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CS92PROD
Asian American History
AMST 231
Fall 2015
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: CEAS 276

This course will examine the history of Asian Americans in the U.S. It analyzes the causes and reasons for why Asians settled in the country as a reflection of processes related to militarization, war, globalization, economic displacement, and labor demands. This lecture/discussion attends to the diverse meanings that constitute "Asian" and "American," taking an exciting comparative approach to the study of Asian Americans by recognizing that the lives of Asians are inseparable from other minorities such as Latino/a, Native American, Muslim/Arab, and black people. The course begins with a discussion of the conquest of the Americas by Columbus, who was looking for "Asia" but supposedly discovered "America," only to colonize indigenous peoples. This starting point opens "Asian American" history as a contested planetary intercultural field of interest that will disrupt the usual sense of that history beginning with Chinese (indentured) migrant laborers who first arrived in the 1820s. From conquest, we move quickly to the history of exclusionary anti-Asian laws in the 19th and early 20th century toward the 1960s at the height of Asian American activism and political organizing to the current transnational moment with the great flow of people between Asia and America. Topics encompass war brides, prostitution, globalization, communist scares, and mixed-race marriages. Our texts are drawn from a variety of fields such as literature, sociology, history, performance studies, film studies, and public health.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS AMST
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (AMST)(CEAS-MN)
Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74%

Last Updated on MAR-29-2024
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