Courses for Fall 2024

	Title	Instructors	Location	Time	Description	Cross listings	Fulfills	Registration notes	Syllabus	Syllabus URL
ASAM 0100-001	Introduction to Asian American Studies	Rupa Pillai	MCNB 309	MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	According to the U.S. Census, there are approximately 21 million Asian residents in the U.S. that comprise almost 6 percent of the total population. This relatively small number disguises the critical experiences Asian American communities face in both the local and transnational context. Yet, Asian Americans constitute one of the most heterogeneous racial groups within the U.S. Over the course of this semester we will read about and actively discuss the history of Asian immigration to the U.S., the social construction and experience of race in the U.S., and the political, economic, and cultural contributions of Asian Americans. We will also examine how Asian Americans negotiate/deploy their culture and ethnicity to achieve recognition in multicultural America and how the construction of Asian American identity intersects with class, gender, and sexuality.		Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.
ASAM 0103-401	Introduction to Asian American Literature and Culture	Bakirathi Mani	BENN 401	MW 10:15 AM-11:14 AM	An overview of Asian American literature from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. This course covers a wide range of Asian American novels, plays, and poems, situating them in the contexts of American history and minority communities and considering the variety of formal strategies these different texts take. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.	ENGL1270401	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Arts & Letters Sector
ASAM 0103-402	Asian American Literature	Christos Kalli Bakirathi Mani	BENN 406	F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM	An overview of Asian American literature from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. This course covers a wide range of Asian American novels, plays, and poems, situating them in the contexts of American history and minority communities and considering the variety of formal strategies these different texts take. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.	ENGL1270402	Arts & Letters Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.
ASAM 0103-403	Asian American Literature	Bakirathi Mani Eddy Wang	BENN 407	F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM	An overview of Asian American literature from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. This course covers a wide range of Asian American novels, plays, and poems, situating them in the contexts of American history and minority communities and considering the variety of formal strategies these different texts take. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.	ENGL1270403	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Arts & Letters Sector
ASAM 0103-404	Asian American Literature	Bakirathi Mani Jiawen Xin	WILL 6	F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM	An overview of Asian American literature from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. This course covers a wide range of Asian American novels, plays, and poems, situating them in the contexts of American history and minority communities and considering the variety of formal strategies these different texts take. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.	ENGL1270404	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Arts & Letters Sector
ASAM 0103-405	Asian American Literature	Bakirathi Mani Ruoxi Zhu	BENN 140	F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM	An overview of Asian American literature from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. This course covers a wide range of Asian American novels, plays, and poems, situating them in the contexts of American history and minority communities and considering the variety of formal strategies these different texts take. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.	ENGL1270405	Arts & Letters Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.
ASAM 1000-401	South Asians in the United States	Fariha Khan	DRLB 2C6	TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	This course investigates the everyday practices and customs of South Asians in America. Every immigrant group has its own history, customs, beliefs and values, making each unique while simultaneously a part of the "melting pot" or salad bowl" of American society. Yet how do people define themselves and their ethnicities living in a diasporic context? By taking into account the burgeoning South Asian American population as our model, this course will explore the basic themes surrounding the lives that immigrants are living in America, and more specifically the identity which the second generation, born and/or raised in American, is developing. South Asians in the U.S. will be divided thematically covering the topics of ethnicity, marriage, gender, religion, and pop culture. Reading and assignments will discuss a variety of issues and viewpoints that are a part of the fabric of South Asia, but will focus on the interpretation of such expressive culture in the United States.	SAST1000401	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.
ASAM 1020-301	The Asian American Entrepreneur	Rupa Pillai	DRLB 3N6	MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	From shopkeepers to motel owners, the Asian American entrepreneur is frequently celebrated and offered as proof that the American Dream is achievable and that the United States is a meritocracy. This seminar challenges this view. Through interdisciplinary texts, qualitative research assignments, and speakers, we will explore the transnational forces and structural limitations within the United States that produce Asian ethnic niches and the bamboo ceiling which limits the success of Asian Americans.
