ASAM 197: Asian American Arts and Activism
SPRING 2009
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course addresses the lack of recognition given to the role of the arts in the Asian American movement. It will primarily focus on the role that the arts have played in social justice and awareness work situated in the context of the Asian American movement. It will look at how art, whether in music, fine arts, street art, poetry, etc. has transformed as a part of social justice and awareness work and responded to changing times.
This course will encourage students to support local Asian American art events with their participation and attendance as well as their boundless creativity. Individual and class projects will include the production of creative works, publications or workshops and conferences.
In addition, students will collaborate to create the next year’s ASAM 197 course topic and syllabus.
PEDAGOGICAL STATEMENT
The course is designed to provide students with the greatest opportunity to enrich themselves in Asian American studies through the course material and leadership inside the classroom. The learning process will continue outside the classroom, in the greater Los Angeles area, specifically within Asian American communities. Off-campus site visits comprise a significant portion of the class. The overall success of this course rests solely on the commitment of each individual student.
Our pedagogical model is based on the experiences of learning through teaching. As such, students’ course grades will reflect feedback from their classmates and the faculty collaborator.
ASSIGNMENTS
-1. Due end of week 2: Decorated “stream of consciousness” journal.
-1. 2 times a week: 5-10 minute journal entry.
-1. Due end of semester: Final Creative Project.
This can be an individual or group project. Possible projects include a creative performance piece, short film, workshop, written piece, etc. It must in some way be related to activism, education and raising awareness about contemporary Asian American issues to a larger Claremont community. 


SPEAKER SERIES

CROSS-CAMPUS CONFERENCE

WEEK1
Tuesday
Intro the course

Thursday
- Intro people
- Paolo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

WEEK2
Tuesday
- Karen Umemoto, "On Strike!" San Francisco State College Strike, 1968-1969: The Role of Asian American Students" (Contemporary Asian America) p.49-75
- Glenn Omatsu, "The Four Prisons and the Movements of Liberation: Asian American Activism from the 1960s to the 1990s" (Contemporary Asian America) p. 80-112)

Thursday
- Dorinne Kondo, Chapter 31 "Art, Activism, Asia, and Asian Americans" (Contemporary Asian America) p. 636-664
- Fred Houn, "Revolutionary Asian American Art: Tradition and Change, Inheritance and Innovation, Not Imitation!" (Legacy to Liberation) p.383-388

WEEK3
Tuesday
- Elaine H. Kim, "Interstitial Subjects: Asian American Visual Art as a Site for New Cultural Conversations" (Fresh Talk Daring Gazes) p. 1-50
-Elizam EScobar "Art of Liberation A vision of freedom" 86-95 (reimaging America_Arts of Social Change)


Thursday
- ed. Augie Tam, Chapter 30 "Is There An Asian American Aesthetics?" (Contemporary Asian America) p.627-635
-Ricardo Levins Morales "The Importance of Being Artist" p.16-24 (Reimaging America_Arts of Social Change)
- Nina Felshin, "Introduction" (But is it Art?) p.9-29

WEEK4 REPRESENTATION
Tuesday
- Stuart Hall reading on media literacy (Get from Nancy to choose articles)
-Richard Fung , "Seeing Yellow: Asian Identities in Film and Video" p.161-171 (State of AA in 1990s)
- Nick Carbó, “Assignment” p. 239-240 (Screaming Monkeys) prose
- - Denise Duhamal, “Hello Kitty”242-245 Poem

Thursday (Filipino representation)
- Catherine Choi, Salvaging the savage on representing filipinos p.35-49 (Screaming Monkeys) article
- Rick Bonus, Homeland Memories and Media: Filipino images and imagination in America p. 145-153 (Screaming Monkeys) Filipino images

WEEK5 THEATRE
Tuesday
- Chapter 1 Critical Strategies for reading AA drama, page 1-34 (Josephine Lee, Performing Asian America)
- 99 Histories or Durango by Julia Cho (mental illness, history, generation, gender)

