Asian American Studies
39 courses · UC Irvine · 2026-2027 Catalog
Classes: Fall 2026
ASIANAM 50 Asian American Histories
- Units
- 4
Examines and compares diverse experiences of major Asian American groups since the mid-nineteenth century. Topics include origins of emigration; the formation and transformation of community; gender and family life; changing roles of Asian Americans in American society. Formerly ASIANAM 60A.
ASIANAM 51 The U.S. and Asia
- Units
- 4
Explores the historical and contemporary transnational linkages between the U.S. and regions in Asia and their resultant flows of people, goods, and ideas. Attention given to the role of militarism and processes of globalization, and the histories of cultural contact/conflict.
ASIANAM 52 Asian American Communities
- Units
- 4
Examines the renewal of Asian immigration following World War II. Explores contemporary Asian American populations and communities in the U.S., and the impact of contemporary Asian immigration on the U.S. political economy and social order.
ASIANAM 53 Asian Americans and Race
- Units
- 4
Analyzes the Asian American experience in comparative perspective, which includes comparisons of different ethnic and racial groups, and across gender and class. Possible topics include labor, economy, politics, migration, nation, popular culture, gender, family, sexuality, and multiraciality.
ASIANAM 54 Asian American Stories
- Units
- 4
Examines stories from Asian American communities through literary texts and other media. Selected themes may include the following: dislocation/relocation, finding/inventing a usable past, poetics/politics in language, identities/ethnicities.
ASIANAM 55 Asian Americans and the Media
- Units
- 4
Investigates popular representations of and cultural productions by Asian Pacific Americans and Asians in the Americas from the late-19th century to the present. Cultural media may include political cartoons, film/television, popular music, visual art, blogs/Web sites, and performance.
ASIANAM 100W Research Methodologies for Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
- Prerequisite
- Satisfactory completion of the Lower-Division Writing requirement
Explores various research methodologies for Asian American Studies combining theoretical knowledge with field research. Goals: conduct field research about immigrants and refugees from Asia. Topics vary: migration and labor, assimilation and cultural preservation, cultural expressions in the diaspora.
ASIANAM 110 Asian American Writers
- Units
- 4
Literary analysis of Asian American writers' representations of issues of identity, class, history among others. Variety of literary forms—novel, poem, drama, essay—included in a study of a variety of Asian American ethnic groups.
ASIANAM 111 Asian American History
- Units
- 4
Introduction to important themes in the history of people of Asian ancestry in the United States from the nineteenth century to the present.
ASIANAM 112 Asian American Art History
- Units
- 4
Investigation of Asian American experience expressed by art and visual culture throughout the twentieth century. Art by Asian Americans of diverse backgrounds as well as the history of cultural visualization of Asian identities in American art/visual culture.
ASIANAM 114 Topics in Asian American Film and Video
- Units
- 4
Topics include histories of Asian American film and video, including documentaries, experimental, short subjects, feature-length independent film, and other forms of cinematic expression. Explores issues of identity (national, racial, gendered, among others).
ASIANAM 116 Asian Americans and Popular Culture
- Units
- 4
Focuses on Asian Americans' relationship to popular culture as both producers and consumers. Topics include consumer cultures and subcultures, cyberspace and public space, popular music, indy comics and other print media.
ASIANAM 130 Undocumented Immigrant Experiences
- Units
- 4
Examines the experiences of undocumented immigrants and the policies that structure their educational, economic, social, and political participation.
ASIANAM 132 Comparative Minority Politics
- Units
- 4
Examines the political experiences of Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans in the United States from roughly 1950 to the present. Focuses on how each group has pursued political empowerment via both conventional political channels and social movements.
ASIANAM 137 Asian American Labor
- Units
- 4
Explores history of Asian Americans and work from the nineteenth century to the present. Areas of study include migration, colonialism, family, social organization, and work culture.
ASIANAM 138 Race and Urban Space
- Units
- 4
Examines how ethnic and racial processes shape and structure interactions in urban settings, such as schools, housing, employment, and public spaces, with attention to the international impact of globalization and postcolonial forces.
ASIANAM 142 Arabs and Muslims in the US
- Units
- 4
Offers a critical academic study of Islam in America, focusing on the core tenets of belief, the diversity of practices, and historical transformations that have taken place since the arrival of Muslims in the United States.
ASIANAM 144 The Politics of Protest
- Units
- 4
Examines the Civil Rights, Black Power, and women’s movements in relationship to the Asian American movement. Uses social movement theories to illuminate the cases, and the cases to critique and revise the theories.
