Course description The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies of the Claremont Colleges (IDAAS) offers a rigorous, multidisciplinary major that emphasizes social justice, critical thinking, and innovative analysis of the history, society, and cultural production of Asians in the United States, within both multiracial American and transnational contexts. The curriculum provides students with a comprehensive grounding in a range of thematic, theoretical, and methodological approaches within Asian American Studies. The major integrates theory and practice through community work, and sustained and focused inquiry in the senior project or thesis. In consultation with an IDAAS adviser, students take core interdisciplinary courses in Asian American Studies and select appropriate courses in a range of disciplines throughout the five colleges.
Requirements for the Major
Eleven graded courses are required for the major.
1. Six core courses:
* Asian American History (Hist 125 AA CM)
* Asian American Contemporary Issues (Asam 150 PO)
* Communities course: approved field work in an Asian American community or internship with a Asian American community-based organization (Asam 90 PZ)
* Theory and Methods in Asian American Studies (Asam 115 PZ)
* Senior Seminar (ASAM 190a PZ)
* Senior Thesis or Project: independent work with senior thesis/project adviser (Asam 190b PZ)
2. Breadth requirements and electives:
Five courses in addition to the core courses listed above. These courses should be selected in consultation with the IDAAS major adviser and they must fulfill all the following requirements. Core courses above may not be used to fulfill any breadth requirements, but all other courses may fulfill two or more requirements. For example, a single non-core course might simultaneously fulfill the requirements for social sciences, gender and sexuality and Asia and migration. If courses are used to fulfill multiple requirements, students must take additional IDAAS courses to make a total of eleven courses for the major. Consult list of approved courses for
each requirement.
* At least one IDAAS social sciences course
* At least one IDAAS humanities course
* At least one IDAAS gender and sexuality course
* At least one approved non-Asian American ethnic studies course: e.g.
comparative ethnic studies course, Black Studies course, Chicano Studies course
* At least one approved course related to Asia and migration, globalization
and/or imperialism
Asian language courses and Asam 197 SC are strongly recommended but not required.
Minor in Asian American Studies
The minor in Asian American Studies requires six graded courses:
* Asian American History (Hist 125 AA CM)
* Asian American Contemporary Issues (Asam 150 PO)
* Communities course: approved field work in an Asian American community or internship with a Asian American community-based organization (Asam 90 PZ)
* Three additional IDAAS courses