Thursday
- Chapter 5 Acts of Exclusion: AA History of plays, pg136-163, (Lee, Performing Asian America)
- FOB play (50 pages) by David Henry Hwang




WEEK6
Tuesday
- Lane Ryo HIrabayashi, intro, (significance of visual media and potential) (Reversing the Lens) 3-11
- Jun Xing, empowerment, smashing stereotypes and developing empathy (RL) 11-29
- Stephen Gong, A History in Progress:Asian American Media Arts Centers (SAA)

Thursday
-Bill Nicholas, Historical consciousness and the viewer: who killed vincent chin (SAA) + video (SCREENING)

WEEK7 GENDER/SEXUALITY
Tuesday

GENDER ARTICLE???
- Elaine Kim, Asian American Women Artists p. 573-602
-Alqizola Hirabayashi, confronting gender stereotypes of Asian american women (RL) 155-169
slaying the dragon- Hirabayashi, Issue of Reinscription (RL) 241-249 (SCREENING)

Thursday
- "The Art and Politics of Asian American Women" (Legacy to Liberation) p.235-242
- Laura Hyung-Yi Kang, The desiring of Asian Female Bodies', interracial romance and cinematic subjugation (SAA)
- Jessica Hagedorn, “Asian Women in Film: No joy no luck” p.204 (Screaming Monkeys) 6 page reflection/analysis
- Miss Saigon boycotting reading????

WEEK8
Tuesday
QUEER ARTICLES???
1) Looking for My Penis - Richard Fung. Examines emasculation of gay Asian American males in pornography

3) Creating, Curating, and Consuming Queer Asian American Cinema, Ji Han and Marie Morohoshi. An interview w/ the director of the annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF).

Thursday
DETAILS Magazine
Screaming Monkeys men section???
LGBT Organizing thru media???


WEEK9
Tuesday
- Abelmann and Lee, Blue dreams p.399-406 (screaming monkeys) article on LA rebellion and race relation
- Anna Smith, "Twilight," monologues on LA rebellion and race relations

Thursday
- Sesshu Foster Manual something…
- Thiem Bao Thuc Phi, Reverse Racism p.154-155 (Screaming Monkeys) Humor, Prose
- Prashad, summer of bruce, pg.255-265 (Screaming monkeys) Article on polyculturalism and about afro-asian culture

WEEK10 VIOLENCE/WAR
Tuesday
-Lin and Tan, Holding Up More than Half the Heavens: Domestic Violence in our communities 321-334 AA in 1990s
-RIta Chaudhry Sethi p.235-247 Smells like Racism State of AA in 1990s
- Yamamoto, Wilshire Bus, 413-416 (screaming monkeys) short story

Thursday
MID-APRIL: TAD NAKAMURA’S DOC + MANZANAR PILGRIMAGE
-Inada, drawing the line p. 367-376 (screaming monkeys) poem on interment

WEEK11
Tuesday
-Enemies within and without pressure to depolitize community art 148-153 (reimaging a)
- Melanie Kramer, "Garden the City: Activism through Interventionist Art" p.121-132
- Aileen Penner, Jacinda Mack & Lee Bensted, "Salmon Tales: Eco-Art Activism" (Wild Fire) p.133-145
- Sau Wai Tai, "Confessions of a Community Artist: A Letter to My Fellow Earthworkers" (Wild Fire) p.146-159
- Pariss Garramone, "Tellingsmiths: The Work of Planting Trees and the Politics of Memory" (Wild Fire) p.160
PLUS FARMLAB

Thursday
- Heather Lash, "You are my Sunshine: Refugee Participation in Performance" (Wild Fire) p.221-229
- collective work eva sperling cockcroft(reimaging america) 190-198
PLUS THE DRAMATHERAPY DUDE

12 break
13
14
15