Women’s Studies 611: Gender and Diaspora
Spring 2013
Instructor: Dr. Anh Hua
Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies
Office: Arts and Letters Building, Room #313
Office Phone: 619-594-7146
Email: ahua@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:00 – 11:00 a.m., 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., or by appointment
Thursday 4:00 – 6:40 p.m., HH 128
Diaspora Studies examine the dispersions of populations and cultures across various
geographical places and spaces. This discipline is emerging as a cutting-edge area of
research alongside studies on transnationalism, globalization, nationalism, and
postcoloniality. Diaspora is one of the most debated terms today, especially within
scholarly discussions about migration, displacement, identities, community, global
movements, and cultural politics. In this graduate course “Gender and Diaspora,” we will
explore the historical and interdisciplinary perspectives on gendered impact of forcible
migration, such as African, Jewish, Asian and other diasporas. We will analyze the
scholarly debates concerning gendered experiences of diaspora on political identities,
social movements, and cultural production. Some of the themes we will explore include:
characteristics and types of diasporas; the relation between feminism and diasporas;
issues of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and identities in diasporas; forced migration, the
history of slavery, Holocaust and other genocides; digital diasporas; rites of return;
homeland and nostalgia; exile and displacement; diaspora poetics and politics of
memory; diasporic art and cultural productions; diasporic women’s writing and film; and
the future of diasporic imaginings.
Required Texts (available for purchase at KB Books):
Jana Evans Braziel and Anita Mannur, ed. Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. Malden, MA
and Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff. Digital Diasporas: Identity and Transnational Engagement.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Marianne Hirsch and Nancy K. Miller, ed. Rites of Return: Diaspora Poetics and the
Politics of Memory. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
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Vijay Agnew, ed. Diaspora, Memory and Identity: A Search for Home. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Other readings will be posted on Blackboard.
Grading:
Creative Project
Major Essay
Presentation
Seminar Facilitation
Attendance & Participation
20%
30%
20%
20%
10%
Readings:
Readings that are listed on the course outline are to be completed by class time on the day
for which they are listed.
Assignments:
Hard copy of all assignments must be given to your instructor in lecture of the due date.
They must be typed, stapled, double-spaced and on one side of the sheet only. All papers
are to be done in MLA style and have a complete bibliography. All essays must have a
clear thesis statement that is supported by the body of the paper. Electronic submissions
of work will not be accepted. Guidelines for papers will be given out closer to each
paper’s due date.
Attendance and Participation:
Students are expected to attend every class, keep up with readings, and participate in inclass discussions and activities. The final attendance and participation grade will be
determined based on attendance and participation in class discussions.
Late work/Makeup exams:
Students are expected to turn in all work on time. Late papers will only be accepted in
the case of documented illness, emergency, or other misadventure.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is the use of anyone else’s ideas as your own
in your written work. When using another individual’s ideas in your work, you must
acknowledge this by using the appropriate citations. Students who violate the
university’s policies on plagiarism or academic dishonesty will receive disciplinary
and/or academic sanctions, according to university provisions. Penalties for plagiarism
range from an F in the course to expulsion from the university. (See SDSU General
Catalogue)
Course Objectives
Your progress throughout the course will be demonstrated in various ways. Learning
should occur both inside and outside of the classroom, through assigned readings, in class
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discussions and activities, group work, films, written assignments, and critical selfreflection.
Anticipated Learning Outcome:
- to become familiar with the theoretical, historical and political issues in diasporic
scholarship
- to explore the impact of race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and class as analytical
categories in the field of diaspora studies
- to develop critical thinking, oral and writing skills
- to analyze the role of social and historical location in shaping identities, theories,
and research questions
- to critically analyze some of the diasporic cultural productions such as literature,
film and the arts
Class Policies
- Students are responsible for all assignments and announcements presented in
class. If you are late or absent, it is your responsibility to contact another student.
- Be in class on time and prepared to participate in class discussion.
- Racist, sexist, homophobic, crude, or inappropriate remarks of any kind will not
be tolerated. Respect your classmates and instructor. Always use civil discourse
in class.
- Please turn off and stow away all electronic devices, such as cell phones, text
messengers, iPods, pagers etc. at the beginning of the class.
- Computer laptops will not be permitted in class.
- If you are caught texting in class, I may have to ask you to leave the classroom.
Grades will also be deducted if caught texting in class.
Blackboard
Most handouts given in class, as well as announcements, will be posted on Blackboard.
If this is your first time using Blackboard, go to the Blackboard login page at
http://blackboard.sdsu.edu and enter your username and password. If you have questions,
visit SDSU e-Services at http://sdsu.edu/e-services.
Contesting Your Grade
If you choose to contest a grade you received on an assignment you must first submit in
writing an explanation of why you think your grade should be improved along with a
copy of the assignment in question within 2 weeks after the graded assignment was
returned to you. Please bear in mind that when seeking a change in grade it is possible
that your mark will be lowered just as well as increased.
Students with Special Needs
Students who need accommodation of their disabilities should contact me privately to
discuss specific strategies for accommodation; however, they must have received
authorization beforehand. If you have a disability, but have not contacted Student
Disability Services (619-594-6473, Calpulli Center, Suite 3101), please do so before
making an appointment with me.
