Introduction to Asian American Literature (275-0-01)

Instructors

Michelle Huang
847/491-6837
University 226
Office Hours: T 2pm - 3pm; W 2pm - 3pm

Meeting Info

University Hall 102: 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, discussion section, writing assignments.

Evaluation Method

Attendance, class participation, writing assignments, quizzes, readings, papers.

Class Materials (Required)

David Henry Hwang, M. Butterfly (ISBN 978-0452272590)
Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker (ISBN 978-157322531)
Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (ISBN 978-0679721888)
Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic of Orange (ISBN 978-1566894869)

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.

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

Associated Classes

DIS - Locy Hall 213: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Locy Hall 110: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Locy Hall 110: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - Locy Hall 110: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - University Hall 118: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Locy Hall 314: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - NO DATA: NO DATA