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ARTICLES: Politics and Society The Top 19 Mixed Race Studies Classes EurasianNation's guide to the top mixed-race studies college classes in the United States and Canada. By Erica Schlaikjer April 2003 East Coast New York University Vassar College Yale University West Coast California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State University, Fullerton California State University, Northridge Mills College San Francisco State University San Jose State University Stanford University University of California, Davis University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Berkeley University of San Francisco Canada University of Calgary NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Asian-Americans of Mixed Heritage In this course, we will explore what it means to be of mixed Asian heritage in 21st century America. The recent prominence of mixed-heritage Asian Pacific Americans in the public sphere gestures to the changing demographics of race in America, reminding us that race has never been fixed, but is instead socially constructed. To address mixed-heritage identity involves both the specific recognition of particular processes of identity formation, and a radical re-thinking of race for the 21st century. Some of the questions addressed by the class include: What is "mixed heritage" and what are the historic and social factors by which it is produced? What implications do mixed-heritage APA's have for Asian Pacific American politics of solidarity? How are mixed-heritage APA's fetishized by the media, and in turn, how do we subvert these stereotypes? And lastly, what are the processes by which we can articulate and shape our own mixed-heritage identities? We will use a range of interdisciplinary materials to address both these questions and more. The theoretical underpinnings revolve around the processes of racialization in the U.S. From these theories, we will expand our exploration along historic, social, and artistic lines. Alongside the theoretical and historic texts, we will look at literature and performance as well as student's own personal narratives and fieldwork. Students are encouraged to bring in materials in the form of anecdotes, texts, images, questions, websites, etc. to share with the class. Download syllabus here. Instructor: Jennifer Chan VASSAR COLLEGE Social Construction of Race in the U.S. This course examines the social construction of race in the United States from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present. The course focuses on changing racial meanings and identities of specific sociohistorical groups and the ways in which social institutions interpret and reinterpret race over time. Contemporary issues addressed include: the construction of "whiteness," the making of model minorities, and the emergence of the "mixed race" category. Readings may include Cooper, DuBois, bell hooks, Omni and Winant, Gilroy and Roediger. Instructor: Ms. Harriford YALE UNIVERSITY Interraciality and Hybridity Examination of interracial and black subjectivity as represented within a variety of postemancipation literary and critical texts. Topics include interracial genealogies, the emerging rubric of "critical mixed race studies," and theories of difference and hybridity. Identification and analysis of long-standing debates on race mixing in the realms of legal classification, census taking, grassroots movements, the discursive, the ideological, and the popular. Instructor: Naomi Pabst CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA Multiracial and Hybrid Identities Interdisciplinary exploration of the development, meaning, and sociopolitical implications of 'hybridity' in constructing racial, ethnic and gender identities in the U.S. Status and experience of 'hybrid' people, e.g. 'biracial/multiracials' examined through synthesis of anthropology, arts, history, literature, sociology, ethnic and gender studies. Instructor: Patty deFreitas CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON Mixed Heritage Asian Americans Overview of the mixed heritage Asian American population in the USA. The course will survey the historical avenues that led to the United States and to inter-ethnic alliances. The many challenges this multi-ethnic population faces will be examined. Instructor: Gloria Bogdan CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Biracial and Multiracial Identity in the U.S. Interdisciplinarily studies the socio-historical realities, identities, and political maintenance of people with multiple racial and ethnic heritages; examines the binary racial structure of the U.S., social and legal customs of racial designation and membership; focuses on multiracial populations such as Creoles, mulattos, mestizos, Black-Indians, Eurasians, Afroasians, Amerasians, Black-Chinese, etc. Instructor: Steven Ropp MILLS COLLEGE Mixed Race Descent in the Americas This course is an introductory course that examines the historical and theoretical development of multiracial and multiethnic communities. How racially mixed people define themselves or are defined by others is a topic of discussion in the academy, in Senate hearings, in literature, and in films. Rather than assuming a one-dimensional definition of themselves, racially mixed peoples are voicing the demand to be seen in all aspects of their heritage. Instructor: Melinda Micc Narratives of People of Mixed Race Descent From the figure of the "tragic mulatta" to Gloria Anzaldúa's more empowered mestiza, people of mixed racial descent have inhabited an American literary imagination. This course focuses on works of fiction and critical theories of authors of mixed racial descent in order to examine the production of historical narratives, social myths, and ideologies of mixed race identity. Themes include "passing" racial formation, and the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Instructor: Vivian Chin SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY Asian Americans of Mixed Heritages Asians of Mixed Heritage are an increasingly significant population both demographically and culturally. The visibility of Asians of Mixed Heritage in the mass media, such as Tiger Woods, Keanu Reeves, Ann Curry and Foxy Brown, propels issues of inclusion and exclusion, authenticity and belonging into dialogs on race. They also challenge the idea of racial divisions through their visibly "mixed" presence. This class examines the history of racial ideology in the United States and internationally, providing a foundation for discussions of mixed heritage in the historical context of anti-miscegenation laws and in the contemporary context of the rich development of Hapa