Asian American Studies 101
Asian American Experiences
Spring 2002
Course Description
Syllabus
Asian American Web Sites
References
Course Description
This course serves as an introduction to Asian American Studies, and as
such it presents the major themes and issues in a new and growing interdisciplinary
field of scholarly research and cultural production. The primary objective
of the course is to engage students with selected aspects of the emerging
canon of scholarly literature in Asian American Studies. This course will
also provide many opportunities for students to link personal experiences
to the larger collective facts of “Asian America,” from the local to the
global.
As an interdisciplinary field, Asian American Studies encompasses a
wide range of topics and theoretical approaches. Our exploration of the
field will involve history, psychology, sociology, politics, economics,
literary texts and films. Guest lectures by IDAAS faculty will provide
an introduction to the wide range of research and teaching interests of
the department. The course will shed light not only on the multi-faceted
nature of the Asian American experience, but also on the conflicting and
simultaneous trends within the field of Asian American Studies.
The college classroom is one of the few venues in the U.S. society where
discussion and debate may freely take place in a sophisticated and informed
way. The value of this venue is greatly enhanced by the willingness and
ability of each participant to do their own work and to share their insights
in constructive ways with others. Throughout the semester, the classroom
will become a community space in which the beliefs and attitudes of all
participants must be thoughtfully presented and respectfully considered.
The texts for the course include:
Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian, Vintage Books, 1998.
Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams, Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
2000.
Min Zhou and James Gatewood, Contemporary Asian America, NYU
Press, 2000.
Tim Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience : Beyond the
Model Minority, Prentice Hall, 2001.
Jeanne Houston and James Houston, Farewell to Manzanar, Bantam
Books, 1973.
All these books are available at Huntley Bookstore, Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com.
The requirements for the course include class attendance and participation,
creation of web pages, an essay assignment, a research paper, and a final
exam.
If any material is ever unclear, or even if everything is perfectly
clear, please come chat with me about Asian American Studies, or anything
for that matter. If you have a short question, please feel free to call
me. For longer and better explanations, come by my office during office
hours or make an appointment to see me at your convenience. I can be reached
at the following during the spring semester:
Office: Fletcher 216
Office Hours: Tues, Thurs 1:15-2:45pm and by appointment
Phone: 607-3769
Email: lyamane@pitzer.edu
You can leave voicemail at the office or send email to me 24 hours a
day.
Schedule of Topics and Readings
1 Who are Asian Americans? Jan 24
Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian
Michael Omi and Howard Winant, “On the Theoretical Status of the Concept
of Race”
Professor Alexandra Shu
2. San Francisco
State Student Strike 1968 Feb 5
Karen Umemoto, “On Strike!” San Francisco State College Strike, 1968-1969:
The Role of Asian American Students
Glenn Omatsu, “The ‘Four Prisions’ and the Movement for Liberation:
Asian American Activism from the 1960s to the 1990s”
The Fall of the I-Hotel, film.
Professor David Yoo
3. Vincent Chin 1982
Feb 14
Christine Choy and Renee Tajima Pena, Who Killed Vincent Chin,
film
Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams, “Detroit Blues”
Timothy Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience, “Anti-Asian
Violence”
Rita Chaudhry Sethi, "Smells Like Racism" in Karin Aguilar-San Juan,
ed., The State of Asian America, 1994.
Deborah Misir, "The Murder of Navroze Mody"
4. Civil Liberties
Act of 1988 Feb 26
Satsuki Ina, Children of the Camps, film
Yasuko Takezawa, “Children of Inmates: The Effects of the Redress Movement
among Third-Generation Japanese Americans”
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James Houston, Farewell to Manzanar
Professor Lynne Miyake
5. Miss Saigon
1990 Mar 7
Deborah Gee, Slaying the Dragon, film
Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams, “Gangsters, Gooks, Geishas
and Geeks”
Timothy Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience, “Charlie
Chan No More”
Yoko Yoshikawa, "The Heat is on Miss Saigon Coalition", in Karin
Aguilar-San Juan, ed., The State of Asian America, 1994.
Professor Ming Ma
6. Sa-I-Gu
1992 Mar 26
Christine Choy, Sa-I-Gu, film
Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams, “To Market, To Market, New
York Style” and “Lost and Found in LA”
Timothy Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience, “Emerging
Communities, Changing Realities.”
7. Campaign
Finance Scandal of 1996 Apr 4
Ling-Chi Wang, “Race, Class, Citizenship, and Extraterritoriality:
Asian Americans and the 1996 Campaign Finance Scandal”
Timothy Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience, “The
Final Frontier”
Professor Thomas Kim
8. IDAAS 1998
Apr
16
Timothy Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience, “The
Right to Excel”
Keith Osajima, “Asian Americans as the Model Minority: An Analysis
of the Popular Press Image in the 1960s and 1980s.”
