Asian Pacific American Studies... Courses
Summer and Fall 2009 Courses
Summer 2009
Electives
ENSP 355: Reading Race
Christopher Krentz
July 9 - August 6, MTWRF 1:00-3:15
Theory and Comparative
PLPT 302: Modern Political Thought
George Klosko
May 11- June 5, MTWRF 10:30-12:45
SOC 341: Race and Ethnic Relations
Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl
June 9 - July 7, MTWRF 10:30-12:45
Transnational
HIEA 210: Korea 1876-2009
Ronald Dimberg
June 9 - July 7, MTWRF 10:30-12:45
MUSI 307: World Music
Wendy Hsu
May 11 - June 5, MTWRF 11:15-1:30
Fall 2009
Survey Courses
AMST / ENAM 3180: Introduction to Asian-American Studies
Sylvia Chong
TR 3:30-4:45
The historical experiences of Asian Americans--a broad, panethnic category inclusive of Americans with roots in the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan, North and South Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and more--shed light on issues of immigration, citizenship, education, war, labor, and assimilation which have affected all Americans to differing degrees. This "multi-media" cultural history will draw heavily on American visual and popular culture to situate, visualize, and define Asian Americans at various historical moments against and alongside African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and white Americans. Some of these moments involve intense conflict and division, while others gesture towards camaraderie and affiliation. This class will be neither a simplistic celebration of ethnic pride and diversity, nor a condemnation of American history as singularly oppressive, although we will acknowledge both these strands. Rather, the eclectic materials of this class will replicate the heterogeneous history and make-up of Asian America, and establish Asian America as a relationship with itself and with America, rather than a thing to isolate and analyze.
This is an introductory course that assumes no prior knowledge of Asian American history. During the semester, we will concentrate on developing close reading skills for visual, cinematic and textual materials. We will engage with a number of primary texts from various genres, spanning the mid-19th century to contemporary times. While obviously not an exhaustive overview of Asian Americans in American cultural history, we will try to touch upon a diverse range of historical moments and cultural and political issues, so as to gain insight into the interconnectedness of multi-ethnic America. Tentative list of texts: The Coming Man, The Four Immigrants Manga, Bontoc Eulogy, Continuous Journey, History and Memory, Flower Drum Song, Who Killed Vincent Chin, Sa-I-Gu, Perfume Dreams, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
Electives
This is not an exhaustive list, but is based on the course descriptions posted by the instructors. If you have taken a course that deals with Asian American culture, history, or issues, that is not on this or previous semesters' lists, please contact the APAS Director for permission to list that course as an APAS elective.
AMST 2001: Formations of American Cultural Studies
Eric Lott and Sandhya Shukla
TR 12:30-1:45
This course introduces students to the broadly interdisciplinary field of cultural studies. As a way to understand culture in its many forms Ð everyday life, historical memory, literary and political imaginaries Ð the collective writings of intellectuals such as Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Antonio Gramsci, Paul Gilroy and many others have been of great use in the critique of disciplinary forms of knowledge. And the interdisciplinary, and increasingly transnational, field of American studies has provided unique perspectives on region, nation and globe that challenge the divides among culture, society, politics and economy. Lectures and discussions take shape from the dialogues between transatlantic cultural studies and American studies and effectively map the social formations of the United States and beyond. The material for this course will include critical theory, social history, literature, film, art and music, and may include works by W.E.B. Dubois, Carlos Bulosan, Anzia Yezierska, Nella Larsen, Elaine Brown, David Henry Hwang, Gloria Anzaldua, Janice Radway, Tony Kushner, and Jhumpa Lahiri.
AMST 2500: Language in the U.S.
Ashley Williams
TR 12:30-1:45
Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. is not (and never has been) linguistically homogenous: from dying and revitalized Native American languages to newly arrived immigrant languages, from regional and social dialect variation to innovation among adolescents and Hip Hop, the American language situation is diverse and changing. This course invites students to investigate this not-quite-melting-pot variety both through readings in current research and through small-scale field research. Topics covered in the course will include the origins and distinctions of American English, language controversies such as Ebonics and the English-Only movement, research in language attitudes and discrimination, topics in bilingualism and education, plus the latest studies in language issues involving different ethnicities, genders, sexualities, ages, and social classes.
In this course we will pull material from a variety of sources (including films, literature, the media, and recent studies), and will employ a variety of approaches (linguistic, anthropological, sociological, historical, and more) as we investigate and debate what is uniquely "American" about the language situation in the United States.
