This course will take a historical, political, and critical look at Asian American writing from the late 19th century to the present. The goal of the class is to give students the ability to read almost any Asian American literary work published in the past and in the future and understand the historical imperatives that are at the foundation of each work from the social history of the particular Asian ethnic community to institutionalized racism to the literary life of the author. The class will read works by Fae Myenne Ng, Joy Kogawa, John Okada, Louis Chu, and many others.