Don Nakanishi, “A Quota on Excellence? The Asian American Admissions
Debate”
Professor Ruth Chung
9. Wen
Ho Lee 2001 Apr 25
Wen Ho Lee and Helen Zia, My Country Versus Me
Timothy Fong, The Contemporary Asian American Experience, “Workplace
Issues”
Professor Sharon Goto
Final Exam May 13
Questions for
Thought
NOTE: This syllabus is subject to change. If you miss a class, you are
responsible for finding out about any changes. Be sure to check in with
another student or with me.
Asian American Studies Web Sites
Asian American Resources
References
AsianWeek, 808 N. Spring St., Suite 628, Los Angles, California.
Frontiers of Asian American Studies: Writing, Research and Commentary,
Gail Nomura, et. al, eds., Washington State University Press, 1989.
Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings by and about Asian American
Women, Asian American Women United of California, eds., Beacon Press,
1989.
Okada, John, No No Boy, Seattle: University of Washington Press,
1980.
Reflections on Shattered Windows: Promises and Prospects for Asian
American Studies, Gary Okihiro, et. al., eds., Washington State University
Press, 1988.
Sue, Stanley and James Morishima, Mental Health of Asian Americans:
Contemporary Issues in Identifying and Treating Mental Problems, Jossey-Bass,
1982.
Transpacific subscription, Transpacific Media, Inc., Malibu,
California.
Wong, Jade, Fifth Chinese Daughter, Seattle: University of Washington
Press, 1989 (1945).
A Look Beyond the Model Minority Image: Critical Issues in Asian
America, Grace Yun, ed., Minority Rights Group, Inc., 1989.
Asian Americans: Comparative and Global Perspectives, Shirley
Hune, et. al., eds., Washington State University Press, 1991.
Asian-Americans: Social and Psychological Perspectives, Volume
II, Russell Endo, et. al., eds., Science and Behavior Books, Inc., 1980.
Bonacich, Edna and Lucie Cheng, Labor Immigration Under Capitalism:
Asian Workers in the United States Before World War II, Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1984.
Bonacich, Edna and John Modell, The Economic Basis of Ethnic Solidarity:
Small Business in the Japanese American Community, University of California
Press, 1980.
Daniels, Roger, The Politics of Prejudice: The Anti-Japanese Movement
in California and the Struggle for Japanese Exclusion, University of
California Press, 1962.
Chan, Sucheng, Income and Status Differences Between White and Minority
Americans, Lewiston: New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1990.
Chan, Sucheng, Asian Americans: An Interpretive History, Twayne
Publishers, Boston, 1991.
Chan, Sucheng, Asian Californians, Materials for Today's Learning,
1991.
Chan, Sucheng, This Bitter-Sweet Soil: The Chinese in California
Agriculture, 1860-1910, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1986.
Chong, Ping, et. al., Between Worlds: Contemporary Asian American
Plays, Theater Comm., 1989.
Fawcett, James and Benjamin Carino, Pacific Bridges: The New Immigration
from Asia and the Pacific Islands, Staten Island, New York: Center
for Migration Studies, 1987.
Fugita, Stephen and David O'Brien, Japanese American Ethnicity:
The Persistence of Community, University of Washington Press, 1991.
Glenn, Evelyn Nakano, Issei, Nisei, War Bride: Three Generations
of Japanese American Women in Domestic Service, Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1986.
Hakuta, Kenji, Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism,
New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1986.
Hsia, Jayjia, Asian Americans in Higher Education and at Work,
Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1988.
Ichioka, Yuji, The Issei: The World of the First Generation Japanese
Immigrants 1885-1924, The Free Press, 1988.
Kim, Elaine,
Asian American Literature: An Introduction to the Writings
and Their Social Contexts, Temple University Press, 1984.
Kim, Ilsoo, New Urban Immigrants: The Korean Community in New York,
Princeton University Press, 1981.
Kitano, Harry and Roger Daniels, Asian Americans: Emerging Minorities,
Prentice Hall, 1988.
Light, Ivan, Ethnic Enterprise in America, University of California
Press, 1973.
Light, Ivan and Edna Bonacich, Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans
in Los Angeles, 1965-1982, Berkeley: University of California Press,
1982.
Nakano, Mei, Japanese American Women: Three Generations 1890-1990,
Mina Press Publishing, 1990.
O'Brien, David and Stephen Fugita, The Japanese American Experience,
Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1991.
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States:
From the 1960s to the 1980s, New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986.
Ong, Paul, ed., The State of Asian Pacific America: Economic Diversity,
Issues and Policies, Los Angeles: Asian Pacific Policy Institute and
the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1994.
Sandmeyer, Elmer C., The Anti-Chinese Movement in California,
University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Takaki, Ronald, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920,
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987.
Takaki, Ronald,
Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th Century America,
Oxford University Press, 1990
Tsai, Shih-shan, The Chinese Experience in America, Indiana
University Press, 1986.