Catalog Description

Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Introduces students to Ethnic Studies and the diverse, institutional, cultural, and historical issues and experiences relating to the past and present life circumstances and intersectional identities of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Identify the key contributions of the Asian Americans in the local community and describe their history, experiences and culture.
  • CSLO #2: Identify and explain the social, political, and cultural contributions of Asian American peoples to the United States of America.
  • CSLO #3: Investigate major political, economic and social change in the United States with emphasis on the intersections of race, class, and gender relative to the diverse and unique Asian American communities.

Effective Term

Fall 2024

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

1. Analyze and articulate concepts of Ethnic Studies, including but not limited to race and ethnicity, racialization, equity, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self determination, liberation, decolonization, and anti-racism.
2. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Asian American communities to describe critical events in the histories, cultures, and intellectual traditions with special focus on the lived-experiences and social struggles of Asian Americans.
3. Discuss the social, cultural and structural conditions that compelled the Asian American social movements of collective action and organizations in the United States.
4. Critically analyze how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced by Asian Americans, are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational policies (immigration).
5. Demonstrate active engagement with anti-racist issues, practices and movements to build a diverse, just and equitable society beyond the classroom and list and describe contemporary social issues facing Asian Americans in the U.S.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Ethnic Studies
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
    • AA/AS - Social Sciences
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - D Social Sciences
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 4 Soc./Behav Sciences

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Essay: Students will choose a piece of Asian American cultural production (e.g., literature, art, film, or music (song) to analyze in a 2-page essay format. The collective essay must critically review the relationship between the art piece and concepts such as self-determination, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation by answering the following questions: 1) What was the social, political, economic, etc. context and era under which the literature/art/film/song was produced; 2) How did those factors impact the author/artist/musician, and what connections can be drawn between the piece and the information explored in class texts and readings; and 3) How and why does the piece impact you on a personal level? Students will present their analysis in small group presentations. (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
    • Reports
      • Example: Oral History Report: Students will learn about the importance of oral traditions, storytelling, and lived experiences within Asian American communities by identifying a member of their family or community to interview. Students will learn the ethics and personal responsibility undertaken when receiving stories and oral traditions from interviewees. Through collaborative discussion inside of their classrooms, students will develop questions for their interviews that reflect the terminology and concepts from the course such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, xenophobia, eurocentrism, white supremacy and anti-Blackness, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, diaspora, transnationalism, globalization, and settler colonialism. Students will analyze transcripts of the interviews and conversations to better understand how this person adds a significant perspective and narrative that can be contextualized within the broader experience of Asian American community, solidarity, and history. Students will collaborate as a class to develop Oral History databases to be shared with college and community organizations to create space for students to engage in work that leads to a more just and equitable society. (LO 2, 3, 4, 5)

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Instructor will provide lecture and documentary critiques that analyze and differentiates the diversity within the Asian American Communities. Students will create tables and timelines for each group presented to compare the experiences of Asian Americans.
    2. Instructor will lecture and facilitate discussions using visual media that engages students to recognize pride and identify stereotypes in the representation of diverse Asian American culture.

    Distance Learning

    1. Following an online lecture on the consequences of Japanese Internment, students will post their personal views for discussion.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. Students will read “Neither Black Nor White” by Angelo Ancheta from the book Asian American Studies Now and answer questions about identity and submit an outline about Anti-Asian violence as expressed in the reading. 2. Students will use the internet to research articles and explore and present their findings in a class discussion about the intersectional diversity of culture within the Asian American community.

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. Students will submit a written essay of their research results and compare and contrast to their personal life experiences. 2. After viewing the "Asian Americans" series, students will identify and describe the relationship between Asian American imagery and media representations.

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Field Trip to the Crocker Art Museum or other local museum to view and learn about historical and contemporary Asian Art and Artists. Students will do a short presentation to the class about their experience, choosing two pieces of art to share with the class and discussing the importance of the art and artist. Students will relate the concept of the art and/or the background of the artist with the course content. For example, if the artist is Punjabi, how does their art reflect the experiences that they have learned about Punjabi farmers?

    Required Materials

    • Asian American Studies Now
      • Author: Yu-Wen, Jean; Wu, Shen and Chen, Thomas C
      • Publisher: Rutgers University Press
      • Publication Date: 2010
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?: Yes
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • The Loneliest Americans
      • Author: Jay Caspian Kang
      • Publisher: Crown New York
      • Publication Date: 2021
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Contemporary Asian America
      • Author: Zhou, Min and Ocampo, Anthony C
      • Publisher: New York University
      • Publication Date: 2016
      • Text Edition: 3rd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
      • Author: Cathy Park Hong
      • Publisher: One World: New York
      • Publication Date: 2020
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Families as they really are
      • Author: Risman, Barbara
      • Publisher: New York: Norton
      • Publication Date: 2015
      • Text Edition: 2nd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans-Updated and Revised
      • Author: Takaki, Ronald
      • Publisher: Boston: First Back Bay
      • Publication Date: 1998
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?: Yes
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.