Asian Literature and Radical Political Imaginations
Research topic:
To what extent did Asian American literature have an impact on Asian American political activism in the mid to late 1960s?
Background:
Asian Americans were discriminated against by the country since they have immigrated to the United States. Acts such as the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943) which prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers and the Angel Island Immigration Station which detained Chinese immigrants were few of the many examples of how Asian Americans received unfair treatment.
Political activism and mass organization did not begin until the late 1960s and later on, eventually resulted in the Asian American Movement. Literature has shown to be a way of protest and expression by Asian Americans, in which the earliest form of literature was by the prisoners in Angel Island Station who expressed their voices through poetry and silence protests.
Aims and methodology:
I would first like to understand the type of literature produced/written by Asian Americans regarding political activism, oppression, and race-based violence during the mid to late to 1960s. I would then like to analyze the importance of literature- whether it affected the opinions of media outlets, the public opinion on Asian Americans immigration and how the government has reacted towards Asian Americans. I would then balance my argument by researching on other possible factors, such as Asian American's contribution towards the US workforce and its GDP to analyze the extent of impact done by Asian American literature.
Requirements: None.
Project duration: Fall 2019 and Spring 2020
Faculty: Joseph Harroff ([email protected])
The Seabrook Legacy
Dr. Pierce Salguero and Professor Jimmy J. Pack Jr. will be working with students to create a creative nonfiction work capturing the history of the Seabrook Temple community. Seabrook Temple in New Jersey has a long legacy starting with the establishment of a Buddhist Temple by Japanese Americans who were displaced after being held a prisoner in Japanese Internment Camps during WWII. Our team will be documenting their history and creating ethnographies of those who currently attend the Seabrook community.
Requirements: None.
Project duration: Fall 2019 and Spring 2020
Faculty: Jimmy Pack ([email protected]) and Dr. Pierce Salguero ([email protected])
What's in a Recipe?
In early modern households, families collected culinary and medicinal knowledge in recipe books. Taking a manuscript at the Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington DC) as a starting point, this project will use an early modern recipe book to explore questions about ecology, food, medicine, and women’s history. All participants will learn paleography (how to read and transcribe an early modern manuscript), basic text analysis skills, and have the opportunity to conduct individual research. Over the course of three semesters, our project will contribute to the collective transcription of Folger Ms. V.b.380.
Requirements: Enrolled in this project in Spring 2019 or 2017-2018 AY.
Project duration: Fall 2019 and Spring 2020
Faculty: Marissa Nicosia ([email protected])