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Academic Year 2005/2006

Asian American Sexualities
AMST 312 FA

Is Yao Ming a new role model for Asian American boys? How come Amy Tan has become the best-selling author among the recent Asian American novelists? Why doesn't anybody seem to know that the Philippines has had two female presidents in the last decade, including the current President Arroyo, while Aun San Suu Kyi of Burma (Myanmar) has received enormous publicity? Why do we see more white-Asian interracial couples than Asian couples on college campuses? How come pictures of Asian American men are everywhere on gay 'date phone' ads? Why is it that female Asian American celebrities are American-born (Connie Chung, Lucy Liu, Michelle Kwan), while male celebrities are foreign-born (Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Ichiro)?

The course will explore questions on masculinity, femininity, sexuality, and race that Asian Americans know and feel in their everyday lives, but rarely discuss. The course will first examine several key theoretical discussions on race, gender, and (post)colonialism in cultural studies and sociological literature. Then we will explore Asian men's and women's experiences within particular political, economic, and cultural contexts throughout the modern US history, such as Hawaiian plantation society in the late-19th century, pre-WW II 'bachelor society' in the West, Japanese American wartime internment, post-WW II 'war brides' during the 1940s and 1950s, gendered labor market after the 1965 Immigration Act. In the second half of the course, it will focus on significant issues in contemporary Asian America and their implications for Asian American sexualities, such as intermarriage, anti-Asian racism, media representation, and Asian American gay and lesbianism. Course materials represent a variety of disciplines (literature, media studies, sociology, psychoanalysis) and sources (films, novels, oral histories) that contribute to our understanding of Asian American sexualities. You are encouraged to share your insights with others through discussions, presentations, and essays throughout the course, because one of the course's purposes is to offer an opportunity for the students to discuss a sensitive but important topic with frankness, sincerity, and mutual respect.

MAJOR READINGS

Chu, Louis 1986(1961). EAT A BOWL OF TEA. New York: Lyle Stuart
Hwang, David Henry 1989. M. BUTTERFLY. New York: Plume.
Mura, David 1996. WHERE THE BODY MEETS MEMORY: AN ODYSSEY OF RACE, SEXUALITY, AND IDENTITY. New York: Anchor Books.
Eng, David L. 2001. RACIAL CASTRATION: MANAGING MASCULINITY IN ASIAN AMERICA. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Murayama, Milton 1959. ALL I ASKING FOR IS MY BODY. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Nam, Vickie, ed. 2001. YELL- OH GIRLS!: EMERGING VOICES EXPLORE CULTURE, IDENTITY, AND GROWING UP ASIAN AMERICAN. New York: Harper Collins.
Yuh, Ji-Yeon 2002. BEYOND THE SHADOW OF CAMPTOWN: KOREAN MILITARY BRIDES IN AMERICA. New York: NYU Press.
Yung, Judy 1995. UNBOUND F EET: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF CHINESE WOMEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. Berkeley: University of California Press.

For the Final Paper:
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee 2001. THE UNKNOWN ERRORS OF OUR LIVES. New York: Doubleday.
Lee, Don 2001. YELLOW: STO RIES. New York: Norton.
Ng, Fae Myenne 1993. THE BONE. New York: Hyperion.
Roley, Brian Ascalon 2001. AMERICAN SON: A NOVEL. New York: W. W. Norton.
Jen, Gish 1992. TYPICAL AMERICAN. New York: Plume.
Wong, Shawn 1995. AMERICAN KNEE S. New York: Scribener.

In addition, other readings (articles, book chapters) will be assigned.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Weekly response papers
Group research presentations
Final paper

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Attendance and participation required.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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