Professor Ann Marie Leshkowich
Beaven 230
508-793-2788
aleshkow@holycross.edu
Office Hours: M 10-10:45, 1-2; W 1-4; F 1-2; other times by appointment. (Please note that office hours may occasionally change; if so, the changes will be announced in class and via email.)

 

Course Description

This course examines contemporary Asia as an interconnected region central to world events and as diverse societies, communities, and nation states that face particular problems as they struggle with issues of globalization, modernity, and neoliberalism while trying to maintain a sense of national or cultural identities. With readings focusing on India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Korea, and the Asian diaspora, the course will cover such topics as religion, family, gender, politics, economics, class, labor migration, arts, ethnicity, and urbanization. Taking a person-centered anthropological perspective, the course explores how larger dynamics affect and are shaped by individuals' daily experiences and perspectives.

The course draws on the expertise and generosity of the Asian Studies faculty at Holy Cross. We will incorporate many different sources -- including film, guest lectures, and theatrical and musical performances -- to enhance your appreciation of the issues facing contemporary Asia and Asians. Some of these activities will be required events outside of class time. Others will be optional extra credit opportunities. Finally, as we attempt to strike a balance between breadth and depth in our coverage of Asia, readings may be changed or additional activities added in order to consider recent events, provide background for the material covered by guest lectures, or pursue topics that require more attention.

 

Learning Objectives

Students completing this course exploring Asia from a sociocultural anthropological perspective will understand:
1) The pitfalls of viewing Asia from a perspective that defines any one cultural worldview as the norm from which others are judged.
2) Cultural and structural explanations of human behavior as distinct, in particular, from psychological or individualistic explanations.
3) How we can understand broader economic, political, social, or cultural processes in Asia through detailed ethnographic study of individuals' daily experiences.
4) The social, economic, political, and historical bases of hierarchies based on such factors as race, gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, age, religion, and geographical location.
5) Ways in which all communities in Asia today are enmeshed in processes of globalization, yet experience those processes differently.

 

Class Meetings

The class meets three times per week. Two of these sessions will typically be formatted as lectures, with the additional meeting devoted to viewing films or class discussion. Students will be expected to attend all class meetings (attendance will be taken) and to complete the readings as scheduled on the syllabus. Most weeks, students will write a brief response paper (2-3 pages) on an assigned topic. These will serve as the basis for group discussion.

 

Course Requirements

Course grades will be based on written work and class participation, broken down as follows:

1. Class Discussion and Participation (15%)

This course takes an active approach to learning; your presence and participation in class are essential to your success! You are required to attend all class meetings, including lectures, films, and discussion sessions. Participation consists of being alert and taking notes during lectures, asking questions to clarify points of misunderstanding, engaging actively in small-group activities, and contributing meaningfully to classroom discussions. Because involvement in class activities is so important, more than two unexcused absences during the semester will result in the lowering of your participation grade by one-half of a percentage point for each additional class missed.

2. Response Papers (30%)

In preparation for discussion sections, you will be asked to prepare short response papers on assigned topics. These papers require you to integrate what you have learned from lectures and readings, either by reflecting on them to develop your own insights or by evaluating their methods by completing your own ethnographic research exercise. Ten papers are assigned, and you must complete six. Each of the six assignments will be worth five points, for a total of 30% of your course grade. A seventh paper can be completed, in which case the highest six grades will count as your total. Late papers will not be accepted. For information about composing thesis statements, constructing your argument, and grading standards, please refer to these guidelines. Papers are to be emailed to Prof. Leshkowich before class on the day indicated on the syllabus.

3. Midterm (22%)

An in-class midterm will be given on Friday, October 19. The midterm will consist of identification of key terms and concepts from the first portion of the class (readings, lectures) and one essay question. An optional review session will be held on the evening of Wednesday, October 17. Study materials will be posted to the course website.

4. Final Exam (33%)

Like the midterm, the final exam will consist of identification of key terms and essays. There will be a total of two essays: one in response to a broad question synthesizing the major themes of the course and a second, shorter question focusing on the material covered after the midterm. The date for the final exam will be posted to the syllabus as soon as it is available. An optional review session will be held on Monday, December 10, starting at 11am in Beaven 118.