ASIANAM 150 Special Topics in Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Analyzes a variety of themes in Asian American Studies—identity, history, culture—from various interdisciplinary perspectives in humanities, arts, social sciences.
ASIANAM 151C Korean American Studies
- Units
- 4
Explores the factors that have distinctly shaped the Korean American experience, including patterns of racial domination, the profile of immigrant flow, immigrant roles in the urban political economy, politics in Korea, and the role of the church.
ASIANAM 151D Vietnamese American Studies
- Units
- 4
Studies the resettlement of Vietnamese in the United States following their exodus from Southeast Asia. Topics include the Vietnam War, the 1975 evacuation, boat and land refugees, the shaping of Vietnamese communities, and Vietnamese American literature.
ASIANAM 151E Japanese American Studies
- Units
- 4
Studies the settlement of Japanese in Hawaii and the continental United States since the late 19th century. Topics include sugar plantations, development of rural Japanese America, World War II internment, post-War community development, and persistence of Japanese American identity.
ASIANAM 151F South Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Examines and compares the experiences of South Asian immigrants in the U.S. over time. Looks at the economic, political, and social positions of the immigrants, with special emphasis on religious changes and the changes in the second and later generations.
ASIANAM 151H Southeast Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Analyzes experiences of refugees and immigrants from Southeast Asia, which may include those from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Examines political and economic factors for their exodus and how they reconstruct their identities, histories, and communities.
ASIANAM 151K Filipina/Filipino American Studies
- Units
- 4
Explores the experience of Filipina/Filipino Americans from the era of Spanish colonization of the Philippines to present-day community formations in the United States, with special emphasis on the 20th century. Topics include colonialism, nation, migration, gender, and culture.
ASIANAM 162 Asian American Women
- Units
- 4
Examines the representations and experiences of Asian American women from diverse perspectives. Explores the commonalities and differences among various groups of Asian American women, with particular focus on history, culture, values, and family roles.
ASIANAM 164 Topics in Intersectionality
- Units
- 4
Topics include intersectional analysis of various themes related to ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and race within Asian American communities.
ASIANAM 166 Race and Citizenship
- Units
- 4
Explores historical and contemporary patterns of racialization in relation to citizenship. Topics may include racial categorization, immigration, and comparative racialization.
ASIANAM 168 Politics of Animal Rights
- Units
- 4
Examines animal rights/welfare movement’s efforts to transform moral, practical, and legal standing of nonhuman animals in contemporary U.S. Explores intersection of racism, sexism, and speciesism informed by theories of race and ethnicity, including Asian American Studies.
ASIANAM 199 Independent Study
- Units
- 1-4
Directed reading and research in consultation with a faculty member. Substantial written work required.
ASIANAM 200A Theory and Methods in Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Introduction to the intersection of the social sciences, humanities, and other fields that constitute the theory and methodology of Asian American Studies. Focuses on the interventions and contestations within Asian American Studies that have transformed the discipline in recent years.
ASIANAM 200B Contemporary Issues in Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Examines the interrelations between history, theory, and race in the aftermath of the twentieth-century decolonial movements, offering an account of race through postcolonial and postnationalist approaches in comparative contexts. Considers the interventions made by transnational feminist and racialized queer critiques.
ASIANAM 200C Leadership and Social Change in Asian American Communities
- Units
- 4
Introduces students to models of community-engaged learning and leadership that are central to the field of Asian American studies. Designed to expose students to histories and models of organizing in Asian American communities and forms of community-based research.
ASIANAM 200D Introduction to Asian American Studies Research
- Units
- 4
Introduces students to research topics and methods within the field of Asian American studies. Aims to expose students to core and affiliated faculty to help them identify possible advisors for master's research projects or members of doctoral committees.
ASIANAM 201 Graduate Topics in Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Seminars on various topics in Asian American Studies.
ASIANAM 250 Advanced Topics in Asian American Studies
- Units
- 4
Seminar covering various areas of research within Asian American Studies as an interdisciplinary field. Recommended for advanced graduate students.
ASIANAM 290 Directed Research
- Units
- 4-12
Directed graduate study/research in Asian American Studies.
ASIANAM 291 Directed Reading
- Units
- 4
Readings focused on specialized topics in consultation with, and with the consent of, a faculty member.
ASIANAM 399 University Teaching
- Units
- 4
Limited to teaching assistants.