SOC 342 - Social Technologies of Belonging

This seminar examines how historical and contemporary social technologies of belonging have shaped Asian and Asian American formations in the United States. Centering sociological and interdisciplinary research, we will examine the sociohistorical relational constructions of “Asians” and “Asian Americans.” The course is organized around four themes: (1) disciplinary constructions of Asians in the United States from sociology and Asian American studies; (2) citizenship, rights, and policy; (3) identity and community formation; and (4) emerging directions in research. Students will learn key theoretical frameworks and how significant historical moments such as the Chinese exclusion acts, World War II, the Third World Liberation Front, the rise of the model minority myth, and 9/11 shaped and reshaped the racial formation of Asians in the United States.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): SOC 211
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): CRES 342
Not offered: 2024-25
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Evaluate data and/or sources.
Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other.
Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.