Fall 2008

AMS 370 • Asian Americans in Pop Culture-W

Course Description

By examining a variety of popular cultural production and media forms including film, video, print, television, and the Internet, this intensive writing course will explore the complex ways in which Asians/Asian Americans have been represented by the mass media as well as how they use media technology to re-present themselves. Students will learn about the multiple ways in which Asian Americans resist and accommodate to media representations and engage in critical analyses of cultural forms. Topics will include: Asian American representations in popular culture, film, and television; music, performance culture, and theatre; print and ethnic publications, and Asian presence in cyberspace. Students will also be introduced to communication theory, historical productions of racial representations, contemporary discourses on gender, Orientalism, cultural identity, and transnational media circuits.

Grading Policy

1-2 page response papers to 3 cultural artifacts 6-8 paper of media watch OR website group project 10 page Final Research Paper

Texts

Possible Texts Robert Lee, Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture Tu and Nguyen, Alien Encounters: Popular Culture in Asian America Dave, et al., East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture Deborah Wong, Speak it Louder: Asian Americans Making Music Lee and Wong, AsianAmerica.net

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