Module 4

Learning Goals

Welcome to Week 4 of Asian American History 114!

This week, our goals include to

• Begin to explore different theories of Asian migration
• Review a summary of Asian migration/exclusion 
• Define race, racism, and racialization and begin to apply these concepts to Asian American histories. 

We will also:

• Discuss the next assignment in your project: Research Assessment 
• Explore the impacts of learning about histories that include exclusion and violence. 

Class Notes 

• You can access the slides from our class session here

Watch

Watch: Race: the Power of an Illusion Episode 2 (on Kanopy; 53 minutes)

• • In the first minutes of this documentary, historian Theda Purdue shares that, “we don’t realize that race is an idea that evolves over time, that it has a history, that it is constructed by society to further certain political and economic goals.” What does she mean by this? What specific evidence does the film offer to show us how race was constructed in the U.S.? What political and economic goals does it serve?
  • What are the differences between the ways that indigenous populations and enslaved populations are racialized? What explains these different constructions of race?
  • What is the role of science in constructing race?
  • How are Filipino people racialized in the late 1800s/early 1900s? What political and economic goals does this serve?

Watch: A Conversation with Asian Americans on Race (NY Times) 

• • As you watch this video, pay attention to the various experiences that the interviewees name. If you were to summarize their experiences of Asian racialization, what might be the similarities among them? (And, what stories or experiences stood out as unique or distinct?)

Read

Read: Dhingra and Rodriguez, Chapter 2 of Asian America: Sociological Interdisciplinary Perspectives 

• • How do Dhingra and Rodriguez define race, ethnicity, and culture? What is their relationship?
  • What does it mean to say that race or gender are socially constructed? 
  • The reading addresses “yellow peril” and “model minority” — what do these terms mean? 
  • What questions do you have about the reading? 

Post and Comment on Discussion Board #4

• • THIS POST IS DUE  BY 11:59pm on Friday 9/25;
  • Comment due by 11:59 on Monday 9/28.
  • *Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] DB 4” 

• Please reflect on the following questions:
  • Given the different texts you reviewed this week, how would you explain the idea that race is a social construction? Select one piece of evidence from the film, the short video, and the reading to make your case.
  • What comes up for you this week as you review the materials, what questions, feelings, discomforts, affirmations, etc.?

• 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.

Research/Writing Project: Research Assessment due 10.6

• The instructions for your research assessment are  here. The assignment is due 10/6.