ASAM 1170-001	Beyond "Hate": Violence in Asian American History		CHEM 119	MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM	Since 2020, national media, political leaders, and nonprofit organizations have all called attention to a rise in what they labeled “anti-Asian hate.” But what does this framing of hate, and its centering of individual acts of hate violence, tell us about the roots of anti-Asian violence? This course takes recent attention to anti-Asian hate as a point of departure to investigate the history of anti-Asian violence as constitutive to the United States as a nation and an empire. Taking a historical and theoretical approach to the concept of violence, we will consider why certain forms of violence are privileged and others silenced within conversations about racial violence. Through a range of historical, cultural, and scholarly texts, students will examine different genres of violence throughout Asian American history, including state, imperial, gender-based, and hate violence. From 19th century lynchings of early Chinese migrants to post-9/11 Islamophobia, this course traces the function of violence as a tool for the racialization and disciplining of Asian bodies. At the same time, through engagements with postcolonial, Third World, feminist, and abolitionist theory, we will explore how Asian Americans have theorized, organized against, and been agents of violence themselves.
ASAM 1200-401	Introduction to Creative Writing: Writing Asian American Lives	Piyali Bhattacharya	BENN 323	TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	What does it mean to be Asian American? How do religion, ethnicity, gender, class, nationality, and immigration status define this group? This course will explore these questions through an introductory fiction, nonfiction, and poetry creative writing workshop. In addition to critiquing each other’s short stories, essays, and poems, we will read works by a number of authors as springboards to examine representations of identity, inclusion, and exclusion. To learn more about this course, visit the Creative Writing Program at https://creative.writing.upenn.edu.	ENGL3025401
ASAM 1226-401	Introduction to Creative Writing: Writing Real Science	Weike Wang	CPCW 105	M 10:15 AM-1:14 PM	Most if not all fiction and nonfiction requires some kind of research. Our readings will explore how writers incorporate scientific knowledge into their prose without compromising craft. This course will explore ways to bring real science into our pieces and make them fun, exciting and fresh. To learn more about this course, visit the Creative Writing Program at https://creative.writing.upenn.edu.	ENGL3026401
ASAM 1300-401	Asian American Cinema Movement: Fighting For Representation	Robert V Buscher	MCNB 285	W 5:15 PM-8:14 PM	Providing a broad introduction to the history of persons of Asian descent living in the United States, this course will specifically examine the Asian American & Pacific Islander American experience as told through the cinematic lens. Equal parts socio-political history and media studies, this course will comprehensively assess factors contributing to the historical under representation of AAPIs in mainstream American media. By contrast, the media texts that we study will reveal a cinematic history that runs parallel to the mainstream, consisting of independently produced films created by and/or starring AAPIs that feature authentic portrayals of the community they represent. Topics will include economics of film production, broadcast television ratings, film festivals as a mechanism of distribution, negative stereotyping, Hollywood whitewashing, cultural appropriation, and media activism. The course will take place once a week and will consist of a brief discussion of the previous week's readings, followed by a lecture, and ending with a full or partial film screening relating to the current week's topic. Additional out of class assignments will be given that involve attending the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, tentatively scheduled November 8-18, 2018. Students will have the opportunity to engage with and learn from AAPI filmmakers in attendance at the festival, with additional volunteer opportunities available for extra credit.	CIMS1302401	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.			https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=ASAM1300401
ASAM 1500-401	Asian Americans In Contemporary Society	Tahseen Shams	MCNB 286-7	MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	This course will explore Asian America through sociological frameworks and research. At the outset, we will establish a strong theoretical foundation by studying key sociological theories related to race and ethnicity, assimilation, and racial stratification. Additionally, we will briefly review key turning points in Asian American history. Throughout the semester, we will explore a broad range of contemporary topics, such as racial and ethnic identities (including multiracial identities); racialized desire and interracial relationships; controlling media images and subversive representations; transracial adoption; affirmative action; anti-Asian racism; and the role of the "model minority" myth in contemporary U.S. politics. Above all, this class will critically evaluate the viability of an Asian American panethnic identity while also exploring important axes of heterogeneity (e.g., class, gender, and sexuality) within the broader Asian American category.	SOCI1140401	Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.			https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202430&c=ASAM1500401
ASAM 1510-401	Race and Ethnic Relations	Fareeda Genise Griffith	BENN 231	TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	The course will focus on race and ethnicity in the United States. We begin with a brief history of racial categorization and immigration to the U.S. The course continues by examining a number of topics including racial and ethnic identity, interracial and interethnic friendships and marriage, racial attitudes, mass media images, residential segregation, educational stratification, and labor market outcomes. The course will include discussions of African Americans, Whites, Hispanics, Asian Americans and multiracials.	AFRC1060401, LALS1060401, SOCI1060401, URBS1060401	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.
