Asian and Asian American Studies (AAAS)

A study of Asian civilizations though history, literature, art, philosophy, and film. Topics to be covered will emphasize the intellectual, cultural, social, and political factors which shaped the civilizations of Asia and the Pacific.

University Core fulfilled: Foundations: Studies in American Diversity.

An introductory course which surveys the cultures and histories of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. Interaction among various Asian Pacific Americans communities also will be discussed.

University Core fulfilled: Foundations: Studies in American Diversity.

This course introduces students to major authors, texts, diverse genres, and themes in Asian literature. It examines the intricate connections between literary works and various cultural aspects, including philosophy, spirituality, religion, and aesthetics. It also explores how Asian literature actively contributes to discussions on topics such as modernity and tradition, gender and sexuality, trauma and violence, memory and identity, among others. Through the critical analysis of Asian literary works, this course aims not only to enhance students’ analytical skills but also to cultivate a deeper and more nuanced understanding of Asian culture, history, and society. Please note that specific coverage may vary at the discretion of individual instructors.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections

The course explores sociocultural dynamics in modern and contemporary Asia. We will question: How did Asian societies adapt to “Western” influences in the 19th and 20th centuries? How have modernization and globalization transformed traditional social, cultural, gender, and religious dynamics in Asia? By discussing these questions using academic literature in History, Anthropology, and Sociology, students will develop critical insights into contemporary social and cultural phenomena across Asia.

Core fulfilled: Understanding Human Behavior

A survey of Asian Pacific American writers and their literature, using critical analysis of autobiographies, short stories, novels, poetry, essays, and films.

University Core fulfilled: Explorations: Creative Experience.

Topical studies of timely and pertinent contemporary interest involving Asian Pacific Americans in the United States.

University Core fulfilled: Explorations: Understanding Human Behavior; Flag: Engaged Learning.

Food is an essential part of human (and non-human)'s biological survival, but its production, circulation, and consumption are complicatedly intertwined with political, economic, social, ethical, and cultural problems. In this course, students will deepen their understanding of Asian societies and communities through careful observation, analysis, and reflection on Asian food. The course combines academic discussion of anthropological texts with experimental fieldwork in Asian communities in Los Angeles. In this way, students will apply what they learn from the classroom to their everyday lives and milieu.

University Core Fulfilled: Flag: Engaged Learning.

The history of Christianity in Asia is as old as the history of Christianity itself. But while much has been told about Christianity as it grew from an obscure Jewish sect to mighty Western Christendom, not enough attention has been given to the Christianity which spread eastwards to Asia in the first millennium of the Christian era. This course seeks to correct the imbalance by introducing students to the history of Christianity in Asia. It traces the development of Christianity in different parts of Asia, both in the ancient times and since the Age of Discovery.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Faith and Reason.

This class will examine mythology and folktales from various Asian traditions: China, Japan, Korea, and India. The reading materials will be examined through psychological, philosophical, and cultural approaches. The topics for discussion include creation myths, heaven and hell, the mythic hero, metamorphosis, and immortality.

Juniors and seniors only.
University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

This course will explore the role of popular culture in the social production of meaning and creation of identity. The site of study will be popular culture in East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea) and "East Asian" popular culture abroad. It aims to impart to students the theoretical and analytical tools necessary to conduct in-depth interdisciplinary research on the mechanisms, implications, and functions of popular culture. By exploring myriad forms of popular culture - popular literature, film, manga, television, music, posters, fashion, material culture, etc. - that span modern Asian history from the early 20th century to today, students will gain a critical understanding of culture, politics, and history of the East Asian region.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

This course examines twentieth-century Asian fiction through the study of novels, short stories, novellas, biographies, diaries, and film. The class will also study major literary trends and movements.

This course provides an introduction to contemporary Chinese cinema. It focuses not only on the "poetics of cinema" (cinematic language, styles, and aesthetics) but also the "politics of cinema" that emphasize contemporary Chinese cinema's engaging dialogue with Chinese history and its critical intervention into key socio-political issues facing post-Mao China. It concerns itself with such issues relating to history and memory, modernity, and nationhood; family, gender, and sexuality; urbanization, migration, and transnational formations; and Hong Kong and Taiwan identities. University

Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

What is happening in Asia today? How are these political and economic events related to the historical formation of Asian societies? How are Asian countries and people interconnected with one another to shape current events? This three-part course introduces a few crucial moments, places, people, things, and ideas that have shaped Asian societies in the 20th and 21st centuries. The first part focuses on the colonial and imperial orders in the early 20th century and how they affect the current political debates in Asia. The second part examines the series of wars and violence in mid-20th century Asia and lingering trauma. The third part explores the economic development in the late 20th and early 21st century Asia and its implication on gender, class, and culture.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

Explores diverse histories of environmental crises across Asia, with emphasis on creative works of artists, performers, and activists in imagining just futures.

