Courses

This course will introduce both a variety of writings by Asian North American authors and some critical issues concerning the production and reception of Asian American texts. Working primarily with novels, we will be asking questions about the relation between literary forms and the socio-historical context within which they take on their meanings, and about the historical formation of Asian American identities. This course satisfies the Literatures of the Americas requirement for English majors.

Full details for AAS 2620 - Introduction to Asian American Literature

The rapidly growing literature of the Korean diaspora is one of the most significant developments in Korean literature since the 20th century. As Korean literature has circulated as world literature, it has become more widely recognized in the Anglophone world through translation and through narratives written by Korean American authors. This course will explore Korean American literature and creative transpacific exchanges between Korea and the US, addressing issues of identity, language, place, migration, race discrimination, citizenship, and the ways in which storytelling shapes community. We will examine the vibrant dialogue between works of fiction and poetry across the Pacific, reading the work of Korean American authors alongside the writing of Korean authors working in the Korean language. Increasingly, Korean American writers are creating narratives that remember and reconfigure Korean history and Korea's relationship to the US, and we will explore narratives and poetry that offer new perspectives on the Japanese colonial period, the Korean War, and American imperialism such as Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, Chang-rae Lee's The Surrendered, and Don Mee Choi's DMZ Colony. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korea is required.

Full details for AAS 3378 - Korean American Literature

Independent reading course in topics not covered in regularly scheduled courses. Students select a topic in consultation with the faculty member who has agreed to supervise the course work.

Full details for AAS 4950 - Independent Study

This graduate seminar focuses on Asian American studies through the dual lenses of theory and literature. Asian American literature provides a consideration of and reflection on Asian American subjectivities and bodies, collectively and differentially raced, gendered, and sexualized, which condition discourses and politics of American nation, empire, and sociality. The course is structured around pairings of texts, academic and literary, to enhance our own scholarly engagement with Asian American fiction and poetry. There is an additional focus on recently published scholarship and current concerns in Asian American studies, such as comparative and critical ethnic studies as well as queer studies.

Full details for AAS 6630 - Asian American Theory and Literature

Full details for AAS 7200 - Directed Graduate Individual Study