AAST 201/HIST 219M SYLLABUS
ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY

AAST 201/HIST 219M

ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY

3 credits

Spring 2005

Time: MW 10:00-10:50am

TYD 2106

Professor Lisa R. Mar

Asian American Studies Program & Department of History,

University of Maryland at College Park

Prof. Mar's Office: Francis Scott Key Hall 2101H

Prof. Mar's E-mail : lmar@umd.edu

T.A. Thanayi Jackson

Ms. Jackson's Office: Francis Scott Key Hall 3119

Ms. Jackson's E-mail : ThanayiJackson@aol.com

Course Website:

http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/LMar/aast201_spr05_index.htm

Course WebCT Discussion Forum:

http://www.courses.umd.edu/

OFFICE HOURS

Monday 11:00am-11:50am and Wednesday 11:00am-12:10pm in my history department office, Taliaferro 2122.

Office hours are held in weeks when classes meet, but I can also arrange to meet with you after class or by appointment. The instructor is also available via e-mail and at our class discussion forum at WebCT.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course introduces the history of Asian Americans and the field of Asian American Studies. Topics include theories of race and ethnicity; Asian migration and diaspora to the Americas ; Asian American work and labor issues; gender, family, and communities; nationalism and nativism, and anti-Asian movements; Asian Americans, World War II, the Cold War, and the issues in the civil rights & post-civil rights era.

We will focus on the personal voices of Asian Americans as means of understanding how individuals made choices and interpreted their situations. Through personal stories, we will explore the meanings of Asian American experiences, mapping their influence within main currents in American and global history.

Because we will spend much time examining Asian Americans' stories, we will often have discussion in class. The course has a lecture-discussion format so come prepared to read, think, write and debate.

No history background is required for this course.

This course meets following requirements: CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course.

CORE Diversity (D) Course.

CONCEPTUAL GOALS

What does the history of Asian America tell us about America ?

For four centuries (1600s-2000s), Asians have pursued their dreams in the Americas . In this class, we will examine scholars' arguments about the impact of Asian American experiences, assess first hand evidence, and draw our own conclusions.

On a popular level, history matters because it can be viewed as a people's collective memory, an expression of what Americans believe to be important to remember and what can be forgotten. We will explore how Asian Americans have viewed their own experiences and analyze what they can tell us about American society.

In short, our main goal will be to ask, “What does the history of Asian America tell us about America ?”

Knowledge Goals

Finding the past and its meanings will take detective work. To start, expect to acquire a “road map” of knowledge about Asian American history in general. If you are looking for “facts and dates”, you will find them here. You will also find a lively set of scholarly debates about what we can learn from Asian American experiences. In addition, we will spend much of our time interpreting personal stories with the scholarly literature as background. Each week in section, we will examine one or more personal accounts of a pivotal moment in Asian American history. We expect you to read these eyewitness accounts as collections of clues. Like good detectives you should examine the evidence closely then draw inferences and raise questions for future research.

To reiterate, we will build our understanding of Asian American history through a common framework of events and structures. Then we will turn to first person stories of Asian Americans to explore meanings of choices people made in the past.

Questions to Keep in Mind:

• What are the arguments for a common Asian American experience? What are the limits of shared Asian American experience? What makes Asian American history distinctive compared with other groups?

• How have Asians created a sense of “home” in America ? What kinds of belonging and identity make a place “home”? How do specific places, social relationships, and cultural traditions contribute to a sense of home for immigrants and their descendants, both within immigrant communities and beyond?

• Where can we see Asian Americans participating in controversies about defining the meanings of American identity? To that end, how have Asian Americans added to historical conversations about the following: Race, American Democracy, and Multiculturalism?

• We will often explore connections between migration and work in relation to Asian Americans. How do economic contexts influence Asian Americans' choices? To what degree are economic factors important influences in Asian American History?

Skill Goals

The course will introduce you to both to Asian American Studies and History.

Asian American Studies joins the strengths of many different fields to create a comprehensive inquiry into the history, present social condition and culture of Asian Americans. It exposes to students to a wider available set of resources to learn about Asian Americans than any one discipline could provide. It also provides good practice in translating the art of asking questions about social problems from a wide variety of angles.