Culture and the political and social Multiethnic Movements. Special attention will be paid to Hapas in Hawai'i, Double Minorities, Transracial Adoptees, Gender Issues and Mixed Heritage, Queer Hapas, Mixed Heritage Organizations, and Hapa Culture (Literature, Visual Art, Performance Art, Film and Video, etc.). Instructor: Wei Ming Dariotis SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Multiracial Asian Americans Experience The lives and families of Multiracial Asian Americans are explored through their social histories, identity, and experiences in the development and evolution of Asian American ethnic communities. Instructor: Curtiss Rooks STANFORD UNIVERSITY Asian Americans of Mixed Heritage The major themes and issues surrounding mixed-heritage, biraciality, multiraciality, and the multicultural identity and experiences of Asian Americans. Issues: ethnic identity and intermarriage; the experiences of Asian Americans of mixed-race and mixed-heritage; interracial and intercultural family relationships; and impact of intermarriage and mixed-race people of the Asian American community and the larger American society. Examination of the growing presence of mixed-raced and mixed-heritage people through the interplay of cultural and social similarities, and race, gender, class, and culture inequalities. Instructor: Pang UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS Biracial and Multiracial Asian Pacific American Experiences Introduction to the experiences of biracial and multiracial Asian Pacific people in the U.S., concentrating on theories of race, racial identity formation, culture, media, and anti-racist struggles. Provides critical approaches to the analysis of popular media and academic representations. Instructor: Kent A. Ono UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES Mixed Heritage Asian Americans This course will examine mixed heritage Asian American populations, their social histories, social experiences, and social identities within various sociological and social psychological theoretical frameworks, focusing on Asian-descent multiracial populations (e.g Amerasians, Eurasians, mestizos, the Black-Chinese, transracial adoptees, etc.) and the biracial offspring of increasing interracial marriages since 1967. This course will also explore the relationship biracial/multiracial groups have had (and continue to have) with the larger white majority group and monoracially-identified minority communities (e.g. the African American, Chicano/Latino, Asian/Pacific American, Native American communities, etc.) Through the social scientific examination of biracial/multiracial populations, this course intends to illuminate how Asian American Studies and the social sciences aid in conceptualizing and theorizing about, as well as redefining "race" and "ethnicity," and their intersections with class, culture, language, sexuality, gender, and nation. As students explore the dynamic processes of social boundaries and multiple identities, they will view mixed heritage Asian American realities as only one dimension (parts of a whole) in understanding the complexities of human identity. Instructor: Teresa Williams-Leon UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA Multiethnic Asian Americans The history, identities, and social relations of multiethnic Asian Americans. Uses fiction, autobiography, sociological and psychological studies of people of mixed racial or ethnic parentage. Considers cognate issues such as interracial marriage. Betwixt and Between: Multiracial Identity in the United States An examination of the factors that have influenced the social location of racially mixed individuals of African and European descent in the United States, in order to provide a context for understanding the complexities surrounding the newly emerging multiracial consciousness. Instructor: G. Reginald Daniel UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY People of Mixed Racial Descent A comparative study of people of mixed racial and cultural heritage in the US, including historical, sociological, psychological, philosophical, literary and artistic perspectives. We examine ethnicity, race, and racism in American society. Topics include: images, beliefs and theories of multi-raciality in America; the "one drop" rule; outmarriage; the tragic mulatta; World War II war brides and "golden men"; interracial dating, sex and marriage; inter cultural family dynamics; ethnic identity of people of mixed descent; identity and mental health; the multi-racial movement; group survival; expression through the arts and popular culture; census categories. Instructor: Robert Allen Multiracial Societies in the Americas Deals with phenomenon of people of mixed race descent, focusing on United States but with reference to other nations for comparative purposes. Includes historical perspective as well as exploring the psychology, sociology, literature, and cinema pertaining to topic. Instructor: Robert Allen UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO People of Mixed Descent This course will examine the experiences of mixed race populations (mulattos, mestizos, mixed blood Native Americans, and Eurasians) in comparative perspective using sociological theories (assimilation, third culture, marginality, and multiculturalism) in order to understand that race is a social and political construct. Instructor: King-O'Riain UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Half-Bred Poetics: Cultural Hybridity and the Politics of Race Writing Many mixed-race writers feel compelled to reconfigure their own confusions of identity in a poetics of opposition that seeks to articulate the marked (or unmarked) space of the hyphen, a space that both binds and divides. This punctum is the operable tool that both compounds difference and underlines sameness. The hyphen is the hybrid's dish, the mestiza's whole wheat tortilla, the métis' apple, the happa's egg, the mulatto's cafe au lait. This seminar, through a variety of weekly readings, will attempt to critically locate a useful language in the writing of cultural 'in-betweenness." Instructor: Fred Wah About the Author Erica Schlaikjer is in her senior year of high school in Maryland. In school, she is involved in student government as Senior Class President and active in theater and and choir. Outside of school, she works with the Montgomery County Youth Advisory Committee, planning social activities and educational programs for County youth. She's into poetry, music, and good movies. She will be attending university in the Fall.	About Us Articles Eurasian Experience Arts & Culture Family Relationships Politics and Society Forums Contact Us Mixed Media Watch New Demographic