First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-1)

Topic

Asian American Girls

Instructors

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

Meeting Info

Shepard Hall B08/B09: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Small, cute, quiet? Asian American girls are made, not born. From The Summer I Turned Pretty's Belly Conklin to Mitski, Asian American girls and women are ironically gaining representational visibility in the same historical moment of the Atlanta shootings and a wave of anti-Asian violence. Taking this disjunction as its entry point, this class will explore theories of race, gender, and sexuality through an intersectional approach centered on Asian American girls as subjects worthy of study. We will situate their figuration within histories of immigration, imperialism, and racialization in the United States and Asia. This course will also introduce students to best practices for reading and writing in the humanities, such as close reading, argumentative writing, and public media creation.

Learning Objectives

Familiarize themselves with key texts and debates in Asian American gender and sexuality

Analyze literary and cultural texts, taking account the interplay between historical context, feminist theory, and formal elements

Author and record a podcast that analyzes texts and exhibits an argumentative arc

Class Materials (Required)

C. Pam Zhang, How Much of These Hills is Gold (ISBN: 9780525537212)

Other texts will be available on Canvas.

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration. Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required