Core fulfilled: Ethics and Justice

How can we understand Korean society, not within a narrow scope of South Korea but through transpacific mobility and connections of Korean people, commodities, and cultures? Drawing upon the literature in Anthropology, Sociology, History, and Media Studies, Transpacific Korea aims to develop students' perspectives on the transnational mobilities, connections, and dynamics that have shaped Korean societies and communities. Through class reading and discussion on Korea's recent histories, students will contextualize the implication of colonialism, cold war, and neoliberalism in contemporary Korean societies. Students will build up knowledge of Korean society and culture in global contexts by reading and discussing sociological literature on South Korea and overseas Korean communities. Based on the interdisciplinary approaches that students will develop in this course, students will analyze and discuss the artistic representation of Korean societies and cultures in film and conduct independent research on Transpacific Korea around Us.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

Using a diasporic lens, this course engages in an interdisciplinary examination of the histories, lives and experiences of Japanese Americans and Japanese migrants while exploring the concepts of resilience, resistance, and reconciliation. Using this broader lens the class will explore a wide range of Japanese American history from initial migration to the U.S. in the mid-19th century to current day. We will explore the challenges and celebrations of establishing Japanese American communities and the questions of cultural retention and revitalization. Additionally, we will take note of the impacts simultaneous events in homeland Japan on transnational identity formations.

Consent of instructor required.

The subject matter of this course will vary from semester to semester.

East Asian science fiction is the indigenization of a Western literary import at the intersection of many disciplines. This genre requires imagination and critical thinking on speculative topics that may or may never happen in our lifetimes. Despite the fictional aspect, many ideas and concepts from science fiction have permeated society due to how ubiquitous these works have become. The huge number of East Asian science fiction works produced in the past few decades reflects the influence of Western media and the rapid technological evolution and imagination in the Asian mediascape. Many East Asian science fiction narratives decentralize the importance of the West, focusing on China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, or Korea as sites of inspiration, resources, or calamity. This decentralization calls into question the power and privilege of Western narratives and storytelling in the past, and what changes can be made in modes of thinking through indigenizing Western tropes. East Asian science fiction thus demonstrates globalized media through local art and culture, and the rapid diversification of local media.

This course critically explores one of the world's most popular, dynamic, and innovative cinemas - Hong Kong cinema. Situating Hong Kong cinema in historical, artistic, and transnational contexts, this course examines major developments in Hong Kong cinema running from the war time cinema, the rise of martial arts movies and their influx into the United States, the international breakthrough of the "New Wave," Hong Kong filmmaking before and after the 1997 handover to China, to Hollywood remakes of Hong Kong films in recent years. The class will focus on issues relating to filmic nationalism, transnational film production and consumption; migration, identity, and community formation; nostalgia, memory, and post-colonialism; and family, gender, and sexuality.

This course employs interdisciplinary methods to examine the problems and issues confronting women in Asia from pre-modern times to the contemporary era. Drawing on the scholarly insights of gender studies, history, literature, philosophy, anthropologies, film and media studies, we will explore how the concepts of womanhood and gender in Asia are constructed, institutionalized, appropriated, and reinterpreted in different socio-historical discourses. We will interrogate the underlying mechanisms that tend to perpetuate Asian women’s marginality and subordination. At the same time, we will pay particular attention to new perspectives on women’s roles in current scholarship and look into women’s ongoing negotiation with their gender identity and their struggles for empowerment and agency.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

The course explores gender, sexuality, and family dynamics in contemporary China. We will question: How does post-socialist market reform affect traditional gender roles in China? Do new forms of sexuality and gender identities emerge in globalizing cosmopolitan China? How do the Chinese envision futures through raising children? By discussing these questions, students will deepen their understanding of contemporary China while developing comparative and critical insights into gender, sexuality, and family.

University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

An interdisciplinary and comparative examination of the historical role of immigration and migration in shaping the Los Angeles region as well as the social, political, economic, and cultural impact of immigration in contemporary Los Angeles. University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

This course engages in an interdisciplinary examination of the identity development of persons of mixed-race ancestry in the United States through which students derive a critical understanding of race, ethnicity, and culture, while developing a deeper appreciation for ethnic, class, gender, generational, and racial diversity. University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

This course engages in an interdisciplinary examination of the identity development of persons of mixed-race ancestry in the United States through which students derive a critical understanding of race, ethnicity, and culture, while developing a deeper appreciation for ethnic, class, gender, generational, and racial diversity. University Core fulfilled: Integrations: Interdisciplinary Connections.

This is a cross-cultural study of Asian women writers through the readings of poetry, short stories, autobiographies, diaries, and novels. Most readings are derived from contemporary female writers from China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States.