01:098:444 Seminar on Asian Societies:
Asian American History and Literature

Prof. Peter Li
Office: Scott Hall 323
Office Phone: 932-5592 (0)

E-mail: Peli@rci.rutgers.edu
Spring 2001
MW 5, Scott Hall 102
 
 

Course Description

Often marginalized and deprived of their place in their adopted homeland, Asian Americans, separated by geography and culture from their Asian roots, have struggled for just treatment and their rightful place in American society. This course, an introduction to Asian American history and literature, will trace the path of Asian immigrants through the generations as they invented their own distinctive culture and sensibilities. We will discuss the Asian American experience as represented in literature about "Growing up Asian American," and the conflict of values and loyalties, the struggles to stay separate and assimilate, and the continuing fight to claim America as their own. Through biography, autobiography, fiction, film and drama, we will construct the Asian American experience, and identify the Asian American voice through time. Readings will include the books listed below.

Course Requirement

Attendance, Participation, Journals, Reports (oral and writtten)   30%
Two Papers  
        First Paper 20%
        Final Term Paper 30%
Group Project: Interviews and Community Interaction 20%
  ___________
  100 Points

Required Texts
(Available at Recto & Verso Bookstore, 90 Albany Street. Tel: 732/247-2324)

Asian American Studies: A Reader. Edited by Jean Wu and Min Song. Rutgers University Press, 2000.

Charlie Chang is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction. Edited by Jessica Hangedorn. Penguin Books, 1993.

Growing Up Asian American. Edited by Maria Hong. Avon Books, 1993.

The Big Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature. Edited by Jeffery Paul Chan, Frank Chin, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong. Meridian Book, 1991.

 

Asian Languages and Cultures
Scott Hall Room 330 Tel: 732/932-7605
Last updated on May 3, 2001