ASAM/IIS 90
Joe Parker
Asian American and Multiracial Community Studies Office: Broad Center 213
Pitzer College Office
Phone: x74318
Electronic reserve number: jparker90 (lower case only) Home Phone: (626) 798-3644
Course email address: asam90@pitzer.edu
COURSE
SYLLABUS
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
This course will introduce students to studying and working in Asian American and interracial communities. Issues to be addressed in the course include: field research and community organizing methods; major issues in the Asian American communities; Asian American cultural nationalism; and interracial coalition building. A major project for the course will be a community-based internship or other community research project. Prerequisites: ASAM 50, Asian American Experiences; or an introductory course in one of the other ethnic studies programs; or permission of the instructor.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION:
Requirements for this course include:
1.
Attendance, preparation
of readings, and participation at class meetings (20%);
2.
Completion of a community
studies site agreement (signed by site supervisor) and site supervisor evaluation
in my mailbox by deadlines listed below (5%);
3.
Completion of 6-12 hours
of field work per week, from early February to the end of April, totaling
a minimum of 72 hours (6 hrs. x 12 wks.) (30%);
4.
A 4-6 pg. discussion of
what you think “community” means based on course readings, your own experience,
and class discussions (5%);
5. A
2-3 pg. report on community organization including its history, mission, type
of organization, issue(s) addressed, programming, client base, and philosophy
(5%);
6.
Completion of field study
journal using method on class handout, with sections handed in each month
reflecting issues discussed in class meetings (3 x 5% = 15%);
7.
An 8-10 pg. community research
paper studying a major problem addressed by your organization (topic developed
in consultation with organization site supervisor) (15%) with proposal reviewing
relevant literature and oral report on last day of class (5%).
Note: Students with learning or physical
disabilities will be given reasonable accommodations. If you need to request accommodations or other assistance,
contact the Academic Support Services Office, extension 73553.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
You will have achieved the goals of this course
if you have been able to:
1.
Get to know the local Asian
American and multiracial communities surrounding the Claremont Colleges through
completing a) field work with a particular organization and b) course readings,
including less visible aspects such as illegal immigrants, non-visible minorities,
youth, and incarcerated community members;
2.
Deepen your awareness and
analytical skills in interpreting the relationship between race, class, gender,
sexuality, and national citizenship status;
3.
Develop familiarity with
the range of organizations active in the community;
4. Understand
the barriers and resources within particular social groups for multiracial
community relations;
5.
Become familiar with a method
for the study of an Asian American or multiracial community;
6.
Gain familiarity with issues
that are important to Asian American and multiracial communities in the U.S.;
7.
Reconsider such topics as
the meaning of community, the nature of Asian American Studies, and the relation
of schools (including colleges) to local communities based on your community
and writing experience.
REQUIRED
READINGS:
All course textbooks and packet readings are
available both for purchase and on reserve at Honnold Library reserve reading
desk. Textbooks can be purchased at Huntley Bookstore, and the course packet is
available for purchase at King’s Copies on Foothill Blvd., just east of Indian
Hill Blvd; some of the course packet materials will be available electronically
on the Honnold Library website, under reserve materials, and can be accessed by
the course code number, jparker90 (small letters only).
Aguilar-San Juan, Karin, ed., The State of
Asian America: Activisim and Resistance
in the
1990s, South End Press, 1994.
Abelman, Nancy, and John Lie, Blue Dreams,
Harvard Univ. Pr.
Delgado, Gary, Beyond the Politics of Place,
Chardon Books. (available at Huntley in
xeroxed
form)
Saito, Leland, Race and Politics: Asian
Americans, Latinos, and whites in a Los Angeles
suburb, Univ. Illinois Pr., 1998.
Yu, Eui-Young and Edward T. Chang, Multiethnic
Coalition Building In Los Angeles,
California
State Univ., LA: Institute for Asian
American and Pacific American
Studies,
1995.
