APA 345:
Asian Pacific Americans and Film
(General Studies C, H)
Summer1 2008
TEST
Professor:
Email:
Office:
Office Hours:
Karen Kuo
Karen.kuo@asu.edu
Wilson Hall 358
By Appointment
COURSE OUTLINE
This course explores the evolving images of Asian Pacific Americans within North American
cinema, from Hollywood films to films made by Asian Pacific Americans. From its inception,
Hollywood created a “version” of Asians as foreign, menacing, and at the same time exotic and
docile. We will examine how these images of Asia and Asians tell a history of national anxieties
and fantasies resulting in political and cultural changes brought about by Asian immigration,
labor, and US imperialist interests in Asia. We will discuss in this class how both the domestic
and international imaginings of Asians and Pacific Islanders, either as “yellow peril” or “model
minority,” erased the social contradictions of race, gender, sexuality, and class in America. Last,
we will look at the movement of Asian Pacific American artistic expression within filmmaking
and how they compare to earlier representations of APAs. Exploring the range of films made by
APA filmmakers, we will compare how documentaries, experimental, and popular films focused
on revising stereotypes of APAs, and how APA filmmakers are becoming more transnational
with emerging diasporic Asian cinematic content, themes, and directors.
Although this course is web delivered, it is neither automated nor self-paced. You are expected
to engage in all learning tasks and attend threaded discussions on the eBoard. To access the class
website and eBoard, you can use your personal computer, one in the library, and/or computer
labs at ASU. Check the class website for a list of these labs and their hours of operation.
Reading: You do not have to purchase any books or reading packets. Instead, all of the
readings are posted online within the class website. To access an article, go to the Learn Task
section and enter the correct password (a password should have been sent to you before the first
day of class). The articles are linked to the article titles under each lesson on the timeline. To
honor copyright law, we ask that you do not share nor distribute these documents. Read the
articles carefully and on time, as they form the basis of both electronic bulletin board (eBoard)
discussions and graded work.
Plagiarism Policy: In order to avoid plagiarism, your papers must provide full citations for all
references: direct quotes, paraphrased, summaries, or borrowed ideas. While you are
encouraged to develop your thinking with your peers, you cannot use their material without
citing it. Work from other courses will not be accepted in this course without explicit, prior
permission of both instructors. Allowing your writing to be copied by another student is also
considered cheating. Please review the Student Code of Conduct for complete guidelines on
academic honesty at http://www.asu.edu/studentlife/judicial/integrity.html.
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GRADED WORK
We expect every student to leave this course with a better – more insightful – understanding of
Asians and Pacific Islanders in film. Along the way, we ask that you complete several reading
reviews, and answer and ask questions on our electronic bulletin board (eBoard).
Participation (100 Points): You are responsible for participating in the threaded
discussions that take place on the electronic bulleting board (eBoard). You should post
two substantive comments or questions per Lesson. A "substantive" post is one that is
thoughtful, developed and connected to the lesson topic; typically, substantive posts
are more than three sentences long. These posts must keep up with the progress of the
course. You cannot, for example, go back to the eBoard and post to a Lesson after it has
been completed and expect for the posts to be counted toward your participation grade.
The teaching team will keep track of your participation, including assessing the value of
what you bring to this interactivity. Refrain from flaming or ad hominem comments.
Please be rigorous but constructive.
Critical Review #1 (100 Points): Since one of the main objectives of this class is to help
you think critically about the representations of Asians and Pacific Islanders in North
American films, this assignment asks you to critically analyze cinematic texts for the
ways in which historical images of Asia, Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders
changed over the filmic texts in lessons 1- 6 and use one of the readings to support your
analysis. Check the website or email your instructor for a list of the texts you may
analyze. Your grade will be based on the clarity and relevance of your thesis, clear and
concise writing, and adherence to the assignment guidelines listed on the class website.
Your paper should be double-spaced, one-inch margins all-around, no less than three (3)
full pages long, and include:
1) A clear thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be placed in the first
paragraph of the paper. It should closely follow this format: "In this paper I will
show how (insert film of your choice) perpetuates (insert: an
imperialist/colonialist trope; OR a persistent orientalist stereotype) by analyzing
the film’s narrative and visual structures.
2) The techniques you identify (of visualization and narrative structure) should form
the structure of your essay and, hence, function as evidence in support of your
thesis.
3) Use the reading from Lessons 1 through 6. Make sure to incorporate the many
definitions/concepts we have covered in lecture and the readings. Take care to
footnote your sources.
Critical Review #2 (100 Points): Learning from our evaluation of your first paper, this
assignment also asks you to critically analyze an APA documentary film (Who Killed
Vincent Chin? Claiming a Voice, or History and Memory) for the way it represents either
the historical erasure or historical presence of Asian Americans. You must analyze one
of these texts and include one of the readings from lessons 7-9. Check the website or
email your instructor if you have questions about the texts you must analyze. Your grade
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will be based on the clarity and relevance of your thesis, clear and concise writing, and
adherence to the assignment guidelines. Your paper should be double-spaced, one-inch
margins all-around, no less than five (5) full pages long, and include:
1) A clear thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be placed in the first
paragraph of the paper. It should closely follow this format: "In this paper I
will show how (insert title of text) perpetuates (insert: the historical
inaccuracies; OR historical erasures; OR historical presence of APAs) by the
following filming techniques of visualization, narrative, and subject
identification."
