AAS 370 A—Japanese America: History, Culture, Politics
FALL 2018
SLN: 10101
I&S / DIV
TTh 10:30 am—12:20 pm
Prof. Vince Schleitwiler
When does the story of Japanese America begin?
With the arrival of immigrants on US shores—laborers, students, farmers, and “picture brides”—beginning over 130 years ago?
With the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II in US concentration camps?
With the new radical identity forged by the 1960s Asian American movement?
With the rediscovery of Japanese American identity—after 9/11 and the 2016 election—as the basis for a politics of solidarity with movements for Black lives, American Muslims, refugees, & the undocumented?
In this course, we’ll explore the lost worlds of Japanese America through a combination of historical and cultural approaches, recognizing that the means and ends of Japanese American identity have always been a matter of politics.