This course will examine the historical currents that necessitated the emergence of an Asian Pacific American literary sensibility, in conjunction with a consideration of the difficulties and possibilities inherent to in this categorization. Asian American populations have been deeply impacted by restrictive immigration legislation and American foreign policy, putting its peoples in a unique position for defining Americanness. How do artists with an Asian ancestry challenge a country that ostensibly celebrates diversity yet looks with suspicion on the foreign? We will read the short stories of Jhumpa Lahiri, the essays of Carlos Bulosan and Alex Tizon, and novels by Annie Choi and Chang-rae Lee, as well as watch Margaret Cho’s I’m the One that I Want.

Annie Choi (required). Estimated enrollment 40
Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (April 3, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0641986696
• ISBN-13: 978-0641986697

Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker (required) Estimated enrollment 40
• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; First Edition edition (March 1, 1996)
• ISBN-10: 1573225312
• ISBN-13: 978-1573225311


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Bich Minh Nguyen, Pioneer Girl: a novel (required). Estimated enrollment 40
• Publisher: Viking Adult (February 6, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670025097
• ISBN-13: 978-0670025091

Alex Tizon, Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (June 10, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0547450486
• ISBN-13: 978-0547450483