2) The techniques you identify (visualization, narrative, and subject
identification) should form the structure of your essay and, hence, function as
evidence in support of your thesis.
3) Use the reading from Lessons 7 through 9. Make sure to incorporate the
many definitions/concepts we have covered in the lectures and the readings.
Take care to footnote your sources.
Critical Review #3 (100 Points): Learning from our evaluation of your first and second
paper, this assignment also asks you to critically analyze an independent APA film text
(from lessons 10-15) for the way it represents race, gender, and sexuality in the context of
diasporic and transnational Asian identity and experiences. Check the website or email
your TA for a list of the texts you may analyze. You must analyze one of the filmic texts
from lessons 10-15. Your grade will be based on the clarity and relevance of your thesis,
clear and concise writing, and adherence to the assignment guidelines. Your paper
should be double-spaced, one-inch margins all-around, no less than five (5) full pages
long, and include:
4) A clear thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be placed in the first
paragraph of the paper. It should closely follow this format: "In this paper I
will show how (insert title of text) perpetuates sexual and gendered formations
of race within a diasporic and/or transnational context by the following
techniques: how are Asian Americans visualized and narrativized as
transnational subjects? How does gender and sexuality contribute to the
formations of race within the US and outside of it?
5) The techniques you identify (visualization, narrativization, and sexual
gendered formations of race) should form the structure of your essay and,
hence, function as evidence in support of your thesis.
6) Use the reading from Lessons 10 through 15. Make sure to incorporate the
many definitions/concepts we have covered in lecture and the readings. Take
care to footnote your sources.
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Grading Scale: 0 to 400 Points
A+ ..... 400+ Points
A ..... 372 - 400 Points
A- ..... 360 - 371 Points
B+ ..... 352 - 359 Points
B ..... 332 - 351 Points
BC+
C
D
E
..... 320 - 331 Points
..... 312 - 319 Points
..... 280 - 311 Points
..... 240 - 279 Points
..... 000 - 239 Points
LEARING TASKS
This course is comprised of 15 lessons. Each lesson includes all or some of the following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Reading:
Reading Review:
Website:
Lecture:
Media Clips:
iModules:
eBoard:
Week I:
Read an article of book chapter.
Reconsider Key Concepts from the Readings
Surf Relevant Websites
Listen to Streaming Audio Lectures with PowerPoint Slides
Review Relevant Film and Media Clips
Engage Interactive Learning Modules
Pose and Answer Questions on the Electronic Bulletin Board
“Looking” and History of APAs
Aesthetics of “Looking” (Monday, 6/2)
"The Mise-en-Scene" (Bordwell & Thompson, 2001)
Reading Review
Website:
Media Theory and Semiotics: Key Terms and Concepts
Screening: A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emperor of China, or Surface is Illusion but
so is Depth (Hoss, 1988)
Lecture:
“What is this course about?”
“Visuality, Subjectivity, and History”
Media Clips: A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emperor of China, or Surface is Illusion but
so is Depth (Hoss, 1988)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 01:
Reading:
Lesson 02:
Reading:
The History of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the US (Wednesday, 6/4)
“The History of Asians in America” (Fong, 1998)
Reading Review
Website:
Center for Asian American Media
Screening: Slaying the Dragon (Gee, 1988)
Lecture:
Immigration and Yellow Peril
Media Clips: Slaying the Dragon (Gee, 1988)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 03:
Reading:
Website:
Screening:
The Orientalist Gaze and Asian (Americans) (Friday, 6/6)
“The Imperial Imaginary” (Stam & Shohat, 1994)
Reading Review
Vanishing Son & Orientalism
Slanted Screen (Adachi, 2006)
4
Lecture:
US Media’s Racial and Gendered Configurations of the Asiatic
Media Clips: Slanted Screen (Adachi, 2006)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Week II:
Orientalism and Hollywood
Lesson 04:
Reading:
Feminizing Orientalism (Monday, 6/9)
“The Threat of Captivity” (Marchetti, 1993)
Reading Review
Screening: Shanghai Express (Von Sternberg, 1932)
Lecture:
The Erotics of White Women in the Orient
Media Clips: Bitter Tea of General Yen (Capra, 1932)
Shanghai Express (Von Sternberg, 1932)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 05:
Reading:
Paradise found: The Pacific Rim Imagination (Wednesday, 6/11)
“Family Ties as Political Obligation” (Klein, 2003)
Reading Review
Website:
Representations of Pacific Islanders in Film and Video
Screening: South Pacific (Logan, 1958)
Lecture:
Imperialism and the Global Family
Media Clips: South Pacific (Logan, 1958)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 06:
Reading:
The Feminization of Postwar Asia During the Cold War (Friday, 6/13)
“Tragic and Transcendent Love” (Marchetti, 1993)
Reading Review
Screening: Sayonara (Logan, 1956)
Lecture:
Japanese War Brides and the Post World War II Domestication of Asia
Media Clip: Sayonara (Logan, 1956)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Assignment 1: Due to as an email attachment on Saturday, 6/14, by 9:00 am
MST
Week III: CounterImages: Asian Pacific Americans Make Movies
Lesson 07:
Reading:
Website:
Screening:
Lecture:
The Asian American Media Art Movement (Monday, 16)
“Who Am I” (Wei, 1995)
“A History in Progress” (Gong, 2002)
Reading Review
Asian American Film Festival
Asian CineVision
Asian American Film
Claiming a Voice (Dong, 1990)
Yellow Power” and the Politics of Visuality
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Media Clips: Claiming a Voice (Dong, 1990)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 08:
Reading:
The Political Mobilization of Asian Americans (Wednesday, 6/18)
“Detroit Blues: Because of you Motherfuckers” (Zia, 2001)
“Historical Consciousness and the Viewer” (Nichols, 2002)
Reading Review
Website:
Remembering Vincent Chin
Screening: Who Killed Vincent Chin? (Tajima and Choy, 1987)
Lecture:
Gender, Race, and Sexuality in the (Asian) American Dream
Media Clips: Who Killed Vincent Chin? (Tajima and Choy, 1987)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 09:
Reading:
Historical Erasures and Asian America (Friday, 6/20)
“Absent Images of Memory” (Sturken, 2001)
Reading Review
Screening: History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige (Tajiri, 1992)
Lecture:
Revising the Japanese American Internment
Media Clip: History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige (Tajiri, 1992)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Week IV:
Postmodernity and the “Model Minority”
Lesson 10
Reading:
Post-1965 Migrations: Culture, Class, and History (Monday, 6/23)
“Being Chinese American and Becoming Asian American” (Feng, 2002)
Reading Review
Website:
Chan Is Not The Only One Who's Missing
Screening: Chan is Missing (Wang, 1982)
Lecture:
Globalization and New Immigration: Re-visioning the Asian Diaspora
Media Clip: Chan is Missing (Wang, 1982)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Assignment 2: Due to as an email attachment on Wednesday, 6/25, by 9:00 am MST
Lesson 11:
Reading:
New Migrations: Southeast Asian American Experience (Wednesday, 6/25)
“Negotiating Culture” (Chan, 2004)
Reading Review
Screening: Aka Don Bonus (Nagasano, 1995)
Lecture:
“The Anti-Model Minority: Class, “Citizenship,” and the Assimilation of
Refugees”
Media Clip: Aka Don Bonus (Nagasano, 1995)
Tou Ger Xiong (Xiong, 1992)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
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Lesson 12:
Reading:
Postcolonial Identities in America (Friday, 6/27)
“Disobedient Citizenship: Deconstructing the Oriental” (Lee, 1999)
“At the Crossroads of Two Empires: Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala and the
Limits of Hybridity” (Seshagiri, 2003)
Reading Review
Screening: Mississippi Masala (Nair, 1991)
Lecture:
Between Black, White, and Yellow: The Assimilation of South Asian Americans
Media Clips: Mississippi Masala (Nair, 1991)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Week V:
Diaspora, Sexuality, and Gender
Lesson 13:
Reading:
Flexible Citizenship: Asian/American Transnationalism (Monday, 6/30)
“Coming out in the Global System: Postmodern Patriarchies and Transnational
Sexualities in The Wedding Banquet” (Chiang, 1998)
Reading Review
Screening: The Wedding Banquet (Lee, 1993)
Lecture:
“Remaking Asian Masculinity: Transnationalism and Patriarchy”
Media Clips: The Wedding Banquet (Lee, 1993)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 14:
Reading:
Sex and the Asian American Family (Wednesday, 7/2)
"Q & A: Notes on a Queer Asian America" (Hom and Eng, 1998)
Reading Review
Website:
Jennifer Phang
Screening: Love, Ltd. (Jennifer Phang, 1999)
Lecture:
Being Queer & Asian American: Gendered & Sexualized Formations of Race
Media Clip: Love, Ltd. (Jennifer Phang, 1999)
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Lesson 15:
Reading:
Globalization, Fundamentalism, and the Asian Diaspora (Friday, 7/4)
"Local Sites/Global Contexts: The Transnational Trajectories of Fire and “The
Quilt" (Gopinath, 2006)
Reading Review
Screening: Fire (Mehta, 1997)
Lecture:
The Re-signification of Racial Difference as Queer Identity
Media Clip: Fire (Mehta, 1997)
“Profiles: Deepa Mehta”
“Profiles: Shabana Azmi”
“Controversy”
eBoard:
Discuss with Classmates
Assignment 3: Due to as an email attachment on Saturday 7/5 by 9:00 am MST
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