Packet of Xeroxed Course Readings (available for
purchase at King’s Copies; also on
reserve
at library)
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Readings in textbooks are indicated with an asterisk (*); otherwise, readings may be found in the course packet of xeroxed readings and on reserve at Honnold Library. Some course packet readings are also available on the web through the Honnold Library Reserve Readings website, using the course electronic reserve number: jparker119 (lower case only).
Sept. 4 Course Introduction.
Handout.
Sept. 11 What is “Community” –Part 1.
Readings: Rodan, “Community Center,” 273-75.
Zinn & Dill, “Difference and Domination,” 3-12.
Tchen, “Rethinking Who We Are,” 4-9.
Sept. 18 Community Organizations.
Readings: *Delgado, p. 1-58 & 65-72.
Sept. 25 What is “Community”–Part 2.
Readings: Lowe, “Heterogeneity, Hybridity, Multiplicity,” 24-44.
Okihiro, “The Idea of a Community,” 175-83.
Shah, “Redefining the Home,” 46-56.
Oct. 2 Rethinking Community Studies and the Place of the Academy.
Reading: Nyden, “Univ.-Comm. Research,” 3-13
Nyden, “Effective Collaboration,” 14-26.
Whyte, Participatory Action Research, 19-52.
Fletcher, “The Meanings of Community,” 33-49.
Oct. 2 Oral
Reports on Community Organizations.
Oct. 9 What is “Community”—Part 3, Underrepresented Populations.
Reading: Eng & Hom, “Intro., Q&A”, 1-21.
Kwong, “Illegal Immigrants,” 207-33.
Long, “Last Chance Ranches,” 193-208.
“Laotian Organizing Project,” 5-18.
Oct. 9 Community Organization Written Report Due.
Oct. 16 Politics of Difference—Part 1, Gender.
Readings: Lowe, “Work, Immigration, Gender,” 269-77.
Koptiuch, “’Cultural Defense,’” 215-33.
*State, “Holding Up More” (Lin/Tam essay), 321-34.
Oct. 16 “What is
Community?” Paper Due.
Oct. 30 Politics of Difference—Part 2, Class.
Readings: Tang, “Collateral Damage,” 55-81.
Blau, “Poverty and Welfare,” 135-59.
Nov. 6 The Global in the Local.
Readings: Dirlik, “Transnational Capital and Local Community,” 29-58.
*Blue Dreams, Ch. 1 & 3.
Nov. 6 Community Research Paper Proposal Due.
Nov. 13 The Global in the Local.
Readings: *Blue Dreams, Ch. 4 & 6, and Conclusion.
*Saito, 17-38.
Nov. 20 Multiracial Communities I.
Readings: *Multiethnic, 1-34 (Oliver & Grant essay).
*Saito, 1-116, 197-205.
Nov. 27 Multiracial Communities II.
Readings: *Saito, 39-87 & 125-57.
Dec. 4 Multiracial Solidarity.
Readings: * Multiethnic, 35-54, (Regalado essay).
*State, 1-15 (Aguilar-San Juan), & 71-100 (Kim).
Calderon, “Intercommunity Conflict and Collaboration,” 53-57.
Dec. 11 What is Asian American Studies?
Readings: Fujino & Leung, “Resistance,” 141-58.
Loo and Mar, “Research,” 85-93.
Asian American Political Alliance, “Asian Studies,” 264-65.
Dec. 11 Student Presentations of Community Research
Papers.
Thursday, Dec. 20, 2
pm Community Research Papers Due.
ASAM/IIS 90 Joe Parker
Asian American and Multiracial Community Studies Pitzer College
COURSE PACKET READINGS
Editorial Staff of Rodan, “Asian Community Center,” in Roots: An Asian American
Reader, ed. Amy Tachiki, et al., UCLA, 1971, p. 273-75.
Tchen, Kohn Kuo Wei, “Rethinking Who We Are: A Basic Discussion of Basic Terms,”
in Marta Moreno Vega & Cheryll
Y. Greene, eds., Voices from the Battlefront:
Achieving Cultural Equity, p. 4-9.
Zinn, Maxine Baca and Bonnie Thornton Dill, “Difference and Domination,” in Baca and
Dill, eds., Women of Color in U.S. Society, Temple U.P., 1994, p. 3-12.
