AAS 680 - Spring 2002

General Announcements/Assignements -    For recommended readings and old assignments click here


Note: Community Project/Group Presentation/Papers Assignment
Note:  Community Event Assignment [Due 5/6]
3/20 - readings - Immigrant Airport Screeners

3/25-29 - Spring Break - no class
Mon 4/1 -  No Class holiday observation of Cesar Chavez Day. Due - email to Eric the name of your organization for your individual community project.
Wed 4/3 - Due Proposals for Community Organization Project [see below].  Group discussions.

Readings due for 4/3 class discussion- 1) 'How to be heard -- a guide to advocacy for community organizations (Center for Community Change)' and 2) 'Community Organizing (CPA)' - To read these go to Electronic reserves.
Friday 4/5 - no class [no friday meetings in April] - [work on community projects]
Monday 4/8 -  no class [work on community projects]
Wed 4/10 - Class discussion; groups meet in class.
Readings - TBA.
Friday 4/12 - no class [meet in groups outside of class and work on individual community projects]


Week 1 [1/28] SF State Strike and the Birth of AAS
Film - On Strike! SF State 1969 [ AV# 80059 ];
Readings: Alex Hing "On Strike Shut it Down" from East Wind 1983 and
Peter Kiang "AAS moving into the 3rd decade" from Gidra 1990

Due Monday 2/4 San Francisco State Strike 1968-69 Reading and written assignment


Week 2 [2/4] - Focus -  Intro to Asian American Studies, Social Movements & community change strategies; Using History to Illuminate the Present; Institutional Racism & the Asian American Experience

Readings:    Karin Aguilar-San Juan  - Intro:  Linking the Issues: From Identity to Activism [p. 1-14];
Glenn Omatsu, "The 'Four Prisons' and the Movements of Liberation: Asian American Activism from the 1960s to the 1990s" [p. 19-33].
Handouts on 'racism' from the Applied Research Center (ARC) and on 'social change goals' from the Environmental and Economic Justice Project (EEJP)


Weeks 3-4 [2/11& 2/18] - Focus - Day of Remembrance 2/19/42 to 9/11/01 - Lessons from the JA Internment; Heroes? Yuri Kochiyma & Malcolm X; Histories of Interethnic Coorperation; The LA Riots/Uprisings & Root Causes
 
Readings:    Omatsu conclusion [p. 34-67];
Edward Chang, "America's First Multiethnic Riots" [p. 101-116] (Skim only - Elaine Kim's interview with Bong Hwan Kim [p. 71-100);
Mil Cho, "Overcoming our legacy as cheap labor, scabs and model minorities: Asian Activists fight for community empowerment [p. 253-272].
Film:  Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice [AV# 85460] Video Cassette - 58 minutes - Color - 1993
Guest Speaker 3/20 - Dina Shek - Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium

Week 5 [2/25] - Alternative World Views and the Dominant Media; Interethnic Tensions - Exercise - To See/Judge/Act
Readings: War Times articles; Kent Wong on APALA; Kiang on English Only
Excerpts from Frontline: The LA Riots
Exercise:  Problem Trees re interethnic tensions


Review Questions for class discussion:
1.  Drawing from the film Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice discuss Yuri's changes in her 'worldview' over time.  Include in your answer your views as to how and why her views changed.
2.  According to Karin Aguilar San Juan and Milyoung Cho why is 'identity' so important in Asian American community change efforts?  Explain also why they both think also that Asian and Pacific Islander activists must go "beyond identity politics" in our thinking and action for community change.
3.  What is Edward Chang's analysis of the causes of the LA Riots/Uprisings?  Make sure you show that you understand the meaning of concepts he uses such as "deindustrialization."


Week 6 [3/4] - Problem Solving; Intro to 4-part framework for assessing community groups; Barriers to Electoral Empowerment [no class mtg on wed or friday, assnmt due mon 3/11]

Problem Solving Assignment - Rodney King/LA Uprising/riots; & Barriers to Political Empowerment for Asian American communities [Due Monday 3/11 - minimum 500 words, but 'A' papers will usually be much longer]

1.  Interethnic Tensions Problem solving - Rodney King/LA riots-uprisings [text readings, class discussions, group exercises, & electronic reserve readings from Susan Lee, Bay Area Asian Organizations, Chinese Progressive Assn after the 1992 LA 'riots']
a.  Go to the Electronic Reserves  [http://eres.sfsu.edu/ ]and read the 3 short statements from Asian American organizations re the LA Uprisings/riots.  Password = 'struggle' for the AAS 680 class.  Readings are located under my name - Eric Mar - in a folder called 'Rodney King'.
b.  Identify 3 intermediate causes and 3 root causes for the interethnic tensions. You can use the readings, class exercises and discussions, the video, etc. for answering this question.
c.  Solutions - For each of the causes,  identify a short and a long term step that can be taken by community members to address the problem or at least lessen its harm to the communities

2.  March 5, 2002 - Elections
Review the results of the 3/5 elections by reading your local newpaper and alternative media sources like community publications.  Pay special attention to the initiatives and candidates discussed in class on 3/4.
Drawing from class discussions, the text readings, and your experiences with local, state or national elections, describe the barriers to democracy & political empowerment of Asian and Pacific Islander communities.  Pay special attention to language, citizenship status, media propaganda, and coporate & 'machine' domination of the political process.


Readings for Monday - 3/11
Go to the electronic reserves and read the article by Don Mar and Chalsa Loo called "Research and Asian Americans: Social Change or Empty Prize".  password for our class is 'struggle'.  Review the following handouts also on electronic reserve:  1) Eric Mar, Materials on Racism and 2) Eric Mar, 4-part framework.



Class Groups Assigned to Summarize 3 main points of readings:
Group 2 [Omatsu]
Group 4 [Chang]
Group 1 {Cho]
Group 3 [Wong on APALA]
Group 5 [Kiang]

Office Hours/Help -
Eric Mar [ericmar@att.net] - @ HSS 244 Mondays 12:10 -2:30; Weds after 12 noon by appointment.

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