Department of Asian American Studies
Jerry W. Lee, Chair
3000 Humanities Gateway
jwl@uci.edu
www.humanities.uci.edu/aas
The Department of Asian American Studies examines the historical and contemporary experiences of Asians in the United States and in a global context. The curriculum seeks to provide an analysis of the cultural, political, and economical organization of Asian American communities. Students are invited to participate and partake in broadening their understanding of multicultural perspectives within U.S. society. The Department offers a B.A. program in Asian American Studies, a 4+1 B.A./M.A. program, a minor, and a graduate emphasis.
The Department also contributes to the Culture and Theory Ph.D. program, which uses the strengths of interdisciplinary programs and departments, particularly African American Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, Asian American Studies, Critical Theory, and Gender and Sexuality Studies. This degree uses a problem-oriented rather than a disciplinary approach to issues of race, gender, and sexuality in relation to diasporas, transnational, and postcolonial contexts, all of which are broadly based in the humanities, social sciences, and arts.
Faculty
Dorothy B. Fujita-Rony, Ph.D. Yale University, Professor of Asian American Studies; Culture and Theory; History (U.S. history, Asian American studies)
Claire J. Kim, Ph.D. Yale University, Professor of Asian American Studies; Political Science
Julia Hyoun Joo Lee, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Asian American Studies; Culture and Theory; English (Asian American literature and culture, African American literature and culture, ethnic literature, twentieth-century American literature)
James Kyung-Jin Lee (he/him), Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Asian American Studies; Culture and Theory; English; Religious Studies (Asian American literature and culture, disability studies, medical/health humanities)
Isabela Seong Leong Quintana, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies; Chicano/Latino Studies; Culture and Theory (comparative and relational ethnic studies; Asian American history; Chicanx/Latinx history; race and gender; borderlands, diasporas, and empire)
Linda Trinh Võ, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, Professor Emeritus of Asian American Studies; Sociology; Urban Planning and Public Policy (race and ethnic relations, immigrants and refugees, gender relations, community and urban studies)
Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Ph.D. Stanford University, Director of the Humanities Center, Director of the Center for Liberation, Anti-Racism, and Belonging and Associate Dean of Research, Faculty Development, and Public Engagement and UCI Chancellor's Professor of Asian American Studies; Culture and Theory; History (Asian American history; comparative racialization and immigration; empire and decolonization; gender and sexuality)
Affiliate Faculty
Kei Akagi, B.A. International Christian University, Professor Emeritus of Music; Asian American Studies
Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Ph.D. Stanford University, Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development and Professor of Law; Asian American Studies; Criminology, Law and Society; Sociology
Anita Casavantes Bradford, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies; Asian American Studies; History (post-revolutionary Cuban migration to U.S., symbolic uses of childhood in Cuba and Cuban diaspora, American politics and society)
Nahum D. Chandler, Ph.D. University of Chicago, Professor of African American Studies; Asian American Studies; Comparative Literature; English; European Languages and Studies (modern philosophy, intellectual history, history of the human sciences)
Yong Chen, Ph.D. Cornell University, Associate Dean of Curriculum and Student Services and Professor of History; Asian American Studies; Religious Studies (Asian American history and immigration, food and culture, U.S./China economic and cultural interactions)
Laura Enriquez, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Associate Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies; Asian American Studies; Sociology (undocumented 1.5 generation young adults, immigration, citizenship, Latino families)
Christopher Fan, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Associate Professor of English; Asian American Studies; East Asian Studies (transnational Asia American, 20th, and 21st century literature, speculative fiction, political economy)
Ann Hironaka, Ph.D. Stanford University, Professor of Sociology; Asian American Studies (political sociology, war and peace, environmental sociology, ethnic and racial conflict)
Suellen Hopfer, Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, Associate Professor of Health, Society, and Behavior; Asian American Studies