History is a field interested in any human endeavor that happens over time, from gossip to physics, from children to presidents, from the global environment to a single neighborhood. History is a method more than a topic. Scholarly historians are part-storytellers, part-scientists. They write logical narrative arguments about the meaning of the past based on factual evidence. For example, an historian might do interviews, read letters or diaries, scan newspaper accounts, and consult government records to find clues about an event. In class, we will often use similar skills. We will read eyewitness accounts, comparing then with other evidence and arguments to discern their meaning.

Success in this course will required your regular preparation, engaged participation, mastery of background knowledge, and honing your ability to analyze historical problems. Above all, we will focus on the art of history: learning to analyze a body of evidence and constructing your own interpretative arguments.

TEXTBOOKS

Ronald Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans.

Lon Kurashige & Alice Yang Murray, Major Problems in Asian American History . Lan Cao, Monkey Bridge

Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine .

Milton Murayama , All I I Asking For Is My Body .

Ann D. Smith, Twilight: Los Angeles , 1992.

A required course packet will be available for sale at the desk of the Maryland Book Exchange.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Requirement Value Due Date

Assignments

1. Class Participation: In Class Discussion and Weekly Reflection Papers Your participation in discussion should show evidence of preparation and thought about the readings. In addition, every class member will be expected to submit a one page double-spaced typed set of reflections on the readings at the beginning of your weekly section meeting. Study questions will be given out each as guidance for these papers. These reflection papers are part of your grade and allow all members of the class to get credit for their thoughtful engagement with the readings, though they are not a substitute for in-class participation. Reflection papers are also a way to communicate with your instructors. You can write comments about the readings, the questions they raise for you or what you think they mean. We grade them on a pass/fail basis and because they are part of class participation, they cannot be turned in late unless you have a documented excuse. During class, though our subject matter may be controversial, I ask that you respect that the classroom is our workplace. You should feel free to disagree about ideas, but we should strive to conduct ourselves professionally and respectfully towards each other.

1. In Class Writings In Class Writings can happen at any time during lecture or section. They may be pop quizzes about the reading, lectures or films, or writing exercises related to course content, such as asking for your understanding of the main point of a lecture.

1. Short Paper This paper will ask you to analyze a primary source used in the course. Like a detective, you will read closely and analyze your chosen source to figure out what we can learn from this voice from the past. No outside research is required. Read the assignment hand-out carefully.

1. Paper Proposal Write a one page paper describing your proposed long paper topic and attach an annotated bibliography of the sources you plan to consult. You will receive a handout with instructions about how to do an annotated bibliography.

1. Midterm Exam The midterm will test your knowledge of the first half of the course through essay and short answer questions about the readings, films and lectures. This will be a closed book exam.

1. Long Paper The long paper is your opportunity to explore a topic and theme of your choice while referring to one of the following: an extended interview with one or more Asian Americans, a book length primary source or a feature length film. Use your source for evidence to support an argument about a theme related to the course. This exercise is designed to build up your skills with working with a primary source so analysis of your primary source's meaning should be central to your argument. Writing arguments that interpret the meanings of historical evidence is what all historians do. Beyond the one person to interview, the one book or the one film you select, no outside research is required unless you need to cite sources to support the points you are making in your argument. A connection between your argument and the course content is expected. For more instructions, read the assignment hand-out carefully. Note: You may propose an alternative source or design your own research paper topic if Prof. Mar or Ms. Jackson give their approval.

1. Final Exam This closed book exam will test your overall knowledge of the course through short answer and essay exam questions. As you review, focus on what you see as the key structures, events and themes that connect content within the course.

Required On-Line Components

E-mail Study questions and other important information will be distributed via e-mail. We will assume that the e-mail address that you provided to the university is accurate, up to date and checked daily during the business days. If your official e-mail address is not up to date, please update it.

Course Web Page Please check the class web page regularly for information relating to the course. You can find it at: http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/LMar/aast201_spr05_index.htm

WebCT All students will be required to sign into WebCT and check it regularly. On WebCT we will have on-line discussion forums, links and handouts relating to the course. You can find information relating to getting started with WebCT here: http://www.courses.umd.edu/

Honor Pledge

The University Honor Council suggests that on every paper assignment listed above and every exam (not including class participation items), you write and sign the following honor pledge:

I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized

assistance on this assignment/examination.

