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General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
ASAMD020.
Course Title (CB02)
Asian Pacific American Literature
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This course is an introduction to Asian Pacific American literature. Through readings in twentieth and twenty-first century works, students will explore and analyze issues related to complexities of identity as it relates to class, gender, mixed heritages, and sexuality; politics and the history of Asian American activism and resistance to cultural marginalization; and diversity of cultures and experiences within the Asian Pacific American community.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course meets a general education requirement for °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSUGE, and IGETC. The course belongs in the Intercultural Studies Certificate and AA degree. This course provides students with a foundation for the study of the cultural production, and especially the production of literary texts, of Asian Pacific Americans in response to the issues of Asian Pacific American communities. This course is cross-listed in order to enhance student understanding of links between Asian Pacific American communities, Asian Pacific American literature, and the study of other English-language works of literature.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Formerly Statement
(ASAM D020. was formerly ICS D024.)

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GC2°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area C2 - HumanitiesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGC2CSU GE Area C2 - HumanitiesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG3BIGETC Area 3B - HumanitiesApproved

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

(Not open to students with credit in the cross-listed course(s).)

(Also listed as ELIT D024.)

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Guest speakers

In-class exploration of Internet sites

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Collaborative projects

Field observation and field trips

Other: Reflection on civic engagement and community engagement projects

Assignments

  1. Students will typically read at least 50 pages per week of literary and critical texts by Asian Pacific American writers or about Asian Pacific American communities.
  2. Students will conduct independent research on one or more authors read by the class to be presented in writing and/or in group presentation to the class.
  3. Students will write at least 2,500 words during the quarter. Of this total:
    1. Approximately 1,000 must be an analytical and/or argumentative essay about one of the assigned authors and must demonstrate a critical analysis of primary materials and may also include synthesis and application of secondary critical materials
    2. The remaining writing will be fulfilled in
      1. A final examination and/or final project
      2. A variety of activities such as a midterm examination, reader response journals, reports, and formal or informal student essays

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Students will be evaluated primarily on the basis of critical paper(s) that demonstrate their ability to analyze relationships between literary representations produced by Asian Pacific Americans and social, cultural, historical, and political issues that affect Asian Pacific American communities.
  2. Students will also be evaluated on a research assignment that demonstrates their ability to appraise the significance of Asian Pacific American literary representations with respect to the historical and contemporary forces that shape Asian Pacific American communities from both the inside and the outside.
  3. Students will also be evaluated on the basis of their performance on a written final examination and/or final project to test for recognition, identification, synthesis, and application of key concepts concerning race, class, sexuality, and/or gender examined throughout the course.
  4. Students may also be evaluated based on their performance on a midterm examination, quizzes, short writing assignments, and class participation in relation to course objectives.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Barrios, Joi. Ed. Savage Stage:Plays by Ma-Yi Theater Company. New York: Ma-Yi Theater,2006.
Divakaruni,Chitra. One Amazing Thing. New York: Hyperion, 2010
Liu, Marjorie. Monstress Vol. 1. Berkeley: Image Comics, 2016
Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer. New York: Grove Press, 2015
Tenorio, Lysley. Monstress. New York: Harper Collins, 2012

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Burns, Lucy. Puro Arte: Filipinos on the Stages of Empire (Postmillenial Pop). New York: NYU, 2013
Chang,Juliana. Inhuman Citizenship:Traumatic Enjoyment and Asian America Literature. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012
Chiang, Mark. The Cultural Capital of Asian American Studies. New York: NYU, 2009
Lam, Andrew. Birds of Paradise. Pasadena: Red Hen Press, 2012
Lee, Min Jin. Pachinko. New York: Grand Central, 2017
Lim, Shirley, Ed., and John Gamber, Stephen Sohn, and Gina Valentino,Eds. Transnational Asian American Literature: Sites and Transits. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006
Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Refugees. New York: Grove Press, 2017
Ninh, erin Khue. Ingratitude: The Debt-Bound Daughter in Asian American Literature. New York: NYU, 2011
Okihiro, Gary Y. The Columbia Guide to Asian American History (Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures). New York: Columbia University Press, 2005
Ozeki, Ruth. My Year of Meats. New York: Penguin, 1998
Xu, Wenying. Eating Identities: Reading Food in Asian American Literature. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007
Yang, Jeff, and Parry Shen, eds. Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology. New York: The New Press, 2012

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Analyze the development of the disciplines of Asian Pacific American Studies and Asian Pacific American Literature.
  • Identify significant literary, social, cultural, historical, and political issues in 20th and 21st century Asian Pacific American writing.
  • Differentiate between the historical and cultural content of Chinese American, Japanese American, Filipino American, Korean American, Pacific Islander, South Asian,and Southeast Asian writings.
  • Analyze American governmental policies concerning Asian immigration/migration, World War II internment, and their effects on 20th and 21st century writers.
  • Examine various Asian Pacific American writing styles with relation to audience and purpose.
  • Compare fundamental elements of Asian Pacific American writing to traditional American literary works.

CSLOs

  • Identify multiple cultural and historical issues pertaining to Asian Pacific Americans in literature.

  • Analyze issues pertaining to race, class, sexuality and/or gender in relation to Asian Pacific American communities.

Outline

  1. Analyze the development of the disciplines of Asian Pacific American Studies and Asian Pacific American Literature.
    1. Emergence of Asian American Studies in relation to the Asian American Movement and the Ethnic Studies Student Strikes of the late 1960s and 1970s
    2. Emergence of Asian American Literature in relation to Ethnic Studies and the Multicultural Debates of the 1960s and 1970s
    3. Development and expansion of Asian American Studies and Asian American Literature into Asian Pacific American Studies and a canon of Asian Pacific American Literature
  2. Identify significant literary, social, cultural, historical, and political issues in 20th and 21st century Asian Pacific American writing.
    1. Construction of Asian Pacific American literary traditions
    2. Construction of the literary Self
    3. Limitations imposed by conflicting interests of audience and writer
    4. Conflicts arising from generational identity, traditional values vs. Americanization
    5. Issues of mixed-heritages: color consciousness and categorization
    6. Representations of racist stereotypes (such as "the Asian exotic" or "the Martial Arts expert")
    7. Revision of Asian Pacific American history (such as issues related to Asian immigrant/migrant labor or the U.S.-Philippine war)
    8. Issues of educational migration for international students from Asia
  3. Differentiate between the historical and cultural content of Chinese American, Japanese American, Filipino American, Korean American, Pacific Islander, South Asian, and Southeast Asian writings.
    1. From ancient history to modernization to colonial and postcolonial realities of the homeland
    2. Including immigration/migration histories and labor histories
    3. Comparison and contrast of cultural values, including attitudes toward race, class, gender, and sexuality
    4. Comparison and contrast of religion and other social institutions, including family and arranged marriage
  4. Analyze American governmental policies concerning Asian immigration/migration, World War II internment, and their effects on 20th and 21st century writers.
    1. Including forms of literary, artistic, and physical resistance in 20th and 21st century works
    2. Including identity politics, community-based activism, and electoral political participation
    3. Examine anti-immigrant and anti-Asian legislation, including anti-miscegenation laws and alien land laws
  5. Examine various Asian Pacific American writing styles with relation to audience and purpose.
    1. Use of oral tradition and storytelling
    2. Including traditional narrative structure vs. modern/postmodern narrative structure
    3. Identify formal, literary dimensions of each text, including genre forms and elements of fiction, poetry, and drama
  6. Compare fundamental elements of Asian Pacific American writing to traditional American literary works.
    1. Including use of genre forms and elements of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, spoken word, drama, and graphic novels
    2. Identify themes
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