HIST1621 · Complex Problems and Enduring Questions
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
This is a Complex Problem course and is open to FRESHMEN only. You must take both HIST1621 and UNAS1729. Asian American history is American history. It is simply not possible to understand why the United States looks the way it does today without understanding the roles American interactions with Asian nations and people have played in the development of U.S. society. Despite being key figures in immigration, trade, and foreign policies and domestic contests around race, class, gender, and sexuality, Asians in America are continuously (un)seen as the Other Americans. This course will explore the history and mediated representations of Asians in the U.S. to understand how U.S. society has constructed Asians in America and how Asian Americans have sought to speak for themselves. By analyzing primary sources, films, television, and digital media - as well as producing their own media based on historical materials - students will critically engage with U.S. history as both historians and media producers to examine the complex ways Asian Americans have shaped America itself.
Course experience
Averages use the original five-point historical evaluation scale.
Organization
4.4 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.5 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.6 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
4.3 / 5
How helpful assignments were
Weekly effort
~4.5
hours per week
Estimated from the original workload response buckets. Individual sections may differ.
Instructor options
Ratings below reflect only recovered evaluations connected to this course.
Student perspective
Recovered and new anonymous comments are shown as written and may reflect different course formats.
Nov 13, 2025 · Historical comment
She is perhaps the most "lenient" professor you will ever have in college, and do not think that emailing her asking about your grades is a good idea. She is perhaps also the most "diligent" professor you will ever have in college, and do not think that I mean this as a compliment.
Across time
Section-level results available in the recovered archive.
Spring 2025
5 sectionsSpring 2023
8 sections