Intro to Asian/ Asian Amer

Catalog description

Since the mid-nineteenth century, Americans have viewed Asia as alien, mysterious, alluring, repressed and have alternately been compelled by and frightened by what they have regarded as incommensurable cultural differences between the United States and Asia. In addressing this, we will focus on the following themes: colonialism and nationalism, national and ethnic identities, emigration and immigration, and popular culture and mass media, as a way to put in perspective, if not dispel, prevailing stereotypes of Asian and Asian America and gain a more complex and nuanced understanding of the complex and rich geo-political, cultural and historical terrain of Asia/ Asian America. This course is designed to provide a general introduction to the related disciplines of Asian Studies, and Asian American Studies and to familiarize students with some of the major debates, points of connection and contention. We will consider how "Asia" and "Asian America" are defined, geopolitically and strategically to allow us to develop a critical view about Asian and Asian American studies in a transnational frame. Through an examination of fiction, film and sociological works, students will acquire a better understanding about what is being researched in this field. IC, IIIB. PA-4B, PA-4C. CAS-B.