PAH 260 - Asian Pacific American Cultures in Public Life

From Bruce Lee to Crazy Rich Asians, from General Tso's Chicken to Korean tacos, and from Yuri Kochiyama to Kamala Harris, Asian Pacific American (APA) cultures and public figures have transformed and been transformed by their relationship to other cultures in the United States. We will consider some of these notable examples as models and highlight how they represent public culture, connecting to contemporary debates in the field of Asian Pacific American studies. Course themes will include: the cultural construction of race; representations of APAs in the media; APA gender and sexuality; hybridity and multi-generational diasporas; consumption and APA food culture; politics of the model minority; collective APA action and urban cultures; and the culture of refugees and war. Methods of intercultural competence and public humanities, both key applied humanities approaches to engaging with a globalized world, will be introduced as frames through which these APA Studies themes can be understood and analyzed.