HIST 1040 - Asian American History

Credits: 3
Hours/Week: Lecture 3 Lab 0
Internship hours per week 0
Course Description: This course examines the diverse histories and experiences of Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander ancestry from the beginning of Asian migration to North America through the present. Course themes include migration, labor, imperialism, exclusion, racism and resistance, community formation, politics, and culture.
MnTC Goals
Goal 5 Goal 7B

Prerequisite(s): Course placement into college-level English and Reading OR completion of ENGL 0950 with a grade of C or higher OR completion of RDNG 0940 with a grade of C or higher and qualifying English Placement Exam OR completion of RDNG 0950 with a grade of C or higher and ENGL 0090 with a grade of C or higher OR completion of ESOL 0051 with a grade of C or higher and ESOL 0052 with a grade of C or higher.
Corequisite(s): None
Recommendation: None

Major Content

1. Asian America before the United States

2. Chinese Migration and Labor in the 19th Century West

3. Anti-Chinese Movement, Exclusion, and Resistance

4. Japanese, Korean, and South Asian Migrations at the Turn of the Century

5. Anti-Asian Laws and Undocumented Immigration in the Early Twentieth Century

6. Asian Migration and Labor in Hawai’i

7. American Empire and the Status of Filipinos

8. Japanese American Incarceration and WWII

9. The Cold War and Shifting Asian Immigration Patterns

10. Post-1965 Asian Immigration, Korean and South Asian Americans

11. Southeast Asia Refugee Communities

12. Hmong Americans

13. Anti-Asian Violence and Discrimination since 1980

14. Asian American Identity and Activism since 1980

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. interpret Asian American history by making connections between significant events, people, movements, and ideas in the past.

2. use historical thinking to make connections between Asian American history and the present.

3. assess the relevance and limitations of primary and secondary sources.

4. formulate a historical argument.

5. historicize the structural racism in the United States faced by Asian Americans.

6. examine the challenges and contribution of communities experiencing intersecting systems of oppression.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC): Goals and Competencies Goal 5 Goal 7B
Competency Goals (MnTC Goals 1-6)

05. 01. Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.

05. 02. Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.

05.04. Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary issues.

Theme Goals (MnTC Goals 7-10)

07B.01. Understand historical and contemporary systemic structures of racism that sustain social, political, economic, and/or environmental inequities, particularly for Black, Indigenous lands and people, and other communities of color.

07B.02. Describe individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations among racial groups in the United States and how inequality is maintained by redefining race and other social identities and structures.

07B.03. Examine significant challenges of and contributions by people in the United States who have experienced racism and other forms of oppression such as sexism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, transphobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia.

Practicum hours per week: 0

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