Department of English

This course is an introduction to Asian American literature and culture. We will read novels, essays, short stories and films from the mid-twentieth century to the present that explore the diversity of Asian American experiences across social structures of race and gender, sexuality and class. Topics include Asian American racial formation, gendered narratives of migration, and transnational experiences of nationhood and citizenship. The literary and cinematic texts that we discuss will often be accompanied by short essays that expand the historical context and political implications of these works. Given the centrality of Asian Americans to U.S. popular culture, we will also discuss, as relevant, Asian American presence in popular media and politics.