5. Extra Credit Opportunities

Thanks to a vibrant program in Asian Studies, Holy Cross frequently hosts films, speakers, and cultural events related to Asia. Some of these events are noted on the syllabus; others will be announced and added as information becomes available. For events that are not required for this course, students can earn extra credit by attending and then submitting by email a paragraph exploring an issue or two raised by the event as it relates to a topic or reading we've explored in class. Extra credit of .5 for each event write-up will be added to your response paper total, up to the maximum of 30 points.

 

Diversity and Inclusion

Our diversity is a strength that is critical to the educational mission of the College of the Holy Cross overall and to this class in particular. In joining this community, we have each committed to building an inclusive and respectful environment for all. Dimensions of diversity can include sex, race, age, national origin, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, intellectual and physical ability, sexual orientation, income, faith and non-faith perspectives, socio-economic class, political ideology, education, primary language, family status, cognitive style, and communication style. The individual intersection of these experiences and characteristics must be valued in our community.

If you encounter any barriers to your learning, please let me know immediately so that we can determine together what steps to take. These may include changing an aspect of the course design or accessing additional campus resources (Office of Disability Services, Title IX Coordinator, Office of Diversity and Inclusion). I am always happy to consider creative solutions as long as they do not compromise the intent of the assessment or learning activity. I welcome feedback that will assist me in improving the usability and learning experience of this course for all students.

 

Academic Integrity

In coming to Holy Cross, students and faculty have joined an intellectual community dedicated to learning together through the open exchange of ideas. For us to feel comfortable sharing our perspectives, we need to be confident that our ideas will be respected as our own. All of us share responsibility for creating an environment conducive to open exchange by holding to principles of trust, integrity, and honesty. Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, and collusion, violates these fundamental principles. As a student, you are responsible for reading and knowing the College Policy on Academic Integrity, as stated in the College Catalog. As your professor, I am available to help you understand this policy and to guide you in following appropriate methods of research and citation. When in doubt, consult!

All written work for this course will be archived. All response papers for this class must be submitted in electronic form by email so that they may be permanently stored.

This class adheres to a zero tolerance policy for academic dishonesty. Any work that, upon investigation, is found to violate the College policy will receive a grade of zero and a report will be submitted to the College administration. Further information about these procedures is contained in the College Catalog.

 

Electronic Devices

As outlined in the attendance policy above, the intellectual community that this class seeks to foster requires that you be an active participant and careful listener. Employed judiciously, technology can enhance our ability to learn interactively through having a wealth of knowledge and perspectives at our fingertips. Use of computers, tablets, and smartphones is therefore permitted in class, so long as such use facilitates the learning objectives of the class by allowing you to contribute more actively and substantively to lectures, discussions, and activities. You may not use devices to check email, monitor social media, or engage in any kind of interaction unrelated to class. Students violating this policy will be asked to discontinue all device use for the rest of the class period. Repeated violations will result in withdrawal of permission to use devices for the remainder of the semester. Finally, while laptops can be useful for notetaking, please note that scholarly studies suggest that handwritten notes, when and if possible, better promote active learning and retention.

 

Grade Calculation

The midterm, final exam, and course grade will be calculated according to a 100-point scale. The grading scale is as follows:

A, 93 and above	C+, 77-79.99
A-, 90-92.99	C, 73-76.99
B+, 87-89.99	C-, 70-72.99
B, 83-86.99	D+, 67-69.99
B-, 80-82.99	D, 60-66.99
	F, 59.99 and below

 

Office Hours

My office hours are listed at the top of this syllabus, and I encourage you to visit with me during the semester. Please note that office hours occasionally must be changed due to meetings or other commitments. I will announce such changes in class, via email, and by posting a sign to my office door. Office hours are first come, first served and are a great chance to discuss specific issues arising from the course, as well as to exchange more general insights and chat about experiences from your studies or my research. If you need to meet with me outside of office hours, please email me to set up an appointment.

