Please note that most courses offered by or cross-listed with Asian American Studies fulfill at least one of the Pluralism and Diversity Requirements even if the Hunter College Schedule of Classes does not indicate them as such. Most - if not all - AASP courses fulfill Group B, and many others fulfill Groups A and C. Courses not indicated as fulfilling one of the P & D requirements in the Schedule of Classes may be petitioned to do so. For more information, please contact the AASP Acting Director, Jennifer Hayashida.

Note that most of the courses below fulfill the 12-credit minor requirement. If you are considering a minor in Asian American Studies, we recommend that you take ASIAN 210.00 (Asians in the U.S.) in the early stages of your minor coursework.

Courses Currently Offered by the AASP

Asian 210: Asians in the U.S.

Asian 210 is an interdisciplinary introduction to key topics in Asian American Studies, where students through active reading and discussion examine the history of Asian migration to the U.S.; historic and contemporary issues in Asian American communities; the social construction of race in the U.S.; and Asian American political, economic, and cultural contributions to the larger fabric of U.S. culture.

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with SOC 225.07 & URBS 403.65.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 210. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 220: Survey of Asian American Literature

Critical examination of a cross-section of literature and film/video/performance by Asian American writers and artists in an interdisciplinary investigation of the historical and contemporary experiences of Asians in the United States and western diaspora. Course emphasis is placed on an intersectional analyses of the social constructions of class, gender, sexuality, and race.

Meets P&D Group B & GER 2/C. Cross-listed with ENGL 250.96.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 220. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 220.01: Asian American Women Writers

In Asian 220.01, we will read a range of literary texts – some short stories and poems, but primarily novels – written by Asian American women. In our discussions of these readings, we will explore questions of identity formation in relation to factors such as racial ideology, global migrations of labor and capital, class status, sexuality, military conflict, geography, and language, all the while examining the role these texts may or may not fill as part of the category of literature considered “Asian American.” As such, what sociohistorical context best helps us enter into the worlds that these works of fiction offer? What concerns do these writers share, and how do they differ in their intentions and modes as Asian American cultural producers?

Meets P&D Group B or C. Cross-listed with ENGL 258.56.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 220.01. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 220.04: Arab American Literature

Critical examination of a cross-section of literature and film/video/performance by Arab American writers and artists in an interdisciplinary investigation of the historical and contemporary experiences of Arab Americans in the United States and western diaspora. Course emphasis is placed on an intersectional analyses of the social constructions of class, gender, sexuality, and race.

Asian 220.05: South Asian Women Writers

In Asian 220.05, we will read South Asian women writers to examine how colonialism and nationalism have intersected with migration in the formation of the South Asian diaspora.  In the trajectory of this migration, we will learn about how issues of race and nationalism have been shaped and how they have overlapped with gender, class, sexuality, religion, and language.  We will analyze literary, historical, and theoretical texts with a focus on the cultural production and social movements of South Asian women. 

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 251.83 & WGS 200.16.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 220.04. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 220.09: Gender & Genre in Asian American Literature

Asian 220.09 explores the social construction of Asian American identity in various genres: video art, prose, poetry, memoir, performance, and film. The emphasis of the course is on intersectional analyses that critically examine how race, gender, class, and sexuality inform Asian American artists' decisions regarding form and genre.

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 256.62.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 220.09. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 320: Nation, Self & Asian Identity

Asian 320 is set up to focus on the relationship between the nation-state and the construction of diasporic Asian identity: how do hegemonic forces (e.g. the government, but also other sites of power – the mass media, corporate interests, and the people themselves) depend upon Asian subjects in the framing (and re-framing) of national identities, borders, and transgressions? In the simplest terms, how do Asian subjects fit into our understanding of “us“ and “them“? How, in turn, do Asian diasporic subjects respond to and revolt against these cues?

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 390.53.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 320. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 320.05: Asian American Memoir

In this course, will examine constructions of Asian American identity and self-representations in memoir, film, writing, literature, and critical essays by contemporary Asian Americans. The readings will cover a diverse range of experiences that push the boundaries of what we define as Asian American memoir, and examine the formation of subjective identities across axes of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and national identity. Texts include both domesticated narratives of immigrant assimilation, as well as transnational categories of homeland and identity to explore questions of:
• Homeland, migration, exile and transformation
• Transnational and multicultural identities
• History, memory, myth and imagination
• Form and silence in contested narratives
• Language, identity and constructions of self
• Gendered narratives and the politics of desire

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 318.55.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 320.05. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 321: Asian American Social Protest Literature

