UNAS1729 · Complex Problems and Enduring Questions

The "Other" Americans: Representation and Reality in Asian America

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.