 

Introductory Meetings

I would like to meet with each of you individually during the first month of the semester. This is a great opportunity for us to chat about your interests, reasons for taking this class, possible future plans, etc. These appointments will last 10-15 minutes. A sign up sheet will be passed around during the first week of class.

 

Course Website (http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/aleshkow/contasia/contasia.html)

The website for this course is a center for important information: syllabus, lecture handouts, writing assignments, study guide questions, exam review materials, and announcements. Please check it frequently, and feel free to pass along suggestions for additional links and information that should be included. Also, check out my homepage at:
http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/aleshkow/homepage.html

 

Readings

It is expected that you will have textbooks and other required class materials in order to achieve academic success. If you are unable to purchase course materials, please go to the Financial Aid office where a staff member will be happy to provide you with information and assistance. Readings marked "Moodle article" on the syllabus are available through Moodle. The books listed below are required for the course. Hard copies can be purchased at the bookstore. They are also available in ebook format through the library website.

Besky, Sarah. 2013. The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India. University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520277397
Danely, Jason. 2015. Aging and Loss: Mourning and Maturity in Contemporary Japan. Rutgers University Press. ISBN: 9780813565163
Harms, Erik. 2016. Luxury and Rubble: Civility and Dispossession in the New Saigon. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520292512. Also available as an open-access ebook: http://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/detail/20/luxury-and-rubble/)

 

Course Schedule

INTRODUCTION: ASIA, ORIENTALISM, NATIONALISM

August 29 (W): Unpacking Asia
Read: This syllabus!

August 31 (F): Orientalism, Colonialism, Modernity, Nationalism
Read: Said, Orientalism, pp. 1-28 (Moodle article)
Anderson, "Census, Map, Museum," chapter 10, Imagined Communities (Moodle article)
Strassler, "Introduction: Popular Photography and Indonesian National Modernity," Refracted Visions: Popular Photography and National Modernity in Java (Moodle article)

 

AGRICULTURAL LABOR

September 3 (M): Tea Histories: Production and Consumption
Read: Besky, The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India, Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2

September 5 (W): Fair Trade?
Read: Besky, The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India, Chapters 3 and 4

September 7 (F): Land and Identity
Read: Besky, The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India, Chapter 5 and Conclusion

***September 7 (F): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Annual Summer Research Symposium, 1-4 pm, Hogan Ballroom. Click here for a searchable PDF of the presentation abstracts.

September 10 (M): Discussion
Response paper #1 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

 

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES: PROFIT AND OTHERING

September 12 (W): Ethnicity and Tourism in China
Read: Chio, "'Take a Picture with Us' - The Politics of Appearance," chapter 4, A Landscape of Travel: The Work of Tourism in Rural Ethnic China (Moodle article)
Schein, "Gender and Internal Orientalism in China" (Moodle article)

September 14 (F): Chinese Picturing the Indonesian Nation
Read: Strassler, "Cosmopolitan Visions: Ethnic Chinese and the Photographic Imagining of Indonesia in the Late Colonial and Early Postcolonial Periods" (Moodle article)

September 17 (M): Violence
Read: MacLean, "The Rohingya Crisis and the Practices of Erasure" (Moodle article)
Thum, "The Uyghurs in Modern China" (online article)
Thum, "China's Mass Internment Camps Have No Clear End in Sight" (online article)

***September 19 (W): Optional Extra Credit Event***
"Silkroad Ensemble: Perspectives on Arts & Healing," 10:00 am, Brooks Concert Hall

September 19 (W): Class canceled so that you can attend the required outside event on Thursday, September 20.

***September 19 (W): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Open Studio with Southeast Asian Artists in Residency, Nguyen The Son and Nguyen Kim To Lan, Worcester Art Museum, 12-2pm. Vans will depart from Hogan at 12pm and return to Hogan by 2pm. There is room for a maximum of 9 students from our class to attend.