Expectations

All papers should be submitted on paper, typed in 12 point font, and double-spaced. They should be spell-checked, edited and proof-read. E-mailed and faxed assignments will never be accepted .

Written assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. The late submission penalty is 2% of the assignment grade for each day late including weekend days. Assignments handed in after class has begun are considered late to be fair to students who are on time.

I can grant reasonable extensions for course assignment deadlines only for compelling reasons beyond your control such as emergencies, documented health problems, etc. If you wish to ask for an extension, please ask in advance if possible and please provide documentation. Similarly, if you miss an exam because of factors beyond your control, I will require documentation of the illness or emergency in order to reschedule the exam.

To hand in assignments on days that we do not have class, please place papers in my history department mailbox on the second floor of Key Hall by 4:00pm. If they are late, you should ask the receptionist in the history department to stamp and date them. Please do not put your essay under either of my office doors.

Class attendance is a mandatory part of your class participation grade . Reasonable exceptions may only be given only for factors beyond your control such as illness and commuting problems. Frequent lateness to class will negatively affect your class participation mark because it is distracting to other students.

I cannot accept any work for credit that does not properly credit the ideas or words of others. Please scrupulously cite all references in your work because plagiarism is a serious academic offense. You must footnote in history format any reference to the ideas or writings of others whether you quote it or not. Footnoting helps me properly distinguish between your original contribution and your research. If you have any questions about proper citation formats, please consult me and I would be happy to discuss citation guidelines with you.

COURSE READINGS AND LECTURES

INTRODUCTION & WEEK ONE

Lecture

Jan. 26 Introduction: What is Asian American History?

Readings

R. Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore , xi-75

I. FOUNDING MOMENTS?: ASIAN AMERICANS IN INDUSTRIAL AND IMPERIAL CONTEXTS

WEEK TWO

Feb. 4 Asians in the Americas

In Class Film: Ancestors in the Americas , Part I, “Coolies, Sailors, Settlers .”

Feb. 6 Comparing Starting Points: Asians in the Americas & US-Focused Explanations

Readings

Gary Y. Okihiro, "Is Yellow Black or White?", Margins and Mainstreams , 31-63, packet.

Testimonies from Chinese Coolies in Cuba , The Cuba Commission Report , circa 1870s, packet.

Takaki, 79-131.

WEEK THREE

Feb. 7 Hawaii : Asian Settlers and US Colonialism

Feb. 9 Raising Cane, Going on Strike: Asian Groups in Plantation Society

Reading

Milton Murayama, All I Am Asking For Is My Body , 1-67.

Takaki, 132-176

WEEK FOUR

Feb. 14 The First Asian Mass Migration: Chinese Immigrants

Film: Ancestors in the Americas , Part II, Chinese in the Frontier West

Feb. 16 Transpacific Families?: Chinese Migrations & Diasporas in the Americas

Reading

The Concubine's Children (Toronto: Penguin, 1995), 26-89, packet.

Lillian Lee Kim, "An Early Baltimore Chinese Family: Lee Yick You and Louie Yu Oy", Chinese America: History and Perspectives 1994 (San Francisco: Chinese Historical Society of America, 1994), 155-174, packet.

Baltimore Chinatown Project at http://www.law.umaryland.edu/chinatown/index.htm

Recommended: Lisa R. Mar, “Asian Canada : An Alternate Asian America ?”, forthcoming article to be published on the Asian Pacific American History Collective Website (PDF on WebCT)

WEEK FIVE

Feb. 21 America 's Pacific Empire and Asian Americans: the Filipino Case

Feb. 23 Whose America ?: Filipino Americans, Ethnic Relations and Belonging

Reading

Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore, 315-354.

Carlos Bulosan , America is in the Heart , 97-151, packet.

Recommended: Carlos Bulosan, America is in the Heart , 63-71,packet.

WEEK SIX

Feb. 28 Korean Pioneers in America and the Korean Independence Movement

Mar. 2 Second Generation Experiences & Identity

Takaki, 270-293.

Kurashige & Murray, Major Problems , 249-284.

