Asian American Studies Minor

Asian American Studies Minor

The interdisciplinary field of Asian American Studies examines the lives, cultures, and histories of people of Asian descent living in the Americas. Emerging from the ethnic identity movements of the late 1960s, it has become an established academic field that encompasses history, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, political science, and women's and gender studies. It intersects significantly with the study of other minority groups in the United States and with the study of the Asia-Pacific region.

Learning Objectives for the Asian American Studies Minor

Students minoring in Asian American Studies will:

  • Gain competence in the interdisciplinary study of the fastest-growing racial group in the United States

  • Grasp how history has shaped the lives and experiences of Asian Americans

  • Examine the relationships between this group and other minority groups within the United States

  • Understand the transnational ties and global contexts of Asian Americans

Course Requirements for the Asian American Studies Minor

The Asian American Studies minor consists of five units:

  1. Either AMST 151, The Asian American Experience or AMST 121, Ethnic Studies: Key Concepts, Theories, and Methods

  2. One course that examines race, ethnicity, immigration, or minority politics in the North American or South American context. To fulfill this requirement, the following categories may be included: 

    • This requirement can be met by courses about the history, culture, religion, or politics of America: AFR 215 Unpacking Blackness: Race and Ethnicity in African Diaspora; AFR 299 Caribbean Cultural Expression and Diaspora; AMST 264 Asian American Labor and Immigration; AMST 152 Race, Ethnicity and Politics in America; AMST 255 Life in the Big City: Urban Studies and Policies; AMST 223 Gendering the Bronze Screen: Representations of Chicanas/Latinas in Film; AMST 242 American Reckonings: Race, Historical Memory, and the Future of Democracy; AMST 246/SOC 246 Salsa and Ketchup: How Immigration is Changing the US and the World; EDU 336 Theorizing Race in Education through Counternarrative Inquiry;  HIST 244 The History of the American West: Manifest Destiny to Pacific Imperialism; POL1 328 Immigration Politics and Policy; POL 337 Race and Politics; REL 218 Religion in America; SPAN 335 Asians in Latin America: Literary and Cultural Connections

    • Courses about minority groups as defined by race, ethnicity, class, caste, or gender in this region: AFR 105 Introduction to the Black Experience; AFR 209 African American History: From the Slave Trade to the Civil War; AFR 242 New World Afro-Atlantic Religions; AFR 390 No Moral High Ground, A History of Slavery and Racism in the North; AFR 295 The Harlem Renaissance; AMST 217 Latina/o Popular Music and Identity AMST 235 From Zumba to Taco Trucks: Consuming Latina/o Cultures; AMST 274 Gender and Race in Westerns: Rainbow Cowboys (and Girls); AMST 327 New Directions in Black and Latina Feminisms: Beyoncé, J-LO, and Other Divas; CAMS 240 Gendering the Bronze Screen: Representations of Chicanas/Latinas in Film; EDUC 334 Ethnography in Education: Race, Migrations, and Borders; HIST 252 The Twentieth-Century Black Freedom Struggle; SOC 209 Social Inequality: Race, Class, and Gender; SOC 315 Intersectionality at Work; or SPAN 255 Chicano Literature: From the Chronicles to the Present.

    • Courses about comparative or theoretical frameworks for comprehending America and Asia, including empire, immigration, and globalization: AMST 161 Introduction to Latino/a Studies; AMST 264 Asian American Labor and Immigration; AMST 251/SOC 251 Racial Regimes in the United States and Beyond; AMST 310 Asian/American Politics of Beauty; AMST 323: Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaeton; LING 312 Bilingualism: An Exploration of Language, Mind, and Culture; POL2 204 Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment; SOC 221 Globalization; SOC 232/SAS 232 South Asian Diasporas; or WGST 206 Migration, Gender, and Globalization.

  3. One course that examines history, culture, or politics in the Asian region. To fulfill this requirement, the following categories may be included:

    • Courses about the history, culture, religion, or politics of East, South or Southeast Asia: AMST 310 Asian/American Politics of Beauty; ART 248 Chinese Painting; ARTH 255 Twentieth-Century Chinese Art; ARTH 312 Art and Empmire in the Nineteenth Century; CAMS 205/JPN 256 History of Japanese Cinema; CAMS 203 Chinese Cinema; HIST 270 Colonialism, Nationalism, and Decolonization in South Asia; CHIN 214 Love and Other Emotions in Ancient China; CHIN 242 Supernatural China; CHIN 236 China on the Silver Screen; EALC Language, Nationalism, and Identity in East Asia; HIST 373 Food, Sports, and Sex: Body Politics in South Asia; HIST 274 China, Japan, and Korea in Comparative and Global Perspectives; JPN 251 Japanese Literature from Myth to Manga (in English); JPN 314 Contemporary Japanese Narrative (in English); JPN 280 Japanese Pop Culture: From Kaiku to Hello Kitty; POL2 211 Politics of South Asia; POL3 227 The Vietnam War; REL 259 Christianity in Asia; SAS 302 Traditional Narratives of South Asia; or WGST 325 Asian Feminisms.

    • Courses about minority groups as defined by race, ethnicity, class, caste, or gender in this region, such as HIST 275 The Emergence of Ethnic Identities in Modern South Asia

    • Courses about comparative or theoretical frameworks for comprehending America and Asia, including empire, immigration, and globalization, as listed above under (2/C).

  4. Two courses on Asian American topics, such as AMST 116 /ENG 116 Asian American Fiction, AMST 212 Korean American Literature and Culture, AMST 232 Asian American Popular Culture, AMST 222/PSYC 222 Asian American Psychology; AMST 264 Asian American Labor and Immigration; AMST 306 Life Narratives: Research & Writing the Asian American Experience; AMST 310 Asian/American Politics of Beauty; AMST 314 Food and the Asian American Experience;CAMS 249/WGST 249 Asian/American Women in Film; WGST 267 VIsual History and Memory: Representations of the Japanese American Internment Experience; WGST 307 Techno-Orientalism: Geisha Robots, Cyberpunk Warriors, and Asian Futures

To ensure that appropriate courses have been selected, students should consult with the program director or their minor advisor.

A maximum of two units, including AMST 151, may be taken at the 100 level. At least one unit must be at the 300 level. Four units must be taken at Wellesley. American Studies majors minoring in Asian American Studies must decide whether to count an eligible course toward the major or the minor.