AAS 495gs, Spring 2010 Page 1 of 9 AAS 495GS: ASIAN AMERICAN GENDERS & SEXUALITIES Spring 2010 Tentative Syllabus* (* The professor reserved the right to change any part of this syllabus.) Professor: Gina Masequesmay, Ph.D. Email: [email protected] Office Hours: M & T 2-3 PM and by appointment Office Location: Jerome Richfield 346C [enter through JR 340] Office Phone: 818-677-7219 Class Information: Tuesdays 4 to 6:45 PM, SH224, #18156 Class Website: http://www.csun.edu/~gm61310/aas495/aas495gssyllabus.htm Discussion Board: http://moodle.csun.edu/ [you need to log in] Library Resource: http://library.csun.edu/ Catalog Course Description Preparatory: AAS 100 or 210 or instructor consent. Intensive study of selected themes and issues in Asian American Studies. Topics change from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit with instructor consent. Fulfills AAS senior capstone. Instructor’s Course Description Using a constructionist approach that views race, class, gender and sexuality as socially constructed, this course exposes students to theories on sex, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and race by examining issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual, and queer (LGBTIQ) Asian Pacific Americans (APAs). Given the current controversy over same-sex marriage, this course requires a research project on attitudes of the Asian American communities. Students will be divided into groups by subtopics (ethnicity and religion) to collect survey and focus group data on current attitudes of APAs on LGBTIQ matters. A final research paper is required to demonstrate student’s comprehensive understanding and application of the course materials and can serve as the student’s senior thesis. This course requires individual and group work that access students’ skills at research, leadership, collaboration, and time-management. This course fulfills the AAS senior capstone requirement and can serve as an elective for AAS double majors and minors. Recommended Prerequisite: AAS 100 or AAS 210 or Instructor’s consent. Topics Social construction of race, class, gender and sexuality; the nexus between knowledge and power; essentialism vs. constructionism; social control and deviance; queer theory; gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, crossdresser, transvestite, intersexual, queer, identity vs. behavior vs. feeling/thought; epistemology; qualitative vs. quantitative data; survey research, focus group, validity and reliability of data; open-ended vs. closed questions; sexual orientation; gender orientation; sex vs. gender vs. sexuality; sexual vs. gender identity; sex-gender binary system, homophobia, biphobia; transphobia; heterosexism and heteronormativity; racism and white supremacy; sexism and patriarchy; class elitism and capitalism; matrix of domination; same-sex marriage; institutional discrimination vs. individual discrimination. Course Learning Objectives 1. Understand the social construction of race, gender and sexuality in a capitalist system. 2. Critically reflect the nexus between knowledge and power, the link between social structure and agency, and between the personal and the political. 3. Apply the matrix of domination approach to understand the issues of LGBTIQ APAs. 4. Carry out social surveys and focus groups including refining questionnaires. 5. Critically analyze collected qualitative and quantitative data to assess contemporary APAs’ attitudes on sexuality and gender and sex. 6. Propose an intervention model on social justice for LGBTIQ APAs. 7. Produce a research paper to reflect student’s comprehensive understanding of course materials. 8. Gain skills in cooperative learning, leadership, planning and time-management.AAS 495gs, Spring 2010 Page 2 of 9 Texts Required - Leong, Russell C., and Amy Sueyoshi. 2006. Asian Americans in the Marriage Equality Debate. Amerasia Journal 32 (1). [AAMED] - Masequesmay, Gina, and Sean Metzger, eds. 2009. Embodying Asian / American Sexualities. Lanham: Lexington Books. [EAAS] - Electronic Readings [ER] on Moodle. In addition to the paper texts, there are articles and chapters that are available digitally on the class Moodle site. You can read it by clicking on the link of the assigned reading. Texts Recommended - Leong, Russell, ed. 1996. Asian American Sexualities: Dimensions of the Gay and Lesbian Experience. New York: Routledge. - Wat, Eric C. 2002. The Making of a Gay Asian Community: An Oral History of Pre-AIDS Los Angeles. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. - Eng, David L., and Alice Y. Hom, eds. 1998. Q & A: Queer in Asian America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Course Requirements and Grading Required Components Points Percent Attendance & Participation 40 10 Homework Assignments 40 10 Focus Group Report 60 15 Social Survey Report 60 15 Group Presentations (10 @ 5; 1 @ 50) 100 25 Final Research Paper 100 25 Total 400 100 Grading is based on a strict scale of 400 points: 380 – 400 = A 320 – 332 = B- 269 – 279 = D+ 360 – 379 = A- 309 – 319 = C+ 253 – 268 = D 349 – 359 = B+ 293 – 308 = C 240 – 252 = D- 333 – 348 = B 280 – 292 = C- Below 240 = F The course format consists of short lectures, films (4), group activities based on homework assignments, group presentations and report of data, and class discussions. Students should read the assigned material(s) BEFORE coming to class. I expect students to be prepared and ready to engage in class discussion based on the readings. Group presentations require that students are fully prepared for class discussion to be engaging and meaningful. Attendance & Participation account for 10% of your grade or 40 points. You earn 1 point for attendance and one point for participation. Assuming that you have to be present to participate, you usually get an automatic 2 points when I take attendance. The 15 meetings will earn you 30 points. If you arrive late or leave early, you will lose 1 point. If you are absent, you will lose 2 points per meeting. If you have an emergency situation that leads to absence or tardiness or leaving early, then bring me proof to be excused. The remaining 10 points is based on your class participation. If I know your name and can recall your positive participation in class discussion, then you will get the 10 points. If I do not know your name by the end of class, then you have not