Minor Requirements

Minor in Asian Pacific American Studies

Students interested in more information about program requirements, or who want to declare the minor, should contact the College of Humanities Academic Advising Center at cohadv@email.arizona.edu.

The minor consists of 18 total units comprised of:

Minor Core (9 units)

Select 2 Core Courses from the following list:

  • APAS 250 (3 units) - Hidden Histories of Asian Pacific Americans
    Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that arose out of the shared concerns of students of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States who sought courses on the contribution of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) to the United States. Following this tradition, this course introduces neglected and overlooked histories and perspectives of APAs, and the chosen topics shed light on contemporary issues. In the process, it explores key issues in Asian American politics, racial formation, and culture. Themes include identity, migration, class, gender, sexuality, panethnicity, youth culture, and social movements. The process of unearthing hidden histories will provide practice for students of nearly any background to identify patterns of missing information and to formulate strategies to rediscover it.
    Offered Fall
  • HUMS 205 (3 units) - Asian Pacific American Strategies: Confronting Challenges in the United States
    This course introduces challenges that Asian Pacific Americans have faced throughout their history in the United States and practical steps they have taken to survive, to negotiate, and to overcome these challenges. Asian Pacific Americans are internally diverse, comprising over 50 ethnicities with a variety of relationships with U.S. culture, society, and international politics. This course explores critical issues in the Asian Pacific American experience as well as strategies to analyze and to engage with today's challenges.
    Offered Spring
  • PAH 260 (3 units) - Asian Pacific American Cultures in Public Life
    From Bruce Lee to Crazy Rich Asians, from General Tso's Chicken to Korean tacos, and from Yuri Kochiyama to Andrew Yang, Asian Pacific American (APA) cultures and public figures have transformed and been transformed by their relationship to other cultures in the United States. We will consider some of these notable examples as models and highlight how they represent  public culture, connecting to contemporary debates in the field of Asian Pacific American studies. Course themes will include: methods of public humanities and intercultural competence; the cultural construction of race; representations of APAs in the media; APA gender and sexuality; hybridity and multi-generational diasporas; consumption and APA food culture; politics of the model minority; collective APA action and urban cultures; and the culture of refugees and war.
    Offered Fall, Spring; Frequently Online

Theoretical Affinity courses address one or more core research areas in Asian Pacific American Studies: Orientalism, immigration and diaspora studies, American international and domestic politics, and cultural and media studies. Taking one of these courses expands the understanding of Asian Pacific American cultural webs, political frameworks, and links to other marginalized groups. Select 1 theoretical affinity course from the following list:

  • AFAS/SOC 220 (3 units) - Introduction to African American Studies
  • AIS 200 (3 units) - Introduction to American Indian Studies
  • AIS/ANTH 220 (3 units) - Contemporary American Indian Issues
  • ENGL 347 (3 units) - English Literature with an Accent
  • GWS 240 (3 units) - Gender in a Transnational World
  • GWS 325 (3 units) - Gender, Sexuality & International Migration
  • GWS/MAS  358 (3 units) - U.S. 3rd World Feminisms: Theory, History, Practice
  • GWS/HIST/POL  386 (3 units) - Race/Gender: Genealogies, Formations, Politics
  • HIST 452 (3 units) - American Ethnic History
  • MAS 265 (3 units) - Culture, Community, and Identity
  • MENA 277B (3 units) - A People's History of the Modern Middle East
  • MENA 337 (3 units) - Language and Power in the Middle East and North Africa
  • POL 209 (3 units) - Diversity and Politics in a Changing World
  • POL/AFAS/MAS 330 (3 units) - Minority Groups and American Politics
  • SOC/ANTH 260 (3 units) - Ethnic Relations in the United States
  • SOC/AFAS/AIS/ANTH/MAS 467 (3 units) - Race and Ethnic Relations
  • TLS 204 (3 units) - Language, Culture, and Race in Education
  • TLS 306 (3 units) - Youth in Diverse Communities

Upper Division Electives (9 units minimum)

  • APAS 350 (3 units) – Asian American Stereotypes
  • APAS 373 (3 units) – Asian and Asian American Hip Hop Cultures
  • APAS/EAS/RELI 390 (3 units) - Asian and Pacific Religions in American Spirituality
  • CHN 345 (3 units) - Buddhists, Bandits, and Beauties
  • CHN/ENGL 429 (3 units) - Chinese Immigrant Literature and Film
  • EAS/ENGL 422 (3 units) - Asian American Literature
  • ENGL 346 (3 units) - Ambassadorship and Asian American Literature
  • JPN 355 (3 units) - US-Japan Popular Culture 
  • MENA 342 (3 units) - Persian World
  • MENA 385 (3 units) - Introduction to Political Islam
  • RELI 330 (3 units) - North American Buddhism: Transmission, Translation, Transformation
  • RELI 367 (3 units) - Yoga

Up to 3 units of the following can apply to elective unit minimum, with petition (contact Dr. Brett Esaki):

  • Critical Languages of APAs (CRL courses in Asian and Pacific Languages accepted)
  • Internship, Capstone, Independent Study, Thesis, or Practicum with APA Studies focus

 

Student Learning Outcomes

Think Critically
Students will be able to evaluate arguments about Asian Pacific Americans from different perspectives and by applying appropriate disciplinary methods, such as the social construction of race.

Communicate Effectively
Students will be able to express themselves effectively in written and verbal communication. May include creative projects and web-based formats. 

Use Information Ethically and Effectively
Students will be able to identify, locate, and evaluate sources for the study of Asian Pacific Americans, including knowing the advantages and limits of applying sources outside of the field to Asian Pacific Americans. 

Construct Arguments about Diversity
Students will be able to develop arguments about the commonalities and variation within and across Asian Pacific American identities (including, but not limited to nationality, citizenship status and generation in the United States, region in the United States, and individual assertions).

Intellectual Intercultural Flexibility
Students will be able to consider multiple cultures and political ideologies and draw from their diverse opinions, new ideas, and perspectives when they evaluate the complexity of societal problems.