ANTH 3155: Everyday Life in America
Frederick Damon
MWF 10:00-10:50
Taking a production and exchange orientation to society, this course uses anthropological models to analyze aspects of the US experience in North America and its extension into the world. The models will be drawn from the anthropological analysis of exchange, rites of transition, sacrifice and mythology. The course will be organized in two parts. The first will provide a journalistic introduction to United States culture focusing on its financial/productive center, political institutions, and national ideologies. Anthropological, i.e. analytical, models will be reviewed as part of this introduction. The second part will examine the place of war, athletics, and movies in US culture. The collective readings of this second part are to be used by each student as a point of departure for his or her own research project and paper. Several short thematic and response papers will organize the first part. A research paper anchors the second part. Students must enroll in a section of 355D. Course Satisfies Second Writing Requirement. Anthropology majors or those in allied disciplines (e.g. History, American Studies)
EDLF 5000: Multicultural Education
Robert Covert
T 4:00-6:00
T 12:30-3:15
W 4:00-6:00 (these are all separate sections of the same course)
Prepares students to deal with the increasingly multicultural educational milieu. Emphasizes the process of understanding one's own bias and prejudices and how they effect the school and classroom learning environment. Included are readings, class discussions, field projects, journal writing, and other methods of directed self explorations.
ENAM 3559: Cross-Cultures of Harlem
Sandhya Shukla
TR 9:30-10:45
This course explores the cultural production, intellectual history and political movements that construct the globality of Harlem. Beginning at the turn of the twentieth century, we cover the development of various ethnic and racial neighborhoods arrayed across regions of the areaÑBlack Harlem, Jewish Harlem, Italian Harlem and Spanish HarlemÑand the conflicts and intimacies inherent in their transformations over time. We inquire into the representation and life of Harlem through the lens of the navigation and contestation of difference. Considering migrancy, diaspora, nationalism, race and ethnicity, and class formation in comparative perspective brings the global into the local and effectively reimagines how Òminoritized spaceÓ is made both materially and symbolically. Materials to be discussed include works by Nella Larsen, Claude McKay, James Weldon Johnson, Piri Thomas, Yuri Kochiyama, Leroi Jones, Irving Horowitz, Gordon Parks Jr., Joe Cuba, Jacob Lawrence, and others.
ENAM 4500: Culture and Society in the Modern US
Eric Lott
TR 2:00-3:15
ENCR 4500: Race, Space and Culture
Ian Grandison and Marlon Ross
TR 12:30-1:45
Co-taught by K. Ian Grandison and Marlon Ross, this interdisciplinary seminar examines the spatial implications at work in the theories, practices, and experiences of race, as well as the cultural implications at stake in our apprehensions and conceptions of space. Themes include: 1) the human/nature threshold; 2) public domains/private lives; 3) urban renewal, historic preservation, and the new urbanism; 4) defensible design and the spatial politics of fear; and 5) the cultural ideologies of sustainability. The seminar foregrounds the multidimensionality of space as a physical, perceptual, social, ideological, and discursive phenomenon. This means melding concepts and practices used in the design professions with theories affiliated with race, postcolonial, literary, and cultural studies. WeÕll investigate a variety of spaces, actual and discursive, through selected theoretical readings from diverse disciplines (e.g., William Cronon, Patricia Williams, Philip Deloria, Leslie Kanes Weisman, Gloria Anzaldua, Oscar Newman); through case studies (e.g., National Geographic documentary, Indian reservations, burial grounds, suburban homes, gay bars, national monuments); and through local site visits (Monticello, Vinegar Hill). Requirements include a midterm and final exam, one site visit response paper, and a major team research project and presentation.
PLAP 3500: Race and Gender in U.S. Politics
Lynn Sanders
MW 1:00-1:50
This course scrutinizes the political analogy of race and gender in politics in the United States. We
will examine how race and gender have each in turn shaped public opinion, public policies, political
actions like voting, political campaigns and political representation in the United States, especially
since the 1960s. Are race and gender similar forms of difference, or simply different?
SWAG 1440: Gender and Race in Popular Music
Wendy Hsu
TR 3:30-4:45
This course explores the relationship between popular music, gender, and race. To help us unravel these relationships, we consider different theoretical frameworks, including feminist theory, queer theory, critical race theory, and postcolonial theory, to determine how (well) they explain aspects of race and gender in popular music. We will read critical interpretations of Eminem, Lauryn Hill, Cibo Matto, Bollywood films, and many others; and historical and ethnographic narratives about Riot Grrrrl, Native American rock, Chinese pop, gay men in disco, Indian American hip hop, British Asian dance music, Latino house, and others, while analyzing related musical and social materials.