Asian 321 utilizes literatures of Asian American social protest from the past and present as tools in the research, mobilization, and realization of student-initiated community-based projects. Literature will be the foundation of this course, and action will be its end result. To begin these projects, we must first expand the meaning of “social protest” and look at how these words both liberate and constrict us in our conception of ourselves as agents of change. Student projects are intended to effect some form of transformation, but the scope and nature of that change must be determined by the student’s willingness to challenge what she or he conceives of as an “activist” effort. So, we will remain generous and flexible in our collective understandings of social protest and activist practices: some students may seek to organize a large-scale movement or develop a community-based initiative, whereas others may attempt to teach a family member how to speak English or tutor a friend in preparation for the citizenship examination. All projects have equal value: for this class, what will determine the quality of each endeavor is the student’s level of engagement and thoughtfulness, as well as her/his willingness to invest not only in individual success, but also in that of the class.

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 398.81.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 321. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Asian 330.08: Muslim Diasporas

Muslim Disaporas is an interdisciplinary course moving through the history of Islam and its expressions in many areas of the world (including Sufism), to the cultural identity, art, and literature of the Muslim Diaspora in the United States, their mis-portrayal in the media, and fetishization by popular culture. Curriculum includes studying works of literature, comedy, theater, film/TV, music and art. Requirements include a class project (group presentation) outlining the timeline of world areas with Muslim populations throughout history, short reports on field trips, midterm paper and final revision. First book for class: Excerpts from the Koran.

Meets P&D Group B.

Asian 340.04: West Asian American Literature & Film

West Asian Literature and Film is an interdisciplinary course that first examines the cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity of West Asia, sometimes called Central Asia, and/or the Middle East, to then focuse on the literature and film of their diaspora communities in the US. Requirements include a class project (group presentation) outlining a grand timeline of West Asia throughout history, short reports on field trips, midterm paper and final revision. First book for class: Excerpts from the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings).

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 318.53.

Asian 341: Contemporary Filipino American Literature

This course will explore a rich and diverse cross-section of writing by contemporary Filipino American authors, ranging from books of poetry and prose. Students will engage in close readings of selected texts, films, and visual art, and will consider such topics as Filipino American history, family, gender, identity formation, memory, migration, nationalism, praxis, race, representation, and sexuality. 

Please note that this course does not meet P&D requirements, nor is it cross-listed with ENGL. The AASP is in the process of reviewing the status of this course and hopes to have it meet P&D requirements soon.

Asian 351.52: Asian American Literature & Popular Culture

How do you define Asian America?  What is the significance of Asian America literature and popular culture?  In particular, how has Asian American culture been central to the building of the United States of America?  This is a course about Asian American literature and popular culture after the Civil Rights Movement.  It provides an overview of race, gender, and class relations in the United States embedded within the broader structure of culture and social institutions.  This course is a comparative study of Asian American writers, filmmakers, spoken word artists, hip-hop performers, sports figures, and internet cyberstars, and the historical contexts in which they produce their works.  I hope that this framework will foster critical reflection about how we imagine and reimagine Asian American identity and culture, and the importance of “national culture” for the formation of citizenship and community.  In particular, we analyze constructions of femininity and masculinity, narrations of race and national belonging, and contestations and solidarities between racialized communities.  Furthermore, in this course, I ask students to explore the interconnections between race, gender, sexuality, class, and nation in relation to the global economy and multicultural discourses.  Though we will discuss specific ethnic and racial groups at times, the overall focus will be the ample context connecting each of those groups to a shared history with present day relevance.

Meets P&D Group B. Cross-listed with ENGL 318.61. Department permission required.

Click here for a PDF of a sample syllabus for ASIAN 351.52. Please note that syllabi will vary depending on the instructor for the course.

Engl 771: Asian American Literature & Theory

This course is an advanced study of key texts in Asian American literature and theory.  We will underscore the historical contexts from which Asian American novels have been produced, and the theoretical conversations that have commented on their significance.  My purpose of constructing such a framework is to offer a working methodology for teaching Asian American literature and to illuminate the intellectual contributions of Asian American studies.  We will focus on seven major novels and the critical theoretical debates that have emerged around them.  In this way, we will locate the texts within the socio-historical processes of social movements and transnational capitalism.  Some themes we will investigate include settlement histories of the ethnic communities, legal discourses of immigration, post-civil rights class cleavages, multiracial hierarchy, multiculturalism, neocolonialism, and imperialism.  Thus, our inquiry will take into consideration a range of conversations taking place in and outside the academy, including feminist, queer, critical race, Marxist, postcolonial, American, and cultural studies. 

Graduate level course - department permission required.