Listed in: Asian Languages and Civilizations, as ASLC-114 | History, as HIST-114
Richard T. Chu (Section 01)
(Offered as HIST 114 [AS/c] and ASLC 114.) How does a study of the Chinese diasporic communities in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, the United States, and other parts of the world help us understand the questions of ethnic identity formation, construction, and negotiation? More specifically, how does the study of their history and experiences force us to rethink the concepts of “China” and “Chinese-ness”? How did scholars, officials, and travelers construct the categories of “China” and being “Chinese”? These are the main questions that we seek to answer in this introductory course to the history of the Chinese diaspora. We will begin by looking into the early history of Chinese migration (circa 1500 to 1800) to particular geographical areas in the world, including the United States. The rest of the course will look into the history of selected diasporic communities from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. All throughout the course we will also examine how these diasporic people and their families manipulated and continue to manipulate attempts by dominant groups to control their identities, bodies, and resources, and how their lives challenge the meanings of “China” and “Chinese-ness.” Other questions to be discussed during the course are: What caused people from China to move, and to where? What forms of discrimination and control did they experience? How do their experiences and histories deepen our understanding of “race,” “empire,” and “transnationalism”? Themes to be discussed throughout the course include imperialism, colonialism, race, ethnicity, gender, nationalism, transnationalism, orientalism, hegemony, and globalization. Two class meetings per week.
Spring semester. Five College Associate Professor Chu.
Section 01
Tu 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM CHAP 201
Th 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM CHAP 201
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Chinese in America: A Narrative History | New York: Penguin Books, 2003 | Chang, Iris | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots | Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001 | Khu, Josephine | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.