Introduction to Asian American Studies ETHN 14: Introduction to Asian American Studies Department of Ethnic Studies & Asian American Studies Program California State University, Sacramento Welcome Introductions: Rikka (Leadership Organization Advisor, Program coordinator); Danny (Ed.D. student and scholarship coordinator); Paolo Soriano (EOP counselor, program coordinator) Week 3 Session 2 Phenomenology and Experience

Last Time Described the emergence of the term “Asian American” Question and Answer with Dr. Greg Mark Omi and Winant’s notion of racialization

Today Describe experience from a phenomenological perspective. Introduce an interdisciplinary framework that we will use to explore racialized experiences in the United States, with special focus on the Asian and Pacific Islander American experience.

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

Phenomenology Phenomenology studies structures of conscious experience from the first-person point of view. Scholars who work from a phenomenological orientation are concerned with the relevant conditions of “experience,” or what shapes experiences.

Experience and Ethnic Studies In ethnic studies and related fields, the notion of experience is often central to how researchers analyze complex social dynamics. African American Experience Chicana/o Experience in Post-World War II United States Deaf Experience How the industrial revolution altered the working class American Experience The experience of Asian American gay men The experience of high school drop-outs

What are my own understandings about another’s experience? Major Stance in Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies: Examine your own experience first. What are my own understandings about another’s experience? What assumptions are embedded in these understandings? Where do these understandings and assumptions come from?

What are my own understandings about another’s experience? Major Stance in Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies: Examine your own experience first. What are my own understandings about another’s experience? What assumptions are embedded in these understandings? Where do these understandings and assumptions come from?

Interdisciplinary Framework for Exploring and Analyzing “Experience” Power/Resistance Overt and Covert control Identity How groups and individuals see themselves and are seen by “others” Culture Bounded system of values and traditions shared by a group Structure Institutions and patterns of social interaction

“Experience” in Country of the Blind Select a key moment in the story and discuss how it relates to one or more of the key ideas: power, social structure, culture, and identity.

Interdisciplinary Framework for Exploring and Analyzing “Experience” Power/Resistance Overt and Covert control Identity How groups and individuals see themselves and are seen by “others” Culture Bounded system of values and traditions shared by a group Structure Institutions and patterns of social interaction

“Experience” in The Spirit Catches You Analyze a key moment in Fadiman’s text by situating the event on the framework.

Power/Resistance Overt and Covert control Identity How groups and individuals see themselves and are seen by “others” Culture Bounded system of values and traditions shared by a group Structure Institutions and patterns of social interaction 5 2 1 11 7 8 13 10 12 4 6 9 3

To Prepare for Next Session OBD – Fadiman, Ch 11-14 Reading Notes on Zinn’s “The Politics of History”