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Academic Year 2004/2005

Asian Diaspora in the Americas
AMST 212 SP

This year-long innovative course is a part of a four-year project supported by the Freeman Asian/Asian American Initiative grant to further develop the study of Asian and the Asian diaspora at Wesleyan University.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS AMST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

This section explores Korean and Korean diaspora through history, literature, and film. In the fist part of the coure, which is about Korea, Korea¿s literary and histoical modernizations will be reviewed, after which a more in-depth exploration of recent Korean literature and film will begin. During this first part of the course, the North/Sourth split and its psychological and artistic effects will be highlighted. We will also analyze developents in Korean cinema, particularly the new
prominenc e of Korean film beginning in the 1990s. In the second part of the course, which centers on Korean diaspora, we will take up materials originally written in English. We will compare and contrast these with materials from the first part of the course, originally written in Korean. Throughout, we will ask how the issue of Korea and its tensions and successes figures on the Korean-American scene.

Major Readings

Kim and Fulton, tr., A READY-MADE LIFE
Pihl, Fulton, and Fulton, LAND OF EXILE: CONTEMPORARY KOREAN FICTION
Suh, tr., BROTHER ENEMY. POEMS OF THE KOREAN WAR
Fulton and Fulton, tr., WAYFARER: NEW FICTION BY KOREAN WOMEN
Chang-rae Lee, NATIVE SPEAKER
Chang-rae Lee, ALOFT
Susan Choi, THE FOREIGN STUDENT
Susan Choi, AMERICAN WOMAN: A NOVEL
Patti Kim, A CAB CALLED RELIABLE
Caroline Hwang, IN FULL BLOOM
Helie Lee, ABSENCE IN THE SUN
Hyangjin Lee, CONTEMPORARY KOREAN CINEMA
Cha and Kang, NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA: A DEBATE ON ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Bruce Cumings, KOREA'S PLACE IN THE SUN, A MODERN HISTORY

Films:
JOINT SECURITY AREA
SHIRI

Examinations and Assignments

Three short (3-5 pp.) papers
One final paper, 8-10 pp.

Additional Requirements and/or Comments

Class participation
One or two additional movie screenings may be required.

Instructor(s): Widmer,Ellen B.   

Times: ..T.R.. 02:40PM-04:00PM;     Location: FISK101;

Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 15)

SR. major: 1   Jr. major: 2

SR. non-major: 1   Jr. non-major: 2   SO: 9   FR: 0

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal:    Reading Non-Verbal Texts

SECTION 02

How do we make sense of Asian American culture as a coalition of differences and contradictions? This seminar will survey and read closely recent scholarship on Asian American culture. This class will interrogate how these works theorize the textual, cultural and political coalition called Asian America and its connections with other communities of color. We will apply these theories to literary and filmic texts by and about Asian Americans. Moreover, we will ask how such theories help us reconceptualize difference, nationhood, citizenship and coalition.

Major Readings

Texts will include:
Lowe, IMMIGRANT ACTS
Okihiro, MARGINS AND MAINSTREAMS
Espirtitu, ASIAN AMERICAN PANETHNICITY
Palumbo-Liu, ASIAN AMERICA
Prashad, EVERYBODY WAS KUNG-FU FIGHTING: AFRO-ASIAN CONNECTIONS AND THE MYTH OF CULTURAL PURITY

Examinations and Assignments

Students will submit weekly inquiry papers on the assigned reading(s). Each student will present an aspect of the class session's reading assignment, distributing a 4-6 page written version and set of questions to other students. Grades will be based on a 15 page final project, inquiry papers, presentations and active listening and participation in class discussion.

Additional Requirements and/or Comments

Students who have taken Asian Am. Lit, Multi-Ethnic Literature or Introduction to Ethnic Studies will have priority. This course meets the English department's theory requirement.

Instructor(s): Isaac,Allan Punzalan   

Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM;     Location: DWNY100;

Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 15)

SR. major: 1   Jr. major: 2

SR. non-major: 1   Jr. non-major: 2   SO: 9   FR: 0

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal:    Reading Non-Verbal Texts, Speaking

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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