Comparative Studies 241: Introduction to Asian American Studies
Prof. J. Wu and Steve Yao
Lecture 1 Outline
What is Asian American Studies?
I. Definition and history of the term - Asian American
A. Asian American refers to peoples of Asian ancestry in the United States. It refers to immigrants as well as those who are born in the United States.
B. Periodization of Asian American history
1. 1850s-1934 - First Wave of Immigration up to Exclusion - approx. 1 million entered U.S. compared to 35 million from Europe
2. Middle Decades of the 20th Century -
American-born generation
wars with Asia
3. 1965-present - Second Wave of Immigration
1 million in 1965 to 9 million in 1997 (3-4% of U.S. population)
2/3 of Asian American population are immigrants
B. New concept of identity - formulated in the late 1960s
1. Anti-Orientalism
2. Asian Americans as Americans
3. Synthetic rather than Oppositional Cultural Identity
4. Pan-Asian identity
II. Changing Concepts of Asian Americans and America
A. 1870s-early 1920s - Asians as "Yellow Peril"
B. 1920s-1960s - Assimilation
C. 1960s-early 1980s - Cultural Nationalism -
focus on ethnic identity - yellow power
Asian Americans as an American racial minority
structural exploitation
D. early 1980s-to present - Beyond Cultural Nationalism and Exploitation -
interrogate pan-Asianism
Transnationalism
Gender and sexuality
social agency
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