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Schedule
Week 1: Jan 17
Introduction to the Course
Week 2: Jan 24
Theorizing Diaspora
Jana Evans Braziel and Anita Mannur. “Nation, Migration, Globalization: Points of
Contention in Diaspora Studies.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. Ed. Jana Evans
Braziel and Anita Mannur. Malden, MA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
1-22.
Arjun Appadurai. “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.”
Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 25-48.
Paul Gilroy. “The Black Atlantic as a Counterculture of Modernity.” Theorizing
Diaspora: A Reader. 49-80.
Week 3: Jan 31
Ethnicity, Identity, and Diaspora
Daniel Boyarin and Jonathan Boyarin. “Diaspora: Generation and the Ground of Jewish
Identity.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 85-118.
R. Radhakrishnan. “Ethnicity in an Age of Diaspora.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader.
119-131.
Lisa Lowe. “Heterogeneity, Hybridity, Multiplicity: Marking Asian-American
Differences.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 132-155.
Week 4: Feb 7
Sexuality, Gender, and Diaspora
Rey Chow. “Against the Lures of Diaspora: Minority Discourse, Chinese Women, and
Intellectual Hegemony.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 163-183.
Jayne O. Ifekwunigwe. “Returning(s): Relocating the Critical Feminist AutoEthnographer. Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 184-206.
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Martin F. Manalansan IV. “In the Shadows of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational
Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 207-227.
Week 5: Feb 14
Cultural Production and Diaspora
Stuart Hall. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 233-246.
Kobena Mercer. “Diaspora Culture and the Dialogic Imagination: The Aesthetics of
Black Independent Film in Britain.” Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 247-260.
Gayatri Gopinath. “Nostalgia, Desire, Diaspora: South Asian Sexualities in Motion.”
Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader. 261-279.
Week 6: Feb 21
Gender, Film and Diaspora I
Film Screening: Haile Gerima, dir. Sankofa. Mypheduh Films, 1993. Videocassette.
125 min. (VTC – 2743)
* Creative Project due
Week 7: Feb 28
Digital Diasporas and Transnational Communities
Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff. Digital Diasporas: Identity and Transnational Engagement.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. (Chapters 1, 2 & 8)
Week 8: March 7
Feminism and Diaspora
Avtar Brah. “Diaspora, Border and Transnational Identities.” Cartographies of
Diaspora: Contesting Identities. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. 178-210.
Tina Campt and Deborah Thomas. “Gendering Diaspora: Transnational Feminism,
Diaspora and Its Hegemonies.” Feminist Review 90 (2008): 1-8.
Jemima Pierre. “‘I Like Your Colour!’ Skin Bleaching and Geographies of Race in
Urban Ghana.” Feminist Review 90 (2008): 9-19.
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Week 9: March 14
Gender, Film and Diaspora II
Film Screening: Ang Lee, dir. The Wedding Banquet. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home
Entertainment, 2004. DVD. 108 min. (DVD – 919)
Week 10: March 21
Rites of Return and Diaspora Poetics
Marianne Hirsch and Nancy K. Miller, ed. Rites of Return: Diaspora Poetics and the
Politics of Memory. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
Week 11: March 28
Homing Desire, Double Consciousness and Diasporic Encounters
Samir Dayal. “Diaspora and Double Consciousness.” The Journal of the Midwest
Modern Language Association 29.1 (Spring 1996): 46-62.
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf. “Rethinking Diasporicity: Embodiment, Emotion, and the Displaced
Origin.” African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal 1.2 (2008): 147-158.
Anh Hua. “Homing Desire, Cultural Citizenship, and Diasporic Imaginings.” Journal of
International Women’s Studies 12.4 (2011): 45-56.
Week 12: April 4
Spring Recess: No class
Week 13: April 11
Gender, Film and Diaspora III
Film Screening: Shirin Neshat, dir. Women Without Men. 2011. DVD.
* Major Essay due
Week 14: April 18
Diaspora, Memory, and Identity: A Search for Home
Vijay Agnew, ed. Diaspora, Memory and Identity: A Search for Home. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2005. (Introduction, Chapters 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11)
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Week 15: April 25
Diasporic Women’s Writing
Anh Hua. “Black Diaspora Feminism and Writing: Memories, Storytelling, and the
Narrative World as Sites of Resistance.” African and Black Diaspora: An International
Journal (2012).
Anh Hua. “What We All Long For: Memory, Trauma and Emotional Geographies.”
Emotion, Place and Culture. Ed. Mick Smith, Joyce Davidson, Laura Cameron, and Liz
Bondi. London, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2009. 135-148.
Gay Wilentz. “Toward a Diaspora Literature: Black Women Writers from Africa, the
Caribbean, and the United States.” College English 54.4 (April 1992): 385-405.
Sneja Gunew. “Serial Accommodations: Diasporic Women’s Writing.” Canadian
Literature 196 (Spring 2008): 6-15.
* Presentations
Week 16: May 2
The Future of Diasporas: Why We Come Back to Diasporas
Daphne Winland. “Why We Come Back to Diasporas: Heterogeneous Groups and the
Persistent Dream of Political Action.” Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies
16.1/2 (Spring/Fall 2007): 254-264.
Lily Cho. “The Turn to Diaspora.” Topia 17: 11-30.
* Presentations
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