Asian Pacific American Studies... Courses
Archived Course Lists
Courses for Spring 2006
APA Survey Requirement:
ANTH 261
Asian America
Prof. Pensri Ho
ANTH 261 is an introductory survey course to Asian American experiences and Asian/Pacific Islander experiences in America since 1763 with the establishment of a Filipino settlement of male deserters ("Manilamen") from Spanish galleons in Saint Malo, Louisiana. The first half of the course examines the pre-1965 Asian/Pacific Islander and Asian American experiences in the United States through historical, literary, legal (court cases), and anthropological texts and supplemented by documentary films. The latter half of the course examines the post-1965 Asian/Pacific Islander and Asian American experiences in the United States through primarily anthropological texts. Since there are over 30 Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic populations in residence in the United States since 1763, this course can only gloss over a majority of their experiences with the exception of 3-4 Asian ethnic groups that would be covered in greater detail through ethnographies. The 3-4 Asian ethnic groups would rotate from year to year.
Although an interdisciplinary course, most of the course materials consist of ethnographic (qualitative) studies that are framed by anthropological and American race concepts and theories.
Asian Transnationalism/Globalization Requirement (or elective):
AMST 401/ANTH 407
Transnationalism/Globalization: American Perspectives
Prof. Pensri Ho
This seminar course is designed to meet the following objectives:
- introduce students to the factors influencing transnational migration and globalization
- familiarize students with prevailing theories on transnational migration and globalization, and
- read/view/screen multiple forms of text (ethnographic studies, novel, poetry, mixed media, photographs, documentaries, feature films, comic strip) that reveal
- the personal impact and lived experiences of immigrants to the United States and American emigrants to other countries (transnationalism) and
- the political-economic and socio-cultural impact and reception of “America” in other countries (globalization)
This course will examine the socio-historical trends, political-economic conditions, cultural implications, and individual/community/corporate/national government responses to transnational and globalized flows of people, commerce and ideas to and from the United States.
PLCP 424/SWAG 425
Politics Of Gender and Identity
Prof. Rina Williams
This course will examine how gender as a form of collective identity interacts with other forms of identity, focusing on the political contexts and consequences of this interaction. Gender is considered in its interaction with racial and ethnic identities; national identity; and religious identity. The course will examine these issues both at a theoretical level, and also through a series of case studies that apply theories to current political issues. These studies will include cases from the United States, France, India, Nigeria, Latin America, and the Middle East, among others.
SWAG 405
Gender and Transnationalism
Prof. Ellen Fuller
With the end of the Cold War and the advent of the Internet, globalization has increased dramatically. Scholars and others engage in analyses of the global capitalist system, democracy as a global political model, and the emergence of a world society with a shared culture. Depending on the scholar, transnationalism can be viewed as either one manifestation of globalization or a better term for globalization itself, one that emphasizes the relational aspects of various global processes (Ong). It includes the Transnational Capitalist Class (Sklair) as well as the people who move about the globe in search of work, political asylum, escape from war and environmental devastation, or even self-fulfillment. It also includes people who create computer-based connections across national boundaries in order to raise awareness of a local problem and gain leverage through transnational support. This course seeks to address the political, economic and social forces that put people in transnational motion, whether physically moving away from their native place or simply logging on to the internet. We also will analyze the ways in which fluid identities of self and other, both individual and collective, are part of transnational processes.
Theory Survey Requirement:
ANTH 301
Theory/history Anthropology
Prof. Frederick Damon
Designed for students majoring in anthropology, this course reviews the history of anthropology from the late 18th century to the present. It explores both the development of theory and the discipline's experience in learning about the human condition in specific places across the globe. Mindful that anthropology is itself a social process, developing through certain times and distinctive to specific places, the course will consider both the discipline's generated content and the role proto- and contemporary anthropologists have played in their societies. Students must enroll in one of the discussion sections, 301D. These sections will be partly devoted to considering assigned class readings and lectures in a seminar format; but they will also be organized so that specific sets of students will focus on anthropology's contributions to the understanding of specific regions of the world, the Americas, Euro-Asia, Africa, and the Indo-Pacific. One question to be addressed here is how we make the discipline's contributions relevant to our roles as citizens of the world. Sets of students will also be responsible for reading and producing a collective critical review of the biography of a distinctive contributor to the record of anthropology, e.g., Morgan, Malinowski, Benedict, Leach. This course should meet the second writing requirement
ENMC 360
Transnational Texts and Gender
Prof. Victoria Olwell
In what ways is it necessary to theorize both gender and representation across national borders? In what ways is it possible? This course will reckon with these problems. Drawing on recent developments in gender studies and postcolonial theory, we'll grapple with texts, movies, and activist videos that stage contentious border crossings. Our readings and viewings will raise such topics as decolonization, migrant domestic labor, sex work, "globalization," violence, sexuality, romance, education, and social justice movements. They'll also raise questions about modes of representation and the transnational network of readers, writers, and viewers. Our primary texts will likely include Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy, Tsitsi Dengarembga's Nervous Conditions, Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, and Zadie Smith's White Teeth. We'll also study films by Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Kandahar), and Ousmane Sembene (Moolaadé ). Coursework includes several short papers, and a final exam. Our format will mix short lectures and discussion. Your class participation is crucial to this course. Really.
SOC 406
Contemporary Social Theory
Prof. Jeff Olick
This course provides a survey of the major strategies of explanation in sociology, such as motivational theory, phenomenology, rational choice theory, conflict theory, and systems theory. It also addresses fundamental issues that transcend the various theoretical strategies, including the role of values in sociology, the nature of explanation in science, and criteria for the assessment of scientific theory (such as testability, generality, and simplicity).
SWAG 381
Feminist Theory
Prof. Tiffany Gilbert
Introduces current feminist scholarship in a variety of areas—literature, history, film, anthropology, and psychoanalysis, among others—pairing feminist texts with more traditional ones. Features guest speakers and culminates in an interdisciplinary project. Cross listed as ENCR 381.
Electives:
AMST 402 Independent Study
Prof. Sylvia Chong or Prof. Pensri Ho
ANTH 225
Racism, Nationalism, Multiculturalism
Prof. Richard Handler
Introductory course in which the concepts of culture, multiculturalism, race, racism, and nationalism are critically examined in terms of how they are used and structure social relations in American society and, by comparison, how they are defined in other cultures throughout the world.
ENMC 484
Inter-Ethnic Fiction
Prof. Caroline Rody
Limited enrollment. An interdisciplinary seminar focusing on the interrelationships between literature and history, the social sciences, philosophy, religion, and the fine arts in the Modern period.
Archive of past semesters' APAS courses
Because APAS is still developing as a program, its course offerings are constantly in flux. Please look at these listings of past courses to get a sense of what classes typically count towards the APAS minor.
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