SWAG 3650: East Asian Women: Self-Portrayals
Ellen Fuller
TR 12:30-1:45
This seminar is a sociological examination of representations of East Asian women in both written (biography, autobiography, and novel) and visual (documentary and film) media. Explored are the changing cultural and social assumptions about women and men in China, Japan and Korea over the course of the 20th century, with emphasis on the post-World War II environment. Recurring themes include the impact of the West on historical developments in each country and the various relationships among the three East Asian countries.
SWAG 3020: Gender in Muslim Lives
Holly Singh
MWF 10:00-10:50
In this course, we will focus on expressions of gender by Muslims in a variety of cultural contexts, primarily in the Middle East and South Asia. How do men and women joined by a common religious tradition, Islam, experience life and gender in diverse ways through interpretations of religious law and practice, cultural and historical particularities, and access to wealth and social status? We will examine a number of sex and gender related issues, such as family and public life, womenÕs seclusion and menÕs honor, and health and healing.
SOC 3595: Special Topics in Sociology: Women, Islam and Modernity
Rachel Rinaldo
TR 2:00-3:15
The global Islamic revival is often considered an obstacle to gender equality. So how are we to
understand women's involvement in Islamic movements? And what can these phenomena tell us about gender and modernity? This class will read ethnographic accounts of Muslim women in various parts of the world. We will discuss these ethnographies with an eye for how they speak to and challenge sociological theories of gender, identity, and globalization.
Theory and Comparative Courses
Note: Because APAS theory and comparative courses also serve as requirements for other majors and often have other pre-requisites, it is strongly recommended that you contact the professor before enrolling in the course. If you have already taken an eligible theory or comparative course that you need to count towards your major, you may substitute an APAS elective for your theory requirement with the APAS Director's permission.
AAS 1010: Introduction to African-American and African Studies
Roquinaldo Ferreira
TR 12:30-1:45
This introductory course surveys the histories of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean from approximately the Middle Ages to the 1880s. Emphases include the Atlantic slave trade and its complex relationship to Africa; the economic systems, cultures, and communities of Africans and African-Americans in the New World, in slavery and in freedom; the rise of anti-slavery movements; and the socio-economic systems that replaced slavery in the late 19th century. Required Discussion Section.
ANTH 3010: Theory and History of Anthropology
Nicolas Sihle
MWF 10:00-10:50
This course is designed for students who are majoring in anthropology. It presents a broad historical outline of major theoretical approaches in the field, from the late 19th century to the present. These approaches will be examined in relation to both evolving debates within the discipline, and the larger historical, cultural and intellectual contexts in which they were produced, and which they to some degree reflect; we will also discuss the enduring relevance of these theories. The course stresses close reading of primary texts and emphasizes in particular the critical analysis of these textsÕ arguments. The discussion section is obligatory. This is a required course for anthropology majors.
PLPT 3020: Modern Political Theory
Stephen White
MW 1:00-1:50
Studies the development of political theory from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century.
SOC 3410: Race and Ethnicity
Milton Vickerman
MW 2:00-3:15
Introduces the study of race and ethnic relations, including the social and economic conditions
promoting prejudice, racism, discrimination, and segregation. Examines contemporary American conditions, and historical and international materials.
SWAG 3810: Feminist Theory
Rina Williams
TR 11:00-12:15
This course provides an overview of the historical bases and contemporary developments in feminist theorizing and analyze a range of theories on gender, including liberal, Marxist, radical, difference, and postmodernist feminist theories. We will explore how feminist theories apply to contemporary debates on the body, sexuality, colonialism, globalization and transnationalism. Throughout the course we will incorporate analysis of race, class, and national differences as well as cross-cultural perspectives. The course is reserved for SWAG majors and minors, so please contact the instructor before enrolling.
Transnational Courses
ANTH 3630: Chinese Family and Religion
John Shepherd
TR 12:30-1:45
This course will introduce students to anthropological analysis of the traditional Chinese forms of the Chinese family and popular religion, and their modern transformations. Topics to be covered include the dynamics of Chinese marriage and domestic life, gender roles, the religious underpinnings of Chinese family life in ancestor worship and the Chinese cult of the dead, marriage rituals, and the cult of filial piety. The forms of temple worship, the interaction of the Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions, and the shamanic tradition will also be covered. Finally, attention will be paid to the changing role of the family and religion in 20th- and 21st-century Chinese life.
This course will satisfy the Second Writing Requirement. Meets College's Non-Western Perspective Requirements.
