Whos Afraid of “The Tempest”?

Required Reading Homework (in addition to the Syllabus) for Week #1:
Whos Afraid of “The Tempest”?

https://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/whos_afraid_of_the_tempest/

https://blog.angryasianman.com/2011/01/save-asian-asian-american-studies-at.html

https://news.change.org/stories/cal-state-la-considers-suspending-asian-and-asian-american-studies

https://blogs.laforward.org/2011/01/06/la-forward-reports/asian-american-studies-threatened-at-cal-state-l-a/

https://www.reappropriate.com/2010/12/02/help-protect-asian-american-studies-at-cal-state-la/

https://sundial.csun.edu/2011/02/csun-community-reacts-to-csulas-ethnic-studies-dispute/

https://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/12/nation/la-na-ethnic-studies-20100512https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/arizona-law-curbs-ethnic-studies-classes/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec10/arizona_12-30.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/12/politics/main6476501.shtml

Welcome to Blackpast

“The History of Ethnic Studies” by Gary Okihiro:

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/10/15/history-ethnic-studies

Class Lecture December 23rd (Part III)

What is Asian American Studies/Ethnic Studies? Why is it important?

Before we discuss what is “race,” “racism,” & how do we critically discuss this, I wanted to put the study of race and racism into the *context* of ethnic studies & Asian American studies. This lecture is a little background information for you:

WHAT IS AAS? (Asian American Studies)

Some of you may have been paying attention to ethnic studies (in Arizona in particular) and Asian American studies (in Los Angeles [CSULA] in particular) in the news lately. Asian American studies is part of an interdisciplinary field of studies that directly stems from the civil rights movement and the “ethnic power” movements. California was a “hot bed” for the kind of awareness, consciousness, collective action and activism that brought rise to this field. Asian American studies, like all ethnic studies, examined power relations of racialized, ethnic groups in the U.S., explored transnational relations between ancestral countries of origin and their structural links to the “American” experiences, and connected what was taught in the classroom to the ethnic communities outside of the university. “Giving back to the community” and “drawing linkages with our communities” became integral, critical aspects of ethnic studies scholarship. Initially, ethnic studies (Asian American studies is a part of), linked issues of “race” and “class” with education (particularly “higher education”).

Today, ethnic studies is at the forefront of examining the interconnected, interstructured nature of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other group identities/statuses, as well as incorporating global/transnational studies, diasporic studies, post-colonial, post-modern, post-structural theories. Most ethnic studies scholars are trained in single disciplines views as “more traditional” such as the social sciences, humanities, and applied fields.

San Francisco State University (then San Francisco State College) was the first campus in which a multiracial/multiethnic coalition of students organized the first “student strike” in 1968. The Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of It is the longest student strike in U.S. history. A year latter, UC-Berkeley, UC-Santa Barbara, UCLA, CSU-Northridge (then-San Fernando Valley College) , CSU-Fresno, etc. followed.

Asian American studies emerges in the context of civil rights, ethnic/racial power movements, anti-war movement, free speech movement, womens movement, etc. The “bottom-up” origins of this academic discipline which questioned the role of the university itself continues to inform and shape the field. Students demanded universities to offer courses that examined the social histories, realities, lives, stories of Native Americans, African Americans, Chicanos/Latinos, Asian Americans, etc. Following this ethnic/racial power movements within the universities across California and the nation, Euro-American groups (Irish Americans, Italian Americans, working class whites, etc.) began rethinking and re-imagining their social positions within U.S. “racialized” society. Many social scientists refer to this Euro-American experience more as “symbolic ethnicity” or “emergent ethnicity” because the reasons for “ethnicity” in the lives of Euro-Americans seemed (historically & contemporarily) to differ qualitatively and structurally than for “racialized,” minority groups or “people of color.” “Whiteness studies” examines the oppositionalized “dominant” racial position occupied by those who fit within the socially constructed category of “white” in U.S. society. “Whiteness studies” is basically the corollary to ethnic studies. Scholars like Peggy McIntosh and Tim Wise (well be reading their work) have been pioneers in “Whiteness studies.”

AAS & Ethnic Studies at CSUN:

Asian American studies at CSUN has a very interesting and unique history. The department is a benefactor of ethnic studies activism and movements by previous generations. In the 1980s, Asian American students and individual faculty (both part-time and full-time) at CSUN began meeting regularly to talk about teaching classes on Asian American history and identity. Black studies (known at CSUN as Pan-African studies) and Chicana/o studies had already well-established themselves by the 1980s when students and faculty were discussing adding Asian American studies to the mix. One of the first classes to be taught on Asian Americans from an ethnic studies perspective was in Anthropology by Dr. Laura Uba, a psychologist! Students like Gary Mayeda and Tony Osumi, who both work in Asian American communities today, were at the forefront pushing CSUNs administration for more courses.Dr. Gordon Nakagawa (in Communications) and Dr. George Uba (in English) were also active along with Dr. Laura Uba to form a more coherent program. In 1990, Dr. Bob Suzuki, former Academic Affairs Vice President, leaves CSUN. As a parting gift to CSUN, with a stroke of a pen, creates the Department of Asian American Studies. And then, the development and growth of the department begins. The events that took place at CSUN are similar to other programs and departments. However, by the 1980s, ethnic studies was a well-established field and precedents were set. Though ethnic studies was not always welcomed at CSUN, today, ethnic studies holds an important place in CSUNs academic life and accolades. Today, in addition to Pan-African Studies (situated in the College of Social Behavioral Studies), Chicana/o Studies, Asian American Studies, American Indian Studies, and Central American Studies (all housed in the College of Humanities). CSUNs Asian American Studies Department is the first university in southern California to establish an AAS department and the second department of AAS after SFSU to be established (first in the nation). CSUN CAS (Central American Studies) at CSUN is the first CAS program to be established in the U.S. CSUN Chicana/o Studies is the largest Chicana/o or Raza Studies Department in the nation.

21 Years: AAS CSUN TIMELINE

https://www.csun.edu/aas/timeline.html

*Though I am not a big fan of wikipedia, what is posted on wikipedia is historically sound and contemporarily relevant. A great cliff notes version:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_studies