An introduction to Asian American literature in the twentieth century, focusing on issues of origins, gender, revision, migrations, and language. Topics include pan-ethnic identity, racial formation, postcolonialism, and globalization. Authors include Theresa Cha, David Henry Hwang, Jessica Hagedorn, Maxine Hong Kingston, Jhumpa Lahiri, Wendy Law-Yone, and Milton Murayama.

History and aesthetics of the cinema in relation to race, immigration, and modernity. Asian American, African American, and white immigrant film history, representation, and spectatorship.

The seminar examines the evolution of U.S. citizenship as defined and interpreted by courts during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to the way historical events that defined race have affected citizenship. Topics of study include the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the 1866 Civil Rights Act, Reconstruction legislation, immigration restrictions imposed on Asians, legislation impacting the racial classification of Mexicans, statutes governing the citizenship of indigenous native peoples, racially based prohibitions against voting, education, and employment, and efforts to reduce them by civil rights legislation culminating with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Each seminar participant has to research several topics and make a presentation to the class on at least one topic. Engagement in seminar discussion and the drafting of research papers are the basis for grading. This seminar is open to seniors.

A study of the complex trajectories of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism in American literature. Readings range from Anne Bradstreet to Bharati Mukherjee. Enrollment limited to freshmen.