Catalog Description

Hours: 54 lecture
Description: A historical survey of Asian Americans from early 20th century to the present. Major topics will include war, refugees, immigration and settlement patterns, laws, labor and socioeconomic class, social movements, education, discrimination, gender, sexuality, and social identity. The course will interrogate the term “Asian American” and apply comparative analysis among diverse groups including Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, South Asian, and Southeast Asian. This course includes analysis of the U. S. Constitution, Supreme Court Rulings, and California State and local government issues related to the rights of Asian Americans. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Analyze the role of geography in the economic and political development of Asian Americans and its place in a global context.\\n
  • CSLO #2: Compose coherent, persuasive historical arguments using correct academic citation methods.
  • CSLO #3: Differentiate primary and secondary sources and how each is used to make historical claims.
  • CSLO #4: Investigate major political, economic and social changes in the United States with emphasis on the roles of Asian Americans. \\n
  • CSLO #5: Investigate major political, economic and social change in the United States with emphasis on the role of racial and/or ethnic minority groups, with an emphasis on Asian Americans.\\n

Effective Term

Fall 2025

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

1. Interpret primary and secondary sources and to compose an argument which uses them, as appropriate, for support.

2. Analyze U.S. History through multiple analytical categories such as race, class, gender and ethnicity, with an emphasis on the Asian American experience.

3. Evaluate America's growth in a global context and the contributions of Asian Americans.

4. Explain the major economic, technological and scientific developments and their historical significance.

5. Analyze major political trends, attitudes, conflicts and events, including both mainstream and reform efforts, and explain their historical significance.

6. Explain the major social and cultural developments, their causes and effects, and their historical significance.

7. Evaluate California state government within a broad, national context.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
    • AA/AS - Social Sciences
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
      • Cal-GETC 4 - Social and Behavioral Sciences
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)

      Articulation Information

      • CSU Transferable
      • UC Transferable

      Methods of Evaluation

      • Objective Examinations
        • Example: Hmong women who immigrated to America in the 1970s were considered a. Equal to men b. Superior to men c. Property of men d. Independent women Write 2-3 sentences explaining your response.

      Repeatable

      No

      Methods of Instruction

      • Lecture/Discussion
      • Distance Learning

      Lecture:

      1. The instructor will assign primary source materials on the Asian American experience in California for students to read prior to class. In lecture/discussion format, the instructor will use these materials as a starting point to compare and contrast historical points of view in either classroom/web-based discussions or in writing assignments.
      2. The instructor will provide material in lecture format (either oral or written) on Supreme Court rulings. The instructor will divide students into groups (either in web-based discussions or in classrooms) and have students summarize and analyze the material. Instructor will monitor and support group discussions as necessary.
      3. The instructor will divide students into small groups and have them compare their summary of assigned reading and their reactions to Immigration and Nationality Act of 196
      4. While the students work in small groups, the instructor will walk from group to group and provide guidance, clarification, and support to their questions.

      Distance Learning

      1. The instructor will make a video lecture with a PowerPoint that provides historical content and connections to the greater scope of the course. The instructor will assign a Discussion Board assignment in the online course, which requires the students to compare and contrast Vietnamese and Hmong immigration in the 1970s in a post. The students must then respond to two students in the discussion board.

      Typical Out of Class Assignments

      Reading Assignments

      1. Based upon reading assignments reflected in the course syllabus, complete the reading "Asian American History: An introduction” by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials and be prepared to discuss the material in class and as part of written examinations. 2. Complete reading in assigned course reader “Contemporary Asian America (third edition): A Multidisciplinary Reader” by Min Zhou (Editor), Anthony Christian Ocampo (Editor), 2016. and be prepared to summarize both orally and in a carefully written paragraph.

      Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

      1. Based upon reading and class discussions, write a 500-word essay contrasting the lives of first and second generation Hmong women in Minnesota. 2. Make a timeline of Asian immigration to the United States and the local, state, and federal laws that allowed or prohibited their rights in both California and the United States.

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

      In ten pages (typewritten) answer the following prompts based on your reading in Students will read Still Life With Rice by Helie Lee. Prompt: Describe Lee’s grandmother’s experience in Korea under Japanese rule. Give four examples of profound life events, two from her youth and two from adulthood, that shaped who she became as a woman. Evaluate the author’s personal conflicts between her Korean heritage and life and identity in the United States.

      Required Materials

      • The First Asians in the Americas: A Transpacific History
        • Author: Diego Javier Luis
        • Publisher: Harvard University Press
        • Publication Date: 2024
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?: No
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • Asian American History
        • Author: Huping Ling
        • Publisher: Rutgers University Press
        • Publication Date: 2023
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?: No
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • Asian American Histories of the United States
        • Author: Catherine Ceniza Choy
        • Publisher: Beacon Press
        • Publication Date: 2022
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?: No
        • OER Link:
        • OER:
      • Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese American Family (Classics of Asian American Literature)
        • Author: Yoshiko Uchida
        • Publisher: University of Washington Press
        • Publication Date: 2015
        • Text Edition: 1st
        • Classic Textbook?: Yes
        • OER Link:
        • OER:

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