Module 1

Learning Goals

Welcome to Week 1 of Asian American History 114! This week, our goal is to get oriented to the course– including expectations, materials, and other basics–  and to begin to get to know one another.  We will:

• Become familiar with the course syllabus + course schedule + assignments
• Introduce ourselves to one another
• Begin to learn about the field of Asian American Studies– what/who is it about?
• Begin to learn about methods of historical research such as oral history and archives.

Class Notes 

• You can access the slides from our class session here

Read 

• Go over the syllabus and the course schedule.
• Bahadur, “How could I write about women whose existence is barely  acknowledged?”
  •  This short piece by Bahadur tells the story of her researching the history of her great-grandmother, her methods, and the limits of the archive.
  • As you read, consider the following questions:
    • What history is Bahadur writing about?
    • What is in the official historical record? Whose perspective is it from
    • What information is missing?
    • What other types of “data” does Bahadur use to understand history?
    • If you were to construct an archive of your own family history, what types of data might you review or search for?
• Dhingra, “How the story of Kamala Harris upends the model minority stereotype”
  • As you read, consider the following questions:
    • What does the author mean by “model minority” and “anti-model minority?”
    • What evidence does he give us to make his argument?

Listen

• Select one oral history of an Asian American (from one of the sites below)  that is at least 30 minutes long.  You can find oral histories of Asian Americans on the following sites.

• • • • Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project 
      • Houston Asian American Archive Oral Histories
      • South Asian Oral History Project 
      • Vietnamese American Oral History Project
      • Welga Digital Archive: Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
      • Muslims in Brooklyn Oral Histories 2018 (*select a narrator who is of Asian descent)
• Listen to the full interview and take notes–BRING THESE NOTES TO CLASS NEXT WEEK.  (You should listen to the whole interview so if you don’t have time to listen to a 3-hour recording, pick a shorter one.) Your notes can include:
  • What you learn about the narrator (e.g. name, age, where do they live, what do they do, when did they arrive in the U.S., what important events shaped their experience, what type of family do they have, etc.) 

• • Your own reflections and analysis (e.g. How does this oral history challenge or confirm ideas and information you already have about Asian Americans? What surprises you? What is missing in this history- what else would you want to know?)

• • Observations about the method (e.g. what types of questions does the interviewer ask the narrator? Does it feel like an easy conversation or is it awkward? What does the interviewer do to make the narrator feel comfortable? What happens if a sensitive or difficult topic comes up?)

• • Note: Some of the interviews have transcripts– you can use the transcripts in addition to LISTENING to the interview. Reading is a different experience than listening to someone speak about themselves- if you do look at the transcript, you can reflect on how this is similar/different to listening.

Post and Comment on Discussion Board: Introduction 

• • THIS POST IS DUE BEFORE NEXT WEEK’S CLASS (9/8) 

• Please watch my video introduction and then introduce yourself to the class. Your introduction can include whatever you would like to share about your background, experience, and interest in Asian American Studies, burning questions you would like to explore this semester, concerns you have about the course — and anything else that you would like us to know.  Feel free to add video, photo, audio, or any other media that helps you to introduce yourself to us!  PLEASE also share your feelings/experience/questions/interest in writing– this is a writing-intensive class and I would like us to have open discussion about our relationship to writing!

• COMMENT on each other’s posts. In your comment, you can share an appreciation, a connection, or a question in response to what the author wrote.

• REMINDER>> HOW TO POST and HOW TO COMMENT (this is also on the syllabus):
  • You can write your post by going to the plus sign at the top of the site > type a title* and type the body of your post > choose the category “Discussion Board  Introduction”  > publish.
  • *Please use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] DB INTRO” 
  • Submit your comment on the post of a classmate by selecting the title of the post > scroll down to where you leave a reply > type the comment > post comment.
  • Remember to review the Discussion Board instructions on  the syllabus — your original post should be  400-600 words (and can be longer), and your comments should be 3-4 complete sentences at MINIMUM.

Post and Comment on Discussion Board #1 

• • THIS POST IS DUE  BY 11:59pm on Friday 9/4;
  • Comment due by 11:59 on Monday 9/7.
  • *Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] DB 1” 

• For this first Discussion Board post, please reflect on the following questions. For full credit, you must respond to both sets of questions below:
  • • • • What do you learn from Bahadur’s process of researching her great-grandmother’s history? What were the limits of the archive and how did she address these limits? If you were to construct an archive of your own family history, what types of data might you review or search for?
        • What did you learn from the oral history that you studied? Tell us a little bit about the person who was interviewed. How does this oral history challenge or confirm ideas and information you already have about Asian Americans? What surprises you? What is missing in this history- what else would you want to know?

• COMMENT ON TWO POSTS. You can comment on the post of a classmate by selecting the title of the post > scroll down to where you leave a reply > type the comment > post comment.

Complete the E-Learning Orientation (due by next class) 

• The link is here and on the course Blackboard site.
• Please email me the certificate of completion (smunshi@bmcc.cuny.edu)