etc.) that contribute to the field of Asian American Studies. You will be asked to engage each assignment critically. What does the source tell us about the experiences of Asian Americans? What is the purpose of the author or filmmaker in creating this work? What types of evidence are used to support an argument or perspective? You will be asked to share your insights through discussions, presentations, essays, and exams. In other words, this course encourages you to develop critical reading, thinking, and writing skills.
This course fulfills the University GEC requirement for Arts and Humanities, Cultures and Ideas as well as the Diversity and Social Movements
Course Materials
The books are available at SBX and around town. Try Barnes & Nobles and Borders as well. A course reader, containing Pangs of Love and Walls will be sold by COP-EZ at the Tuttle Park Garage. The readings will be on reserve at the Main Library.
Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader, ed. By Min Zhou and James V. Gatewood (New York: New York University Press, 2000). ISBN 0-8147-9691-5.
Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Panethnicity
Ronald Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore
Assignments
All work presented in class or turned in must be a student's own. Plagiarism or any other form of academic misconduct will be dealt with in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the University’s Committee on Academic Misconduct and will seriously affect a student’s grade.
If you have a learning disability requiring special arrangements for completing assignments, please let us know as soon as possible.
1) Discussion participation (15% of your final grade): The amount of reading averages approximately 80 pages per week. You will be expected to have completed the readings for each class and to come prepared to share your opinions. The frequency, quality, and enthusiasm of your participation will determine your grade. If you are unable to attend a class, be sure to inform us beforehand. You may not be able to pass this course if you have more than three (3) unexcused absences.
2) Reading Journal (10%): Keep a running journal of your personal reactions, reflections, and responses to the readings, films, discussions, and lectures. We will periodically ask you to turn in your journals for evaluation.
3) Midterm (20%): Covers materials up to October 3.
4) Cultural Analysis Paper (20%): Write a 4-page analysis of a cultural document (film, art, literature, drama, etc.) about Asian Americans in which you discuss the issues of ethnic representation.
5) Community Research Project (35%): Design an exhibit and write an accompanying 5-8 page essay that examines the experiences of Asian Americans in Ohio. Select a particular person, ethnic group, or organization that you want to research. Collect written and visual documents about your subject. If possible, interview the subject(s) to gain insight into their experiences and perspectives. Make sure to inform the interviewees about the purpose of the interviews and what you plan to do with the materials. Create an exhibit that presents your findings in an educational, analytical, and entertaining fashion. The exhibit will be displayed on the OSU campus. You will be asked to give a short presentation about your. In addition to creating an exhibit, you will write a 5-8 page essay that discusses the significance of your subject and contextualizes that person, group, or organization’s experiences in the broader framework of Asian American Studies.
Class Schedule
Section I: Definitions and Critical Perspectives on Asian Americans
September 21: What/ Who are "Asian Americans"? - lecture outline
Film: My America
September 26: Creating the Category of Asian America and Paradigms of Race - lecture outline
Min Zhou and James V. Gatewood, "Introduction," pp. 1-29.
Asian American Pan-Ethnicity by Yen Le Espiritu, pp.xi-52
September 28: Asian American History: First Wave Immigration - lecture outline
Strangers from a Different Shore by Ronald Takaki, pp. 3-131
October 3: Creating Asian American Communities - lecture outline
Strangers from a Different Shore, pp. 179-354
October 5: World War II and Post-1965 Immigration
Strangers from a Different Shore, pp. 356-491
Optional:
"U.S. Immigration Policies and Asian Migration," Paul Ong and John M. Liu
"Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian Americans," by Ruben G. Rumbaut
"The Social Construction of Gendered Migration from the Philippines" by James A. Tyner
October 10: Mid Term Examination
October 12: Library Workshop with Marti Alt, Main Library room 124
Section II: Asian Americans in/and Culture: Hop Sing vs. Whitmann Ah Sing
October 17: Self Representations
Pangs of Love, by David Wong Louie
October 19: Asian American Easthetics
"Is There an Asian American Aesthetics?"
Film: A Strong Clear Vision
Optional: "Art, Activism, Asian, and Asian Americans," by Dorinne Kondo
October 24: More Self Representations
Walls by Jeannie Barroga
October 26: Cultural Analysis Paper Due at the beginning of class
Popular Representations and Stereotypes
Film: Slaying the Dragon
Section III: Historical and Contemporary Issues
October 31: The Model Minority
"Asian Americans as the Model Minority: An Analysis of the Popular Press Image in the 1960s and 1980s," by Keith Osajima
"The 'Model Minority' Deconstructed," by Lucie Cheng and Philip Q. Yang
"A Quota on Excellence? The Asian American Admissions Debate," by Don T. Nakanishi
November 2: Education, Work, and Class
"Life and Work in the Inner City," Paul Ong and Karen Umemoto
"Work and Its Place in the Lives of Immigrant Women: Garment Workers in New York City's Chinatown," by Min Zhou and Regina Nordquist
"Striving for the American Dream: Struggle, Success, and Intergroup Conflict among Korean Immigrant Entrepreneurs," by Jennifer Lee
November 7: Family, Generations, and Sexuality
"New Household Forms, Old Family Values: The Formation and Reproduction of the Filipino Transnational Family in Los Angeles," by Rhacel Salazar Parrenas
"Power, Patriarchy, and Gender Conflict in the Vietnamese Immigrant Community," by Nazli Kibria
"A Letter to My Sister," by Lisa Park
November 9: Family cont.
"In Search of the Right Spouse: Interracial Marriage among Chinese and Japanese Americans," by Colleen Fong and Judy Yung
"What Must I Be? Asian Americans and the Question of Multiethnic Identity," by Paul R. Spickard
"Stories from the Homefront: Perspectives of Asian American Parents with Lesbian Daughters and Gay sons," by Alice Y. Hom
November 14: Asian American Communities and Religions
"Sangha of the South: Laotian Buddhism and Social Adaptation in Rural Louisiana," by Carl L. Bankston III
"The Structure and Social Functions of Korean Immigrant Churches in the United States," by Pyong Gap Min
"Asian Indian and Pakistani Religions in the United States," by Raymond Brady Williams
November 16: Political Empowerment and Activism: Responses to Anti-Asian Violence
Film: Who Killed Vincent Chin?
***** Note: Turn in 1 paragraph description of your topic for the Community Research Project and a list of questions you will ask in conducting your oral history.
November 21: Confronting Adversity
Espiritu, pp. 53-81, 134-161
"The Murder of Navroze Mody: Race, Violence, and the Search for Order," by Deborah N. Misir
"Race, Class, Citizenship, and Extraterritoriality: Asian Americans and the 1996 Campaign Finance Scandal," by L. Ling-chi Wang
November 28: Project Presentations
November 30: Project Presentations
December 6: Project Paper Due at 11:30 in 261 Dulles
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