Anneeth Kaur Hundle, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Dhan Kaur Sahota Presidential Chair of Sikh Studies and Associate Professor of Anthropology; Asian American Studies; Religious Studies (Sikh studies, African and South Asian diaspora/studies; politics of afro-asianism; citizenship, race, and decolonization; minoritization and community formation, postcolonial and transnational feminisms; gender and sexuality; critical university studies; Uganda, East Africa, global south)
Joseph Jonghyun Jeon, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of English; Asian American Studies; Culture and Theory; Film and Media Studies (Asian-American literature, film modernism)
Eleana Kim, Ph.D. New York University, Professor of Anthropology; Asian American Studies (kinship, transnationalism, environment, Korea)
Kyung Hyun Kim, Ph.D. University of Southern California, Professor of Korean Culture; Asian American Studies; Film and Media Studies (East Asian cinema, modern Korea, critical theory)
Young-Suk Kim, Ed.D. Harvard University, Professor of Education; Asian American Studies; Language Science
Keiji Kunigami, Ph.D. Cornell University, Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies; Asian American Studies; Comparative Literature; East Asian Studies (Brazilian cinema, Japanese cinema, Critical Race Theory, film and media theory, critical theory, silent cinema, decoloniality, cinematic embodiment, Asian-Latin American studies)
Jerry Won Lee, Ph.D. University of Arizona, Professor of English; Anthropology; Asian American Studies; Comparative Literature; Culture and Theory; East Asian Studies
Stephen Lee, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of School of Law; Asian American Studies
Daphne Pi-Wei Lei, Ph.D. Tufts University, Professor of Drama; Asian American Studies (Asian theatre, Asian American theatre, intercultural theatre, gender theory, performance theory)
Simon Leung, B.A. University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Art; Asian American Studies (new genres, critical theory, contemporary art history, performance)
Annie E. Ro, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Director and Associate Professor of Health, Society, and Behavior; Asian American Studies
Tara Rodman, Ph.D. Northwestern University, Associate Professor of Drama; Asian American Studies; East Asian Studies (modernist performance, Japanese theatre and dance, transnationalism, racial formation, global Asias)
Sora P. Tanjasiri, M.P.H., Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Equity Advisor Associate Director, Cancer Health Disparities and Community Engagement and Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Asian American Studies; Health, Society, and Behavior
Bert Winther-Tamaki, Ph.D. New York University, Professor of Art History; Asian American Studies; East Asian Studies; Visual Studies (modern Japanese art and visual culture, Asian American art, art and ecology)
Karna Wong, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of Teaching of Urban Planning and Public Policy; Asian American Studies
Bruce N. Yonemoto, M.F.A. Otis Art Institute, Professor Emeritus of Art; Asian American Studies (video, experimental media, film theory)
Courses
ASIANAM 50. Asian American Histories. 4 Units.
Examines and compares diverse experiences of major Asian American groups since the mid-nineteenth century. Topics include origins of emigration; the formation and transformation of community; gender and family life; changing roles of Asian Americans in American society. Formerly ASIANAM 60A.
Same as HISTORY 15C, SOC SCI 78A
((III or IV) and VII.)
ASIANAM 51. The U.S. and Asia. 4 Units.
Explores the historical and contemporary transnational linkages between the U.S. and regions in Asia and their resultant flows of people, goods, and ideas. Attention given to the role of militarism and processes of globalization, and the histories of cultural contact/conflict.
Same as HISTORY 15B
((III or IV) and VIII.)
ASIANAM 52. Asian American Communities. 4 Units.
Examines the renewal of Asian immigration following World War II. Explores contemporary Asian American populations and communities in the U.S., and the impact of contemporary Asian immigration on the U.S. political economy and social order.
Same as SOC SCI 78B
(III and VII)
ASIANAM 53. Asian Americans and Race . 4 Units.
Analyzes the Asian American experience in comparative perspective, which includes comparisons of different ethnic and racial groups, and across gender and class. Possible topics include labor, economy, politics, migration, nation, popular culture, gender, family, sexuality, and multiraciality.
Same as SOC SCI 78C
(III and VII)
ASIANAM 54. Asian American Stories. 4 Units.
Examines stories from Asian American communities through literary texts and other media. Selected themes may include the following: dislocation/relocation, finding/inventing a usable past, poetics/politics in language, identities/ethnicities.
(IV and VII)
ASIANAM 55. Asian Americans and the Media. 4 Units.
