Introduction to Asian American Literature (275-0-01)
Instructors
Michelle Nancy Huang
847/491-6837
University 226
Office Hours: T 2pm - 3pm; W 2pm - 3pm
Meeting Info
Frances Searle Building 1421: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Asian American, Asian-American, Asian/American: from Chinese Americans to Hmong Americans to mixed race Asian Americans, from fourth-generation Californians to cosmopolitan college students, from desert internment camps to New York City office buildings, what do the many subjects and locations of Asian American literature tell us about the capaciousness of the category itself? This class has two goals—first, providing an overview of literature written by Asian Americans in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries and placing these texts in conversation with key concepts from Asian American culture and history. Second, interrogating the constructed, pan-ethnic nature of Asian American identity, a category that came into use only in the 1960s as a coalitional entity defined by shared histories of labor, discrimination, and national and cultural unbelonging.
Teaching Method
Lecture, Discussion.
Evaluation Method
Regular reading responses; two short essays; one long essay; active class participation.
Class Materials (Required)
Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker (ISBN 978-157322531)
Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (ISBN 978-0679721888)
Texts will be available at: Primary texts will be available at the Norris Bookstore and on reserve in the library. Other texts will be available on Canvas and in a reader at Quartet Copies.
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Associated Classes
DIS - University Library 4722: Thurs 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - University Library 4722: Thurs 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - University Library 4722: Thurs 2:00PM - 2:50PM
DIS - University Library 4722: Thurs 3:00PM - 3:50PM
DIS - Harris Hall L06: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Harris Hall L28: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM