SUMMER Asian American & Asian Diaspora Studies W20AC - "Asian American Communities and Race Relations"

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The Identity Problem: Asian Fetish - by Serena Li

How does the stereotype of Asian Fetish influence the search of Asian American identity?

Covid-19 and Anti-Asian Sentiments - by Brandon Louie

Anti-Asian sentiments have been ever increasing as a result of COVID-19. These anti-Asian sentiments have manifested themselves in many forms, causing harm to Asian Americans who are already suffering from the pandemic like all others.

The Model Minority, COVID-19, and Race Relations - by Teresa Muang

The clash of the model minority myth with the rise of the forever foreigner stereotype due to COVID-19 Has motivated many Asian Americans to speak out against racial injustice and ally themselves with their fellow minorities.

The Effects of COVID-19 on Little Tokyo - by Yuji Wexler

COVID-19 has had a detrimental effect on Little Tokyo by crippling businesses, closing temples, and forcing nonprofits to change or adjust their programs, which hurts the Little Tokyo and Japanese American community as a whole.

The Progression of Asian American Stereotyping in Popular Culture - by Natalie Pham

Stereotypes about Asian Americans, constructed and perpetuated by popular culture, have worked to negatively portray the group while inherently promoting a racial hierarchy in the United States.

This course surveys contemporary issues affecting the Asian American community. Students of the course looked at the different theories that explain the current status of Asian Americans and the interrelationship between the Asian American community, nation, and world. The course focuses on the issue of race relations, the commonalities and differences between Asian Americans and other race and ethnic groups.

Instructional Materials

  • Course Syllabus
  • Final Project Guide

    • Create an Adobe Spark page presentation utilizing different medium of your choice including written narrative, photos, graphics, video and audio on a specific social problem that affects the Asian American community. You can also incorporate class materials (readings and lectures). All of the research material must be included in a bibliography at the end. For topics, see listing link. 

      To submit this assignment, post your Spark presentation published link to the Asset Library in bCourses. Spark is a program made available for free by Adobe. All UC Berkeley students can access Spark via the Adobe Creative Suite made available for free from the university. Those who are not UC Berkeley students can access Spark directly at https://spark.adobe.com/ (Links to an external site.). Information about how to use Spark is available in the course site via the left navigation and this direct link: Spark Support.

Examples of Student Projects

Natalie Pham. Stereotyping in Popular Culture

Mainstream and marginal representations of Asian Americans in media can influence the discursive contexts surrounding perceptions and attitudes towards them. Stereotypes about Asian Americans, constructed and perpetuated by popular culture, have worked to negatively portray the group while inherently promoting a racial hierarchy in the United States. However, contemporary works are demonstrating monumental strides towards expanding Asian American narratives within public discourse.

Teresa Maung. Model Minority, CV 19 and Race Relations

The clash of the model minority myth with the rise of the forever foreigner stereotype due to COVID-19 Has motivated many Asian Americans to speak out against racial injustice and ally themselves with their fellow minorities; however, there is still work to be done in addressing anti-blackness and discrimination against other minorities from within the Asian Community.

Brandon Louie. CV 19 and Anti-Asian Sentiments

Anti-Asian sentiments have been ever increasing as a result of COVID-19. These anti-Asian sentiments have manifested themselves in many forms, causing harm to Asian Americans who are already suffering from the pandemic like all others. Asian Americans face many more struggles than the average person due to the anti-Asian sentiments that are rising with COVID-19. Whether it is in the form of hateful letters, lack of business, or fear and frustrations within oneself, the Asian American experience with COVID-19 is very different from what most other groups are experiencing.

Alicia Kuang. Reasons behind different perspectives on model minority

The model minority myth is an outdated misconception that exists only to divide collective goals for people of color. Focusing on generational differences, the model minority myth caters to common Asian values maintained by first generation immigrants and older generations, subtly twisting these foundations in order to recruit support for the continuation and reinforcement of this damaging stereotype. By praising Asian Americans through a surface level label, Asian Americans who are overwhelmed by a desire for acceptance by American society fall victim to the constructions provided by the white racial frame.

Serina Li. Asian Fetish

More widely known as the Yellow Fever, Asian Fetish is a stereotype that historically has often characterized Asian women as exotic, submissive, and quiet. Asian Fetish is also frequently used to describe an individual who is non-Asian decent (historically applied to only Caucasian men) who has a "thing" or obsession for only Asians. Today, Asian Fetish does not only apply to Asian women, it also extends is categories for Men, non-binary genders, and the LGBTQ+ community. Although the term refers to interracial relationships, it is important to note that it does not cause concern for healthy interracial relationships.

Harvey Dong seated at a desk, reviewing papers

Harvey Dong

Faculty, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies 

Topics

Since students use what they've learned to create materials for the community, it allowed me to see how well they translated their academic understanding into the projects.
Harvey

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