Investigates popular representations of and cultural productions by Asian Pacific Americans and Asians in the Americas from the late-19th century to the present. Cultural media may include political cartoons, film/television, popular music, visual art, blogs/Web sites, and performance.
(IV and VII)
ASIANAM 100W. Research Methodologies for Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Explores various research methodologies for Asian American Studies combining theoretical knowledge with field research. Goals: conduct field research about immigrants and refugees from Asia. Topics vary: migration and labor, assimilation and cultural preservation, cultural expressions in the diaspora.
Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of the Lower-Division Writing requirement.
(Ib)
ASIANAM 110. Asian American Writers. 4 Units.
Literary analysis of Asian American writers' representations of issues of identity, class, history among others. Variety of literary forms—novel, poem, drama, essay—included in a study of a variety of Asian American ethnic groups.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 111. Asian American History. 4 Units.
Introduction to important themes in the history of people of Asian ancestry in the United States from the nineteenth century to the present.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 112. Asian American Art History. 4 Units.
Investigation of Asian American experience expressed by art and visual culture throughout the twentieth century. Art by Asian Americans of diverse backgrounds as well as the history of cultural visualization of Asian identities in American art/visual culture.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 114. Topics in Asian American Film and Video. 4 Units.
Topics include histories of Asian American film and video, including documentaries, experimental, short subjects, feature-length independent film, and other forms of cinematic expression. Explores issues of identity (national, racial, gendered, among others).
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 116. Asian Americans and Popular Culture. 4 Units.
Focuses on Asian Americans' relationship to popular culture as both producers and consumers. Topics include consumer cultures and subcultures, cyberspace and public space, popular music, indy comics and other print media.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 130. Undocumented Immigrant Experiences. 4 Units.
Examines the experiences of undocumented immigrants and the policies that structure their educational, economic, social, and political participation.
Same as CHC/LAT 164A, CRM/LAW C187, SOCIOL 177C
(III and VII)
ASIANAM 132. Comparative Minority Politics. 4 Units.
Examines the political experiences of Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans in the United States from roughly 1950 to the present. Focuses on how each group has pursued political empowerment via both conventional political channels and social movements.
Same as AFAM 151, CHC/LAT 147
ASIANAM 137. Asian American Labor. 4 Units.
Explores history of Asian Americans and work from the nineteenth century to the present. Areas of study include migration, colonialism, family, social organization, and work culture.
Same as HISTORY 152A
ASIANAM 138. Race and Urban Space. 4 Units.
Examines how ethnic and racial processes shape and structure interactions in urban settings, such as schools, housing, employment, and public spaces, with attention to the international impact of globalization and postcolonial forces.
ASIANAM 142. Arabs and Muslims in the US. 4 Units.
Offers a critical academic study of Islam in America, focusing on the core tenets of belief, the diversity of practices, and historical transformations that have taken place since the arrival of Muslims in the United States.
Same as ANTHRO 125Z
ASIANAM 144. The Politics of Protest. 4 Units.
Examines the Civil Rights, Black Power, and women’s movements in relationship to the Asian American movement. Uses social movement theories to illuminate the cases, and the cases to critique and revise the theories.
Same as POL SCI 124A
(VII)
ASIANAM 150. Special Topics in Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Analyzes a variety of themes in Asian American Studies—identity, history, culture—from various interdisciplinary perspectives in humanities, arts, social sciences.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 151C. Korean American Studies. 4 Units.
Explores the factors that have distinctly shaped the Korean American experience, including patterns of racial domination, the profile of immigrant flow, immigrant roles in the urban political economy, politics in Korea, and the role of the church.
Same as SOC SCI 178C
ASIANAM 151D. Vietnamese American Studies. 4 Units.
Studies the resettlement of Vietnamese in the United States following their exodus from Southeast Asia. Topics include the Vietnam War, the 1975 evacuation, boat and land refugees, the shaping of Vietnamese communities, and Vietnamese American literature.
Same as SOC SCI 178D
ASIANAM 151E. Japanese American Studies. 4 Units.