Miao, Vera, “Coalition Politics: (Re)Turning the Century,” in David Eng and Alice
Hom, eds., Q&A: Queer in Asian America, Temple University Press, 1998, p.65-
78.
Lowe, Lisa, “Heterogeneity, Hybridity, Multiplicity: Marking Asian American
Differences,” Diaspora, 1 (1991): 24-44.
Okihiro, Gary, “The Idea of Community and A “Particular Type of History,” in Gary
Okihiro, et al., Reflections on Shattered Windows, Washington State Univ. Pr.,
1988, p. 175-83.
Shah, Purvi, “Redefining the Home: How Community Elites Silence Feminist
Activism,” in Dragon Ladies: Asian American Women Breathe Fire, ed. Sonia
Shah, South End Press, 1997, 46-56.
Nyden, Philip, et al., “University-Community Collaborative Research,” and “Effective
Models of Collaboration,” in Building Community: Social Science in Action,
Pine Forge Press, 1997, p. 3-13 & 14-26.
Whyte, William Foote, ed., Participatory Action Research, Sage Pubs., p. 19-52.
Fletcher, Colin, “The Meanings of Community in community education,” in Garth Allen,
et al., ed., Community Education: An Agenda for Educational Reform,
Philadelphia: Open University Press, p. 33-49.
Eng, David L. and Alice Y. Hom, “Introduction: Q & A: Notes on a Queer Asian
America,” in Eng and Hom, eds., Q&A: Queer in Asian America, Temple
University Press, 1998, p. 1-21.
Kwong, Peter, Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American Labor,
The New Press, 1997, p. 207-33.
Long, Patrick Du Phuoc, with Laura Ricard, The Dream
Shattered: Vietnamese Gangs in
America, Northeastern U.P., 1996, p. 193-208.
“Laotian Organizing Project,” APEN (Asian Pacific Environmental Network) Voices,
5.1 (Fall, 2000): 5-18.
Lowe, Lisa, “Work, Immigration, Gender: Asian “American” Women,” in Elaine Kim,
Lilia Villanueva, and Asian Women
United of California, Making More Waves:
New Writing by Asian American Women, Beacon Pr., 1997, p. 269-77.
Koptiuch, Kristin, “’Cultural Defense’ and Criminological Displacements: Gender,
Race, and (Trans)Nation in the Legal Surveillance of U.S. Diaspora Asians,” in
Smadar Levie and Ted Swedenburg, eds.,
Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity,
Duke U.P., 1996, p. 215-33.
Blau, Joel, “Poverty and Welfare: Market As Cure or Market As Cause?” in his Illusions
of Prosperity: America’s Working Families in an Age of Economic Insecurity,
Oxford U.P., 1999, p. 135-59.
Tang, Eric, “Collateral Damage: Southeast Asian Poverty in the United States,” Social
Text, 18.1 (Spr., 2000): 55-81.
Dirlik, Arif, “Asians on the Rim: Transnational Capital and Local Community in the
Making of Contemporary Asian
America,” in Evelyn Hu-Dehart, ed., Across the
Pacific: Asian Americans and Globalization, Temple U. P., 1999, p. 29-58.
Calderon, Jose, “An Essay on Sources of Intercommunity Conflict and Models of
Collaboration,” California Politics and Policy, (10-1998), p. 53-57.
Loo, Chalsa and Don Mar, “Research and Asian Americans: Social Change or Empty
Prize?” Amerasia Journal, 12.2 (1985-86): 85-93.
Editorial Staff of Asian American Political Alliance, “Asian Studies: The Concept of
Asian Studies,” in Roots: An Asian American Reader, ed. Amy Tachiki, et al.,
UCLA, 1971, p. 264-65.
Fujino, Diane, and Kye Leung, “Radical Resistance in Conservative Times: New Asian
American Organizations in the
1990s,” in Legacy to Liberation:
Politics and
Culture of Revolutionary Asian Pacific America, ed. Fred Ho, et al., Big Red
Media and AK Press, 2000, p.
141-58.