Suzuki, M. Asian American Economic History
Economics/Ethnic Studies 56 Spring 1999
Asian American Economic History Masao Suzuki
SYLLABUS: ASIAN AMERICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY
January 20, 1999
CONTENT AND GOALS:
This course covers the history of Asian Americans from 1850 to the
present with an emphasis on economic issues. Topics to be discussed
include , immigration and exclusion, Asian American workers and
entrepreneurs, discrimination, class solidarity, ethnic solidarity and
class struggle within the Asian communities, relationships with other
people of color, and an examination of the model minority view of Asian
Americans.
STUDENT PREPARATION:
There are no prerequisites for this class, but taking Economics 50
or Ethnic Studies 51 should be helpful.
REQUIREMENTS and GRADING:
There will be one midterm, a final, and two essays. The midterm
counts for 20% of the grade and the final counts for 40% of the grade.
The two essay papers are each worth 15% of the grade. Class
participation and discussion make up the remaining 10% of the grade.
Students may take the class Pass/no pass or for a letter grade.
FORMAT:
The class will meet twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from
11 am to 12:15 pm for lecture and discussion. Conscientious reading is
essential for the discussions and the papers.
DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT:
This class is cross-listed in Economics and Ethnic Studies and
meets the cross/multi-cultural requirement.
READINGS:
The main texts will be:
Dudley (editor): Asian Americans: Opposing Viewpoints
Takaki: Strangers from a Different Shore
There will also be additional readings in the reader or on reserve
at the library:
Takaki: A Different Mirror, Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1993,
pp. 1-17 and 399-428.
U.S. Bureau of the Census: We the American Asians, Washington,
D.C: Government Printing Office, 1993.
Bulosan, Carlos: "Be American," If You Want to Know What We
Are, edited by E. San Juan, Jr. West End Press.
Bates, Timothy: "The Changing Nature of Minority Business,"
Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Fall 1989), pp. 25-42.
Bates, Timothy: Race, Self-Employment, and Upward Mobility,
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997, conclusion pp. 248-260
Mar, Don: "Another Look at the Enclave Economy Thesis: Chinese
Immigrants in the Ethnic Labor Market," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 17 #2
(1991), pp. 5-21.
Ong, Paul; Park, Kyeyoung; and Tong, Yasmin: "The Korean-Black
Conflict and the State," pp. 264-294 in The New Asian Immigration in Los
Angeles and Global Restructuring, Paul Ong, Edna Bonacich, and Lucie
Cheng, editors, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1994.
Park, Kyeyoung: "The Morality of a Commodity" Amerasia
Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Winter 1995/1996), pp. 1-27.
Okamura, Jon: "Aloha Kanaka Me Ke Aloha 'Aina: Local Culture
and Society in Hawaii," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 7 #2 (1980), pp. 119-137.
Okamura, Jon: "Why There are no Asian Americans in Hawai'i:
The Continuing Significance of Local Identity," in Aoude, Ibrahim (editor)
Social Process in Hawaii, Volume 35 (1994), pp. 161-178.
Shinagawa, Larry and Pang, Gin: "Asian American
Panethnicity and Intermarriage," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 22 #2 (1996), pp.
127-152.
OFFICE HOURS:
My office hours will be on Mondays from 1:30 to 3 pm and
Wednesdays from 3 to 4:30 in Kimball House, room 5. My office phone
number is 430-2346 and my email is suzuki@mills.edu
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Week 1: January 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
January 20: Introduction to the class.
Week 2: January 25: Introduction to Asian American History
Strangers, chapter 1, Mirror, chapter 1,
We The American Asians.
January 27: First Wave of Asian Immigration
Strangers, chapter 2.
Week 3: February 1: The Chinese 1850-1900
Strangers, chapter 3.
February 3: The Chinese Immigration Debate
Asian Americans, chapter 1, pp. 24-55.
Week 4: February 8: Japanese in Hawai'i
Strangers, chapter 4.
February 10: Film: Picture Bride
7 p.m., Library Seminar Room #203
Week 5: February 15: President's Day Holiday
February 17: Japanese in the US
Strangers, chapter 5
Paper on "Picture Bride" due.
Week 6: February 22: Debate over Japanese Immigration
Asian Americans, chapter 2, pp. 79-108.
February 24: Chinese in the US
Strangers, chapter 6.
Week 7: March 1: Chinese and Citizenship
Asian Americans, chapter 1, pp. 56-78.
March 3: Korean, Indian, and Filipino Immigration
Strangers, chapters 7, 8, and 9.
Week 8: March 8: Filipinos in the US
Strangers, chapter 9 and Bulosan, "Be
American."
March 10: Asian Americans during WWII.
Strangers, chapter 10
Week 9: March 15: review
March 17: Midterm
Spring Break: March 22 to March 26
Week 10: March 29: Japanese internment debate
Asian Americans, chapter 3.
March 31: Film: "Meeting at Tule Lake"
1 pm, Library Video Room #203
speaker: Stephanie Miyashiro,
Tule Lake Committee.
Week 11: April 5: The Second Wave: Asian America 1945-65
Strangers, chapter 11, pp. 406-420; and
Mirror, pp. 399-409.
April 7: Post-1965 Immigration
Strangers, chapter 11 and Mirror, pp. 409
-428.
Paper on "Meeting at Tule Lake" due.
Week 12: April 12: The Model Minority :
Strangers, chapter 12, Asian Americans,
chapter 4, pp. 200-223, and Bates,
Upward Mobility, conclusion.
April 16: Asian American small business
Asian Americans, chapter 4, pp. 184-199,
Bates, "Changing Nature of Minority
Businesses"
Week 13: April 19: Asian and African Americans
Ong, Park, and Tong: "Korean-Black
Conflict" and Park: "Liquor Stores"
April 21: Asian American Identity
Okamura: "Local Identity" and "Aloha
Kanaka..."
April 24: Field Trip to Angel Island
Week 14: April 26: Asian American Intermarriage
Pang and Shinagawa, "Asian American
Panethnicity and Intermarriage"
April 28: Asian American Movement
Film: "Fall of the I-Hotel"
Library Video Room #203
Handout: review
Week 15: May 3: Review Session (last day of class)
May 6 (Thurs.): Final Examination, 8 to 11 am