Fall 2023 Courses

AMST 130 SC. Cold War Taiwanese/America.
W. Cheng, SC, W 2:45-5:30 p.m.
This course examines Taiwanese/American history, identity, politics, and culture with a particular focus on global Cold War politics and the historical relationship between Taiwan and the United States. Through film, literature, popular culture, primary historical texts, and interdisciplinary scholarship, students will use the focus on Taiwan and the United States to develop a broad understanding of issues including student migration, cultural identity, diasporic activism, imperialism and colonialism, and people and places caught in the crosshairs of global hegemony.

ASAM 082. Racial Politics of Teaching.
K. Yep & C. Fought, PZ, T 2:45-5:30 p.m.
This class examines how race and ethnicity are constructed in schooling from sociological, linguistic, and ethnic studies standpoints. Specifically, we will discuss how race and ethnicity are constructed in schooling and ways teachers/educators may refine their pedagogies in relation to race and ethnicity. Students will do a research project.

ASAM 088. Thich Nhat Hanh: Interdependence, Ecology, and Healing.
K. Yep, PZ, R 1:15-4:00 p.m.
This course is an introduction to the relationship among Thich Nhat Hanh’s Engaged Buddhism, ecology, and society. In doing so, it provides Thich Nhat Hanh’s perspective on ecological and social thought and an ecological and social perspective on healing from environmental factors in Asian and Asian diasporic communities. We will explore how Asian and Asian diasporic Buddhists view nature and the environment to address healing in the context of historical trauma such as the war. Through critical pedagogies and community engagement project with a partner in Vietnam and in California, we will explore the meaning and value of this way of viewing and interacting with the natural world to create healing from ecological social determinants of health. This class counts toward the Intercultural Studies, Social Responsibility Praxis, and Asian American Studies – Communities requirements. This course is a discussion class and your preparation for class discussion is critical to its success.

ASAM 115 PO. Theory and Methods.
B. Nasir, PO, W 1:15-4:00p.m.
As an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field of study and knowledge production, Asian/American and Pacific Islander Studies uses a variety of research methods to address the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and class in the realms of politics, representation, identity, and community formation, among others. The course will provide a critical examination of important themes in Asian American history; contemporary issues facing Asian American communities in a time of accelerated economic, social, and political changes; and the relation of textual and cultural production to epistemology and states of being and feeling that respond to structures of power.

ASAM 125. Introduction to Asian American History, 1850-Present.
A. Flores, HM, TR 8:10-9:25 a.m.
This survey course examines the history of Asian immigrant groups and their American-born descendants as they have settled and adjusted to life in the United States since 1850. We will explore issues such as the experience of immigration, daily life in urban ethnic enclaves, and racist campaigns against Asian immigrants. In addition, this course utilizes an ethnic studies framework that requires students to critically explore other themes such as class, community, empire, gender, labor, race, sexuality, settler colonialism, and war from the perspective of Asian Americans.

ASAM 126. Introduction to Pacific Islander History.
A. Flores, HM, TR 9:35-10:50 a.m.
Survey course introduces students to the native/indigenous histories of Oceania with an emphasis on Aotearoa (New Zealand), Guåhan (Guam), Hawai‘i, the Marshall Islands, S?moa, and Tonga. These places will expose students to the global and local histories of colonialism, climate change, diaspora, empire, indigenous land and ocean stewardship, migration, militarization, nuclear testing, and tourism. In addition, this course critically explores other related themes other related themes such as class, environmentalism, gender, labor, race, sexuality, and war from the perspectives of Native Pacific Islanders. Class discussions, lectures, film screenings, and readings constitute the interpretative lens for this course.

ASAM 135B. Race, Empire, Filipinx America.
T. Honma, PZ, TR 1:15-2:30p.m.
Examines the interplay of historical, social, political, and cultural factors that have influenced, and continue to influence, Filipinx American experiences in the U.S., similarities and differences within the Filipinx American community, as well as with other Asian American and ethnic/racial groups, will be examined.

ASAM 156. Global Rebellion.
S. Patel, PZ, MW 4:15-5:30 p.m.
In this course, students will examine the rich legacy of anticolonial struggle from around the world. Drawing upon scholarship in Critical Ethnic Studies and American Studies, we will journey through the overlapping historical, political, and intellectual formations of Black, Asian, and Latinx radicalism. By centering radical, anticolonial political actors, and social movements, we will discuss how Black and Brown people forged internationalist solidarities and rebelled against global white supremacy.

ASAM 175. Asian American Comics: Racial Politics.
T. Honma, PZ, TR 9:35-10:50a.m.
This seminar focuses on comics as a form of storytelling within Asian American communities and the politics of racial representation. How do Asian American comic writers situate themselves (and their narratives) within a US settler society structured by capitalism, heteropatriarchy and white supremacy? Readings will include comics and graphic novels by and about Asian Americans from a variety of ethnic and gendered subject positions, as well as works distributed by both mainstream, independent, and do -it-yourself publishers. Theoretical work that examines race and visuality, political economy, positionality and intersectionality, transnationalism, aesthetics, and affect will also be required.

ASAM 179K. Asian American Women on Screen.
R. Yim, SC, M 2:45-5:30 p.m.
This course will examine historical representations of Asian/American women in movies, TV, and new media in American culture. We will start by theorizing the hypersexuality of Asian women on screen by thinking about the role militarism plays in constructing gendered and racialized stereotypes. We will continue thinking about ongoing representational practices of Asian/American women by watching and engaging with films, TV shows, comedy specials, news clips, and social media. We will consider how engaging with representation as a site of contestation and possibilty might create opportunities for rethinking how gender and sexuality in Asian American studies disrupts depictions of war, migration, violence, the family, memory, and activism on screen.

ASAM 190A. Asian American Studies Senior Seminar: Applications, Analysis, and Future Directions.
S. Goto, PO, TR 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
This is the capstone seminar for senior Asian American Studies majors (minors optional). The seminar is designed to bring seniors together to discuss and assess their understanding of Asian American Studies practice and theory at the Claremont Colleges and beyond. We will engage in minor research activities, read & analyze provocative books and articles, and revisit key issues & controversies.

PSYC 155. Seminar in Ethnic Minority Psychology and Mental Health.
W. Hwang, CMC, MW 2:45-4:00 p.m.
This course examines the roles and influences of ethnicity, race, and culture on psychology and mental health. Students will learn about intergroup dynamics, racism and White privilege, ethnic identity development, acculturation and immigration, ethnic differences in the expression of distress, differential patterns and barriers to help-seeking, mental health disparities, and ethnocultural issues that influence treatment processes.

THEA 001G. Acting for Social Change.
J. Lu, PO, MW 1:15-3:45p.m.
Acting for Social Change is an introduction to the fundamentals of acting, drawing upon different techniques such as psychological realism and physical theatre. Students will perform a self-written monologue, a documentary monologue transcribed from a live interview, and a two or three person scene from a play. They will also be introduced to Playback Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed, two forms of theater that are applied commonly today to create dialogue, heal conflict and trauma, and build community.

THEA 115O Applied Theatre in Elementary Schools: Breaking Cycles of Harm.
J. Lu, PO, MW 10:00a.m.-12:30p.m.
Applied Theatre encompasses all theatrical interventions that are deployed outside of a traditional theater space for community building, problem solving, and healing justice. In this course, you will learn techniques from Playback Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed, the most widely known forms of Applied Theatre. You will then apply these skills in a curriculum for Bullying Prevention / Transformative Social Emotional Learning at a local elementary school.