1. Department of Ethnic Studies & Asian American Studies Program California State University, Sacramento ETHN 14: Introduction to Asian American Studies Professor James Fabionar Week 3 Session 1 The Asian American Experience

2. Announcements Wednesday sessions will now meet in ARC 1010 (ARC 1010 is in AIRC, the building to the south of the library) Room seats 70. We have 104 students. We will need to split our course into two 37-minute sessions. 1:30 to 2:07 – Sections 80 and 90 (Sherrie) 2:08 to 2:45 – Sections 81 and 91 (Peter) Reading Notes Bring a hard copy of your reading notes to class. We will collect these 5 times this semester. Your online session for last Wednesday’s class will count as the first of these 5.

3. Announcements continued TA feedback on Online Book Discussions Fadiman, Ch. 1-5 (Week 2) Fadiman, Ch. 6-10 (Week 3)

4. Last Session Discussed four social movements and historical events that led to the creation of ethnic studies. Discussed two texts: Hu-Dehart (1993) and Princeton Asian American Student Association (2013) Online Session: Analyzed Fadiman by applying four ideas: power, social structure, identity, and culture.

5. Today Describe the emergence of the term “Asian American” Special visitor, Dr. Greg Mark Omi and Winant’s notion of racialization

6. World War II Civil Rights Movement War in Southeast Asia Free Speech Movement World War II Civil Rights Movement War in Southeast Asia Free Speech Movement Change Curriculum Diversify faculty Service to vulnerable populations Change Curriculum Diversify faculty Service to vulnerable populations Theory, research, and practice/servic e centered on the “experience” of marginalized peoples Historical Events and Social Movements Emergence of Ethnic Studies Asian American Experience

7. Omi and Winant – Passage 1 “Scientific interpretations of race have not been alone in sparking heated controversy; religious perspectives have done so as well. Most centrally, of course, race has been a matter of political contention. This has been particularly true in the United States, where the concept of race has varied enormously over time without ever leaving the center stage of US history… …Race is indeed a pre-eminently socio-historical concept. Racial categories and the meaning of race are given concrete expression by the specific social relations and historical context in which they are embedded. Racial meanings have varied tremendously over time and between different societies.”

8. Omi and Winant Passage 2 “The meaning of race is defined and contested throughout society, in both collective action and personal practice. In the process, racial categories themselves are formed, transformed, destroyed and reformed. We use the term racial formation to refer to the process by which social, economic and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped by racial meanings. Crucial to this formulation is the treatment of race as a central axis of social relations which cannot be subsumed under or reduced to some broader category or conception.”

9. Omi and Winant Passage 3 “We employ the term racialization to signify the extension of racial meaning to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice or group. Racialization is an ideological process, an historically specific one. Racial ideology is constructed from pre-existing conceptual (or, if one prefers, "discursive") elements and emerges from the struggles of competing political projects and ideas seeking to articulate similar elements differently. An account of racialization processes that avoids the pitfalls of US ethnic history remains to be written.”

10. “Take-Aways” from Omi and Winant Race is best understood as a process (racialization) of attaching meanings to ever-changing racial categories Race is not a new idea; it has been theorized many different ways Race is about power Race is about meanings derived from socio-historical contexts It is difficult to divorce the concept of race from previous theories on the topic

11. The Asian and Pacific Islander American Experience is best understood as a process (racialization) of attaching meanings to ever-changing racial categories is not a new idea; it has been theorized many different ways is about power is about meanings derived from socio-historical contexts is difficult to divorce from previous theories of race

12. To Prepare for Next Session Read and prepare Reading Notes on the short story, “Country of the Blind” by HG Wells. (You should also be working on the next five chapters of Fadiman)