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Spring 2007

AAS 590 (section MN)
"Asian American Cultural Studies"
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Prof. Mimi Nguyen
Th 1-3:50pm
Location TBA
CRN: 46471

This seminar provides an introduction to the history and theory of cultural studies, an interdisciplinary field that examines the meanings and functions of "culture." Rather than seeing "culture" as something that is fixed and inherent to particular nations or populations, cultural studies approaches "culture" as something that is constructed and evolves through specific historical, political, economic, and social processes. The course will cover some of these most influential theories that have broad applications in many areas of inquiry. At the same time, the course will also analyze--and sometimes question--the applicability of these theories for Asian/American cultural studies. We will discuss how the specific conditions of the world today -- i.e. the increasing flows of culture, capital and bodies in an age of globalization -- and the particularity of Asia's relation to "America -- with its multiple histories of neocolonialism, immigration, and empire -- both necessitate and expand upon the theoretical questions posed by cultural studies. We will also examine recent reconceptualizations of Asian American studies through the lenses of cultural studies but also postcolonial studies, poststructuralist critiques, and feminist and queer theories that locate analytics of gender and sexuality at the heart of new research questions.

For more information, contact the Asian American Studies Program at (217) 244-9530, aasp@uiuc.edu; www.aasp.uiuc.edu