Studies the settlement of Japanese in Hawaii and the continental United States since the late 19th century. Topics include sugar plantations, development of rural Japanese America, World War II internment, post-War community development, and persistence of Japanese American identity.
Same as SOC SCI 178E
ASIANAM 151F. South Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Examines and compares the experiences of South Asian immigrants in the U.S. over time. Looks at the economic, political, and social positions of the immigrants, with special emphasis on religious changes and the changes in the second and later generations.
Same as SOC SCI 178F
Restrictions: Asian American Studies majors and Social Policy and Public Service majors have the first consideration for enrollment.
ASIANAM 151H. Southeast Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Analyzes experiences of refugees and immigrants from Southeast Asia, which may include those from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Examines political and economic factors for their exodus and how they reconstruct their identities, histories, and communities.
Same as SOC SCI 178H
ASIANAM 151K. Filipina/Filipino American Studies. 4 Units.
Explores the experience of Filipina/Filipino Americans from the era of Spanish colonization of the Philippines to present-day community formations in the United States, with special emphasis on the 20th century. Topics include colonialism, nation, migration, gender, and culture.
Same as SOC SCI 178K
ASIANAM 162. Asian American Women. 4 Units.
Examines the representations and experiences of Asian American women from diverse perspectives. Explores the commonalities and differences among various groups of Asian American women, with particular focus on history, culture, values, and family roles.
Same as SOC SCI 177B
ASIANAM 164. Topics in Intersectionality. 4 Units.
Topics include intersectional analysis of various themes related to ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and race within Asian American communities.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 166. Race and Citizenship. 4 Units.
Explores historical and contemporary patterns of racialization in relation to citizenship. Topics may include racial categorization, immigration, and comparative racialization.
ASIANAM 168. Politics of Animal Rights. 4 Units.
Examines animal rights/welfare movement’s efforts to transform moral, practical, and legal standing of nonhuman animals in contemporary U.S. Explores intersection of racism, sexism, and speciesism informed by theories of race and ethnicity, including Asian American Studies.
Same as POL SCI 126F
Restrictions: Political Science majors and Asian American Studies majors have the first consideration for enrollment.
ASIANAM 199. Independent Study. 1-4 Units.
Directed reading and research in consultation with a faculty member. Substantial written work required.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times
ASIANAM 200A. Theory and Methods in Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Introduction to the intersection of the social sciences, humanities, and other fields that constitute the theory and methodology of Asian American Studies. Focuses on the interventions and contestations within Asian American Studies that have transformed the discipline in recent years.
ASIANAM 200B. Contemporary Issues in Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Examines the interrelations between history, theory, and race in the aftermath of the twentieth-century decolonial movements, offering an account of race through postcolonial and postnationalist approaches in comparative contexts. Considers the interventions made by transnational feminist and racialized queer critiques.
ASIANAM 200C. Leadership and Social Change in Asian American Communities. 4 Units.
Introduces students to models of community-engaged learning and leadership that are central to the field of Asian American studies. Designed to expose students to histories and models of organizing in Asian American communities and forms of community-based research.
ASIANAM 200D. Introduction to Asian American Studies Research. 4 Units.
Introduces students to research topics and methods within the field of Asian American studies. Aims to expose students to core and affiliated faculty to help them identify possible advisors for master's research projects or members of doctoral committees.
ASIANAM 201. Graduate Topics in Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Seminars on various topics in Asian American Studies.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 250. Advanced Topics in Asian American Studies. 4 Units.
Seminar covering various areas of research within Asian American Studies as an interdisciplinary field. Recommended for advanced graduate students.
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times as topics vary
ASIANAM 290. Directed Research. 4-12 Units.
Directed graduate study/research in Asian American Studies.
Repeatability: May be taken for credit for 24 units
ASIANAM 291. Directed Reading. 4 Units.
Readings focused on specialized topics in consultation with, and with the consent of, a faculty member.
Repeatability: May be taken for credit for 12 units
ASIANAM 399. University Teaching. 4 Units.
Limited to teaching assistants.
Grading Option: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only
Repeatability: May be taken unlimited times
Restrictions: Emphasis in Asian American Studies graduate students only.