ASAM 1540-301	Asian American and Black Communities and Coalition Building	Charles L Howard Karu Kozuma		CANCELED	“Asian American and Black Communities and Coalition Building” explores the intersection between Black and Asian American activism, organizing, and coalition building. The course will examine the historical and contemporary connection and tensions between the two diverse communities, diving into the various movements defining the communities’ pursuit for equity. The course is organized to examine various periods from the Civil Rights Era to present day. It will consider the conditions that led to why coalitions formed and the multiple ways Black and Asian American communities engaged in activism and organizing.
ASAM 1900-401	Asian American Politics		MEYH B7	TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial minority group in the United States – what are the varied ways Asian Americans have been engaging in politics and how have they shaped the terrain of American politics? This course will survey the different facets of political life in Asian American communities, focusing on three major themes. First, we will examine the origins and evolution of “Asian America” as a political project. Second, we will explore how Asian Americans have been engaging in a variety of political arenas, from electoral politics to community organizing. We will consider topics such as voting, political representation, and grassroots activisms around gentrification, anti-Asian violence, and immigrant detention and deportation. Third, we will consider the politics of interminority relations; in other words, how Asian Americans engage with other communities of color. We will focus on the political and ethical questions around affirmative action, Black Lives Matter, and multi-racial solidarity. Throughout the course, we will grapple with the multiplicities and pluralities of Asian Americans, including both the limitations and possibilities of identity politics in a diversifying America.	PSCI1292401
ASAM 2200-401	Race and Asian American Literature	Josephine N Park	BENN 244	MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	This course is an advanced-level seminar on Asian American culture and politics. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.	ENGL2270401	Cultural Diviserity in the U.S.
ASAM 2620-401	Global Chinas and Chinese Diasporas	Weirong Guo		CANCELED	This seminar delves into the global imprint of contemporary Chinese diasporic communities, examining their significant influence from the lens of multiple sectors and regions—from Wenzhou migrants shaping the fashion industry in Italy to copper mining enterprises in Zambia to Chinese-owned nail salons and massage parlors dotting New York City. This exploration situates Chinese communities within the context of an interconnected world. As China has ascended to become the world’s second-largest economy, its impact is not confined within its borders but extends into international politics, culture, commerce, technology, and beyond. This class endeavors to unpack the complexities of China’s global engagement and deepen students’ understanding of Chinese communities worldwide. The course is divided into two main sections. The first section provides an overview of the historical journey of China on the global stage and an introduction to research methods specific to studying this phenomenon. In the second half, the course adopts a more granular approach, delving into critical topics such as race and ethnicity, gender and family dynamics, transnational identity, educational achievement, labor, entrepreneurship, and soft power.	SOCI2933401
ASAM 3110-401	Immigration and the Making of US Law	Hardeep Dhillon	MEYH B3	MW 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	This course illuminates how debates over immigration have transformed the legal contours of the United States. We examine the evolution of federal immigration policy and the legal battles immigrants waged against exclusionary practices in the U.S. from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1980s. The key federal and state cases explored in this course center on national citizenship, housing segregation, and school segregation. In addition to considering the key legal issues at stake in these cases, this course also encourages an analysis of the roles race, disability, gender, and labor play in shaping U.S. law within the context of immigration history.	HIST3910401