First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-25)

Instructors

Yasmin Yoon

Meeting Info

University Hall 418: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

Topic: From Chinatowns to "city pop," Asian/American cultural production in the "Asian Century"

What can "k-beauty" (South Korean skincare) teach us about the history of American chemical warfare and medical experimentation on raced subjects? How do "Japanese minimalist cleaning tips" à la Marie Kondo emerge out of anxieties about globalized work in the 21st century? Drawing from literary texts and various "Asian" cultural exports to America, this course will explore questions of race and capital in today's context of emerging Asian superpowers and the decline of US hegemony. Far from representing an unchanging ancient culture, the "Asianness" of each scene of example maps out military and economic histories—and futures—that stretch across the transpacific. Taking cues from Asian American writers such as Ed Park, Hsi Tseng Tsiang, and Esther Yi, we will work together to deconstruct the ways in which race becomes legible as a product of Asian/American encounters in the "Asian Century." The primary objective of this course is to help you become more critical and generous as a reader and interlocuter. As we approach writing as a process that is never complete nor perfect, this course will help you refine skills of argumentation, the incorporation of quotes, organization, and revision.

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar