Instructor: Eun Jung Park Office: HSS 2346, Rm #4

Section: 710193 Office Hours: Tues 1:30-2:30

Classroom, Class Days and Times: Email: ejsmith@ucsd.edu
HSS 2333B, T & TH, 11-12:20PM
Muir 50 Spring 2011
From Dr. Noh to Margaret Cho: Asian Americans, Mass Media and Popular Culture

This course introduces students to the rhetorical constructions of Asian and Asian American identities in
popular culture, from socially engaged art practices, narrative dramas, documentaries, commercials and
news media. What can the contextualization process connecting the social, historical and cultural conditions
reveal about Asian stereotypes? All of the countries in what is designated as Asia have a large diversity of
different cultures and histories. Yet, Asians in film are often depicted as the villain, the nerd, the martial arts
master, the liquor storeowner and so on. An analysis of the power imbalance between the viewers to
reinterpret meanings and the discursive power of centralized media institutions yields a loss of critical
energy in questioning the macro-structures of media and society. Therefore the broad aim of this course is
to focus on cultural consumption and relations of cultural production. Some of the topics that will be
covered include: stereotypes of Asians in Hollywood; the re/creation of history and memory; the
intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality; and the interpenetration of U.S. foreign policy.

Through a development of critical analysis, students will learn to unpack the rhetorical strategies and
argumentative elements of racial construction. The purpose of the course is to develop critical thinking
skills that can be applied to all media and text. The class will read and analyze arguments that attempt to
interpret representations of Asians in the media in order for students to read the possibility of several
interpretations that can be made of one argument and to learn how to develop and construct their own
arguments in a critically engaging manner.

Required Text: Muir 50 Reader. Available for purchase from the University Bookstore in the Price Center.
To decrease the cost of your reader, articles that are readily available on-line are posted on the
syllabus schedule. It is the student’s responsibility to locate the article and read it before class
discussion.
The Craft of Research, 3rd Edition by Wayne C. Booth, G. Colomb, and J. M. Williams (2008).
Groundwork Bookstore, 858-452-9625.
Recommended Text: Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, Edited by Jeff Yang,
Parry Shen, Keith Chow, Jerry Ma. (ISBN-13: 978-1595583987; Library Call No.
PN6726.S39852009).

Grades: Muir 50 is taken for a letter grade only. You need to complete all assigned work in order to
receive a passing grade in the course.
Course grade breakdown:
•Annotated and Evaluate Bibliography, including drafts (at least 12 entries) 25%
•Research Proposal, including drafts (3-5 page final draft) 10%
•Research based Paper, including drafts and workshops (10-12 page final draft) 55%
•Attendance/Quizzes/Participation 10%

1
Assignments:
Papers: An Annotated and Evaluate Bibliography of 10-12 entries; a Paper Proposal of 4-5 pages; and a Research-
based paper of 10-12 pages are required. Prompts will be handed out in class prior to the assignment due date.
Late Papers/Paper Submission: Late papers are not accepted unless special arrangements are made with me ahead
of the due date—NO EXCEPTIONS! You will be asked to use a specific documentation and format style according
to the assignment. This will be made clear with each assignment. Papers must be typed on 8x11” paper and be
double-spaced, with your name, paper identification, and page number on each page in a header (EXCEPTION—you
do not need to mark page 1). The only acceptable way to submit a paper to me other than in person is to place it in the
black drop box outside the Muir Writing Program office. Do not slide papers under the program door or leave them in
my personal mailbox.
Workshops: Since this is a writing class, part of the class will be devoted to having workshops on papers. In order to
receive credit for this part of the class, you must bring drafts of your paper(s) at appointed times to class to work with
your peers (the number of drafts needed is subject to change). Also, you must give your peers concrete suggestions on
their papers.
Writing Responses: At various times, informal responses are required. Writing responses may be written in and
outside of class. Prompts will be provided in class. These assignments will engage you in critical analysis of texts and
help develop possible connections between class discussions and the texts. It is important that you develop your own
critical responses. These writing responses are to be submitted with the final draft packet along with previous drafts,
outlines, peer-edit worksheets and the turnitin.com receipt.
Worksheets: In order to track the progress of your critical reading skills, most reading assignments will include
worksheets. You must come to class ready to not only discuss the readings but also your responses to the prompts on
the worksheets provided. These worksheets are to be submitted with the final draft packet along with previous drafts,
outlines, peer-edit worksheets and the turnitin.com receipt.
Turnitin.com: The same final papers you turn in to me must be uploaded to www.turnitin.com. Students agree that by
taking this course all required papers will be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the
detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference
database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Failure to submit your papers to turnitin.com
will result in an F for the course.
Portfolio: You are responsible for keeping all copies of all pieces of writing submitted throughout the quarter as well
as back-up copies. If an assignment is lost or missing, you are responsible for replacing it. At the end of the quarter,
you will submit your final portfolio, which includes all completed assignments. Be sure to include drafts with my
comments and your peers’ comments on them. The portfolio stays on file in the program for one year. The portfolio
will be returned after one year if you request it from the office.
Attendance and Conduct:
Attendance: If you miss more than two classes per quarter, you will be in danger of not passing the class. If you are
late twice by more than 10 minutes, it will count as an absence. Absent/tardy students must inquire from other
students what was covered in class. Important information, including changes to the syllabus, may be discussed. Also,
absent students must turn in assignments on time to the black drop box outside the office. Class participation,
including being prepared to discuss the assigned texts, is crucial to this course. If you do not participate in class, you
will be counted as absent. Missing a scheduled conference also counts as one absence.
Conduct: Always bring your reader or assigned text to class. Assigned readings should be completed before class.
Please come prepared to discuss the material in a thoughtful manner. Be respectful to classmates and the instructor.
Any comments or actions that instigate or contribute to a disrespectful or hostile environment in the classroom will
not be tolerated. Turn off all electronic devices such as cell phones, iPods, etc. Do not check your email, text-
message, or engage in other distracting activities while in class.
Academic Honesty: Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. In general, plagiarism is defined as failing to cite quotations
and borrowed ideas, failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and failing to put summaries and
paraphrases in your own words (A Writer’s Reference 1999). In addition to paper materials (books, articles, etc.),
plagiarism also refers to quotations and ideas from web sources. See “Avoiding Plagiarism” in the Reader Appendix
for a more thorough discussion. When in doubt, ask me for clarification.
Academic Integrity: Students are expected to do their own work as outlined in the UCSD Policy on Academic
Integrity published in the UCSD general catalog (http://www.ucsd.edu/catalog/ AcadRegu.html, click on “Academic
2
Regulations”). Therefore, students must do their own work, including the translation of work written in a language
other than English. Also, it is against the policy to “recycle” a paper written for one course and turn it in for credit in
another course, including a Muir Writing course. Acts of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any student who
engages in suspicious conduct will be confronted and subject to the disciplinary process.
Online Course Evaluations: Each Muir Writing Program student is asked to complete an online Course Evaluation.
A link to the evaluation, along with instructions for accessing and completing the evaluation, will be emailed to your
UCSD email account during the second half of the quarter. Print out the Confirmation Page—the final page of the
online evaluation—and submit it as part of your final portfolio.
Email Account: Please sign up for a free UCSD email account for class as soon as possible. The Academic
Computing office is located in APM 2113; its website is http://acs.ucsd.edu. Check your inbox daily for course
announcements. If contacting me by email, please use appropriate email etiquette. I will only respond to emails sent
from your UCSD email account.
Useful Websites:
MUIR COLLEGE WRITING PROGRAM: http://www-muir.ucsd.edu/muir-writing
MLA documentation style: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch08_s1-0011.html
Non-sexist language: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_nonsex.html

Schedule: (schedule subject to change)

Week 1
3/29 Introduction to the course; Muir program policies; Syllabus. Discussion of potential paper topics.
In-class writing - First day Writing Prompt.
Read: Reader Appendix: A1-10; Some Muir Words. (Complete Toulmin Worksheet)
Robert G. Lee, “Yellowface,” Orientals, 1-14. (Complete Reading Questions)
Horace Miner, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” American Anthropologist 58.3 (June
1956). https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html (Complete Reading Questions)
Stuart Hall. “Introduction,” Representation: Cultural Representations & Signifying Practices.
15- 29.
Craft of Research pp. 1-29.
3/31 Discussion of readings and Toulmin Review; Asian Americans & Mass Media.
Discussion of the Annotated Bibliography
Read: Reader Appendix on Introductions and Questioning the Text, Craft of Research Chapters 3-5.
Darrell Y. Hamamoto, “Introduction on Asian American Film & Criticism,”
Countervisions:Asian American Film Criticism. 1-20.
Jun Xing, “Asian American Aesthetics.” Asian American Through the Lens, 44-50.
Write: One paragraph on proposed research topic.
One Annotated Bibliographical entry (part 1) for one of the readings from the reader.
Week 2
4/5 Discussion of Potential Research Topics, Chapters 3-5 in CoR, and Race & Representation.
Read: Reader Appendix: VSS and Passive Voice
Cynthia W. Liu, “When Dragon Ladies Die, Do They Come Back as Butterflies? Re-
Imagining Anna May Wong.” Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism, 23-39.
Kim, Minjeong, and Angie Y. Chung. "Consuming Orientalism: Images of Asian/American
Women in Multicultural Advertising." Qualitative Sociology. 28.1 (2005): 67-91.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j0j07927j747g767/fulltext.pdf
CoR Chapters 6-7.
Write: AB draft 1 (3-5 entries) due next class
Outline for Draft 1 of Research Proposal
Due: One paragraph on proposed research paper.