ANTH 3700: Anthropology of Contemporary India
Ravindra Khare
W 2:00-4:30
An anthropological discussion of selected changing aspects of and issues in India since independence, with a focus on interdependently transforming Indian modernity and traditions in the (a) family, kinship, caste, community organizations; (b) the Indian middle-class, in rural India and in "slum" India; (c) caste politics and Indian democracy; (d) selected major religious conflicts and identities; and (e) popular TV and cinema culture.
EAST 3055: East Asian Social Movements
Ellen Fuller
TR 5:00-6:15
HIEA 2031: Modern China: The Road to Revolution
Bradly W. Reed
MW 9:00-9:50
This course is about the revolutionary transformation of the world's oldest empire into the world's largest socialist state. It is about the people, personalities, and events that have given Modern Chinese history it's dramatic, and sometimes tragic tone. It is also about the social, political, and cultural currents that lay beneath these more visible manifestations of change and the profound effect these forces have had on the Chinese people.
Following a brief consideration of the political and social institutions of the last imperial dynasty (the Qing, 1644-1911), we will examine the interaction of foreign aggression and domestic social crises that led first to the fall of the imperial order and the establishment of a Republic in 1911 and then to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The final month of the semester will then be devoted to the post-'49 era under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a period that has been described as the most thoroughgoing attempt at revolutionary social transformation in world history. We will close with a look at the post-Mao reform era and the issues facing China today after nearly a century of revolution.
Weekly reading assignments, drawn from a survey textbook as well as other secondary and primary sources, will average about 150 pages. Grades for the course will be based on a mid-term exam (30%), a final exam (30%), a ten-page essay (30%) and attendance and participation in discussion sections (10%).
HIEA 2071: History of Japan
Federico Marcon
MW 10:00-10:50
This lecture class surveys the history of Japan from prehistory to the modern age. Through an assortment of historical, literary, religious and visual materials, it offers an introduction to the political, social, religious, intellectual, artistic, and cultural life of the Japanese archipelago in its various epochs. From the refined court life of antiquity to the tumultuous wars of the Middle Ages, from the samurai world of the early modern period to the revolutionary modernization of the late nineteenth century, from the colonial expansion and World War 2 to the economic miracle (and recession) of the last sixty years, HIEA 207 proposes a new and lively portrait of Japan, caught not in isolation but in the context of East Asia and the world.
No previous knowledge of Japanese history is required to enroll in this class. The course is based on weekly lectures, occasional discussions, and movie screenings. Reading materials consists of a manual and a course-pack of primary sources in English translation, amounting to a weekly load of 100-150 pages. Evaluation is based on easy weekly assignments on the readings (25%), a mid-term exam (25%), a final exam (25%), and an essay (25%).
HISA 2003: Modern South Asia
MWF 10:00-10:50
Surveys 200 years of Indian history from the mid-18th century to the present, focusing on the imperial/colonial encounter with the British Raj before Independence, and the social and political permutations of freedom in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka since.
JPTR 2990: Modern Japanese Women Writers
W 2:00-4:30
Introduction to the resurgence of the female literary tradition from 1904 to the present. Focuses on Japanese women writers as cultural critics, how each individual female artist challenges and is shaped by Japanese culture and society.
PLCP 3610: Chinese Politics
Brantly Womack
MW 3:30-4:45
General introduction to Chinese politics in its societal context. Conveys a concrete appreciation of China's societal reality and how it interacts with the political system. Covers China's changing role in Asia and the world. Prerequisite: Some background in comparative politics and/or the history of China.
PLCP 3630: Politics in India and Pakistan
John Echeverri-Gent
TR 11:00-12:15
Surveys political development in India and Pakistan examining the process of nation-building, the causes of democratization and authoritarian rule, the development of ethnic and religious conflict, environmental politics, the political impact of cultural globalization, and gender-related political issues. Prerequisite: Some background in comparative politics and/or study of history and society in South Asia.
PLCP / SAST 3640: Women and Politics in South Asia
Rina Williams
TR 2:00-3:15
This course examines the role and effects of women in the politics of three countries of the South Asian subcontinent. We begin with the role of women under British colonial rule, and in anti-colonial nationalism and the movement for independence. The course will then examine women and politics in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Particular attention will be paid to issues of democracy and authoritarian rule; womenÕs political leadership, participation, and representation; economic development; and identity politics (religion, caste, nationalism) and political violence.
PLIR 2030: International Relations of East Asia
Leonard Schoppa
MW 10:00-10:50
An introduction to leading theories in the field of international relations with reference to major events in the history of diplomacy, war, and economic relations in the East Asian region.
SAST 3559: Pleasures of Bollywood
Geeta Patel
T 5:00-7:30
SATR 3110: Modern Urdu Literature
Mehr Farooqi
TR 12:00-3:15
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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