WEEK SEVEN

March 7 Becoming North American: Pioneers from India

March 9 The Indian Independence Movement in America

Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore , 294-314.

Sadhu Singh Dhami, Maluka , 5-72.

WEEK EIGHT

March 14 MIDTERM EXAM

SECTION II: ASIAN AMERICANS, ASIA & AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 20 TH CENTURY

March 16 Perils of Body and Mind: The Anti-Asian Movement

Takaki, 179-229.

Kurashige & Murray, “Confronting Immigration Exclusion, 1860s-1920s”, Major Problems , 96-137.

Recommended:

Gary Y. Okihiro, "Perils of Body and Mind," Margins and Mainstreams , (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994)., 118-147.

WEEK NINE Early 20 th Century Interracial Alliances, Real and Imagined

March 21 Forbidden and Exotic?: Orientalism and Popular Culture

Film Excerpts: Broken Blossoms

March 23 Crossing Racial and Ethnic Lines: From Sex to Strikes in the Early 20 th Century

Readings :

Kurashige & Murray , “Interethnic Tensions and Alliances in the 1920s and 1930s,” Major Problems , 215-247.

Takaki , 230-269.

WEEK TEN Japanese Americans in World War II

March 28 Wartime Internment of Japanese Americans

Film: Rabbit in the Moon

March 30 Japanese American social and political life during internment

Film: Rabbit in the Moon

Readings :

Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore, 357-405

Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter , pp 145-20, packet.

WEEK 11 The Asian American Movement

Apr. 4 Yellow Power: Origins of the Asian American Movement & Identity, 1960s and 1970s

Film Excerpts: My America or Honk If You Love Buddha

Apr. 6 Asian American Political Activism and Identities in the 1980s and 1990s

Readings

Glenn Omatsu, Ed. Asian Americans: the Movement and the Moment , packet.

Fred Ho, Ed. Legacy to Liberation , packet.

Kurashige & Murray, “Panethnicity, Asian American Activism and Identity, 1965-2000”, 419-427, 442-449.

Takaki 406-471.

WEEK 12 Legacies of War

Apr. 11 Asian Americans & US Wars in Asia

Apr. 13 Refugees from Vietnam

Lan Cao, Monkey Bridge , 1-132.

Recommended: Monkey Bridge , entire.

WEEK 13 Post-1965 Asian America

April 18 Post-1965 Middle Class Immigration: Professionals

April 20 Post-1965 Immigration: Working Class

Takaki, 473-491

Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine , 136-189.

Recommended: Jasmine , entire.

WEEK 14 Asian Americans and Urban Conflict

Apr. 25 Debating the 1992 L.A. Riots: Korean Views

In Class Film Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women's Perspectives

Apr. 27. Debating the 1992 L.A. Riots: African American & Latino Views

Anne Deavere Smith, Twilight: Los Angeles , entire.

Takaki, 492-509.

WEEK 15 Asian Americans as Makers and Subjects of Culture

May 2. Asian Americans in US Film History

Film in class: Slaying the Dragon

May 4. New Asian American Cultures

Kyeyoung Park , “I Really Do Feel I'm 1.5!”: The Construction of Self and Community by Young Korean Americans.” Amerasia Journal 25:1 (1999): 139-163, packet.

Nazli Kibria, “College and Notions of Asian American: Second Generation Chinese and Koreans Negotiate Race and Identity.” Amerasia Journal 25:1 (1999): 29-51, packet.

Kurashige and Murray, “New Formations of Asian American Culture,” Major Problems , 457-490.

WEEK 16 Looking Back on the Journey: What is Asian America ? What is Asian American History?

May 9. When Expected Boundaries Blur:

Multiethnic, Multiracial Asian Americans & Their Families

May 11. The Many Ways of Telling Asian American History: Conclusions & Final Exam Review

Readings :

Kurashige & Murray, “Framing Asian American History,” Major Problems, 1-33.

Cynthia Nakashima, “Approaches to Multiraciality,” Major Problems , 512-521.

Paul Spickard, “Marriages Between American Men and Japanese Women After World War II,” Major Problems , 341-345.

FINAL EXAM

May 14. 8:00am-10:00am in our usual lecture classroom