3
4/7 Discussion: Research Strategies& Annotated Bibliographies.
Discussion: Hello Kitty, Dragon Ladies & Madame Butterflies.
Workshop: AB draft 1 (3-5 entries)
Read: Craft of Research Chapter 8-9 (Complete Research Paper Topic Worksheet).
John Huey-Long Song and John Dombrink, “’Good Guys’ and Bad Guys: Media, Asians, and
the Framing of a Criminal Event,” 25-45.
Sylvia Shin Huey Chong, “Look, an Asian!”: The Politics of Racial Interpellation in the
Wake of the Virginia Tech Shootings,” Journal of Asian American Studies 11.1 (2008):
227-60.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_asian_american_studies/v011/11.1chong.html
Week 3
4/12 Discussion: Villains; From Topic to Questions; MLA Review. Research Proposal Discussion
Read: Robert G. Lee, “The Cold War Origin of the Model Minority Myth,” Orientals, 145-179.
Workshop/Discussion: Outline for Draft 1 of the Research Proposal
Write: AB draft 2 (7-10 entries)
Draft 1 of Research Proposal (2-3 pages)
4/14 Discussion: Kissinger’s Shenanigans & War Stories; From Topic to Claim. Proposal Prompt.
Workshop: AB draft 2 (7-10 entries)
Draft 1 of Research Proposal (2-3 pages)
Read: Elaine Kim, “Home is Where the Han Is,” http://www.esubjects.com/curric/general/
multiculturalism/unit_three/pdf/Home_is_where_the_Han_is.pdf
Randall L. Rose, Stacy L. Wood, “Paradox and the Consumption of Authenticity through
Reality Television, http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/10.1086/432238.pfd
CoR Chapter 10-11
Write: Draft 3 of Annotated Bibliography (10-12 entries).
Draft 2 of Proposal (3-4 pages)
Week 4
Conferences No class. My conference is: Day ________ Time________
Each student will meet with me individually for 20 minutes. In these meetings, we will discuss your
portfolio, your progress in the course, and any questions you have regarding the course and
upcoming work. These conferences are meant to be helpful and informative for you, and we will
spend most of the time talking about your own writing. Come prepared with worksheet, paper, pen,
questions, and concerns. A miss conference is considered an absence.
Homework: Rework Proposal
Week 5
4/26 Discussion: 1992 Los Angeles Riots; Making a Claim and Supporting it.
Workshop: Annotated Bibliography Draft 3 (10-12 entries)
Read: Margaret Hillenbrand, “Of Myths and Men: Better Luck Tomorrow and the Mainstreaming
of Asian American Cinema.” Cinema Journal, 50-75.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cinema_journal/v047/47.4.hillenbrand.html
Write: Final Draft of Annotated Bibliography (12 entries)
Draft 2 of Research Proposal (3-4 pages)
4/28 Discussion: Where’s My Parade?
Workshop: Draft 2 of Research Proposal (3-4 pages).
Read: Jerry Z. Park, “Second-Generation Asian American Pan-Ethnic Identity: Pluralized
Meanings of a Racial Label,” Sociological Perspectives 51.3 (Fall 2008): 541-561.
4
 http://www.jstor.org/stable/40210460.
http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/pdf/10.1525/sop.2008.51.3.541
Write: Final Draft of Research Proposal (4-5 pages).
Final Draft of AB due (12 entries)
Week 6
5/3 Discussion of Readings: Asian American 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0
Workshop Draft 3 of Annotated Bibliography, 7-10 entries)
Read: Introduction to Post Colonial theories http://www.photoinsight.org/theory/theory.pdf
Introduction to Postcolonial theory http://www19.homepage.villanova.edu/silvia.nagyzekmi/
teoria/childs%20postcolonial.pdf
Final Draft of Proposal due
5/5 Discussion of Readings: Warrants. Research Paper Prompt.
Read: Craft of Research, Chapters 12-13.
Rene Tajima, “No Mo Po Mo,” Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism. 245-262.
Write: Draft 1 of Research Paper (3-5 pages)
Week 7
5/10 Discussion: Methodology: Strategies and Tactics: No Mo Po Mo
Read: Reader Appendix Transitional Topic Sentences
Workshop: Draft 1 of Research Paper (3-5 pages)
5/12 Workshop Draft 2 of Research Paper (5-7 pages)
Read CoR Chapters 14-16.
Week 8: Conferences. No class. My conference is: Day ________ Time________
Write Draft 3 of Research Paper (8-10 pages)
Week 9: Writing/Editing, Workshops and Presentations
5/24 Discussion: Transitional Topic Sentences. Differences between Revision and Editing. Craft of
Research Warrants.
Read: CoR Chapter 17.
Workshop: Draft 3 of Research Paper (8-10 pages)
5/26 Student Presentations - individual;
Workshop Draft 3 of Research Paper (8-10 pages)
Write: Draft 4 of Research Paper (10-12 pages)
Week 10: Writing/Editing, Workshops and Presentations
5/31 Workshop Draft 4 of Research Paper (10-12 pages); Student Presentations.
Write: A Draft of of the Final Research Paper (10-12 pages)
6/2 Final Draft of Research Paper (10-12 pages) due. NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

References
Reality TV: A Bibliography http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/realitytv.html
AsianWeek, 808 N. Spring St., Suite 628, Los Angles, California.
Frontiers of Asian American Studies: Writing, Research and Commentary, Gail Nomura, et. al, eds.,
Washington State University Press, 1989.
Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings by and about Asian American Women, Asian American Women
United of California, eds., Beacon Press, 1989.
Okada, John, No No Boy, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1980.
Reflections on Shattered Windows: Promises and Prospects for Asian American Studies, Gary Okihiro, et.
al., eds., Washington State University Press, 1988.
5
Sue, Stanley and James Morishima, Mental Health of Asian Americans: Contemporary Issues in Identifying
and Treating Mental Problems, Jossey-Bass, 1982.
Transpacific subscription, Transpacific Media, Inc., Malibu, California.
Wong, Jade, Fifth Chinese Daughter, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1989 (1945).
A Look Beyond the Model Minority Image: Critical Issues in Asian America, Grace Yun, ed., Minority
Rights Group, Inc., 1989.
Asian Americans: Comparative and Global Perspectives, Shirley Hune, et. al., eds., Washington State
University Press, 1991.
Asian-Americans: Social and Psychological Perspectives, Volume II, Russell Endo, et. al., eds., Science and
Behavior Books, Inc., 1980.
Bonacich, Edna and Lucie Cheng, Labor Immigration Under Capitalism: Asian Workers in the United
States Before World War II, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Bonacich, Edna and John Modell, The Economic Basis of Ethnic Solidarity: Small Business in the Japanese
American Community, University of California Press, 1980.
Daniels, Roger, The Politics of Prejudice: The Anti-Japanese Movement in California and the Struggle for
Japanese Exclusion, University of California Press, 1962.
Chan, Sucheng, Income and Status Differences Between White and Minority Americans, Lewiston: New
York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1990.
Chan, Sucheng, Asian Americans: An Interpretive History, Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1991.
Chan, Sucheng, Asian Californians, Materials for Today's Learning, 1991.
Fawcett, James and Benjamin Carino, Pacific Bridges: The New Immigration from Asia and the Pacific
Islands, Staten Island, New York: Center for Migration Studies, 1987.
Fugita, Stephen and David O'Brien, Japanese American Ethnicity: The Persistence of Community,
University of Washington Press, 1991.
Glenn, Evelyn Nakano, Issei, Nisei, War Bride: Three Generations of Japanese American Women in
Domestic Service, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986.
Hakuta, Kenji, Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism, New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1986.
Hsia, Jayjia, Asian Americans in Higher Education and at Work, Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, Inc., 1988.
Ichioka, Yuji, The Issei: The World of the First Generation Japanese Immigrants 1885-1924, The Free
Press, 1988.
Kim, Elaine, Asian American Literature: An Introduction to the Writings and Their Social Contexts, Temple
University Press, 1984.
Kim, Ilsoo, New Urban Immigrants: The Korean Community in New York, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Kitano, Harry and Roger Daniels, Asian Americans: Emerging Minorities, Prentice Hall, 1988.
Light, Ivan and Edna Bonacich, Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965-1982, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1982.
Nakano, Mei, Japanese American Women: Three Generations 1890-1990, Mina Press Publishing, 1990.
O'Brien, David and Stephen Fugita, The Japanese American Experience, Indiana University Press,
Bloomington, 1991.
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1980s,
New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986.
Ong, Paul, ed., The State of Asian Pacific America: Economic Diversity, Issues and Policies, Los Angeles:
Asian Pacific Policy Institute and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1994.
Sandmeyer, Elmer C., The Anti-Chinese Movement in California, University of Illinois Press, 1991.

6
Takaki, Ronald, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920, Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1987.
Takaki, Ronald, Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th Century America, Oxford University Press, 1990
Tsai, Shih-shan, The Chinese Experience in America, Indiana University Press, 1986.