***September 20 (Thursday): Required Outside Event***
"The Past, Present, and Future of the Rohingya Crisis," 4:00 pm, Dana Commons, Higgins Lounge (Clark University)
Panel discussion featuring Tun Khin (Burmese Rohingya Organization), John Knaus (Associate Director for Asia, National Endowment for Democracy), Debbie Stothard (Director of Altseam-Burma and Secretary General of International Federation for Human Rights), Matt Wells (Amnesty International Senior Crisis Advisor).

***September 20 (Thursday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
"Writers of the Cambodian Diaspora," 6:00 pm, Worcester Art Museum
Panel Discussion with four Cambodian-American writers: Tararith Kho, Bunkong Tuon, Chath pierSath, and Princess Moon. The authors will read from their work and participate in a discussion moderated by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Professor of English and Asian/Asian American Studies and Associate Dean for Humanities and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Connecticut.

***September 20 (Thursday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
"An Evening with Silkroad, featuring Home Within," 7:30 pm, Seelos Theater

September 21 (F): Student-Led Discussion
Response paper #2 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

 

LABOR MIGRATION

September 24 (M): Mobility and Citizenship
Read: Parrenas, "Transgressing the Nation-State: The Partial Citizenship and 'Imagined (Global) Community' of Migrant Filipina Domestic Workers" (Moodle article)
Constable, "Migrant Workers, Legal Tactics, and Fragile Family Formation in Hong Kong" (Moodle article)

September 26 (W): Slavery and Trafficking
Read: Tizon, "My Family's Slave" (online article)
Rafael, "Lola's Resistant Dignity: Reading 'My Family's Slave' in the context of Philippine history" (online article)
McElya, "The Faithful Slave: How Alex Tizon's essay echoes a trope with deep roots in American history" (online article)
Jeong, "Mother, Wife, Slave: Lola and the universality of women's exploitation" (online article)

***September 26 (W): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Simeon Man (History, University of California, San Diego), "Securing 'Asia for Asians': Race, Counterinsurgency, and the U.S. Empire," 7:00 pm, Rehm Library

September 28 (F): Film: BATAM
Read: Lindquist, "Veils and Ecstasy: Negotiating Shame in the Indonesian Borderlands" (Moodle article)
Silvey, "Overseas Female Labor Migrant (TKW or Tenaga Kerja Wanita)" (Moodle article)

October 1 (M): Discussion
Response paper #3 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

***EVENT CANCELED***October 1 (M): Optional Extra Credit Event***EVENT CANCELED***
Corinne Kumar, "Threads: New Concepts of Justice." Bangalore-based activist Corinne Kumar is secretary general of El Taller International, an NGO committed to women's human rights, sustainable development, and both North-South and South-South exchange and dialogue across diverse cultures and civilizations. She will discuss jurisprudence and patriarchy, violence against women, the rational/masculine mode of our justice system and the urgent need for women to find new ways to justice. 4:30 pm, Rehm Library

 

WAR, MEMORY, AND DIASPORA

October 3 (W): Diaspora: Vietnamese Americans
Read: Espiritu, "Toward a Critical Refugee Study: The Vietnamese Refugee Subject in US Scholarship" (Moodle article)
Trinh, excerpt from Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism (Moodle article)
Trinh, excerpt from Elsewhere, within here: Immigration, Refugeeism, and the Boundary Event

***October 3 (W): Required Outside Event***
Trinh T. Minh-Ha (Rhetoric and Gender & Women's Studies, University of California, Berkeley): Film Screening, "Forgetting Vietnam" and Conversation with the Writer/Director, 4:30 pm, Rehm Library

October 5 (F): Memory
Read: Schwenkel, "Recombinant History: Transnational Practices of Memory and Knowledge Production in Contemporary Vietnam" (Moodle article)
Nhi T. Lieu, "Remembering 'The Nation' through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the 'Hoa Hau Ao Dai' Contest" (Moodle article)

***October 8 (M) - October 12 (F): No Classes, October break***

October 15 (M): Film, "Painted Nails"
As you watch the film, please complete the following form: paintednailsnotes.docx. If you see the film in class, please hand in the form at the end of the session. If you watch the film on your own, please email the form to Prof. Leshkowich.
Hoang, "Nailing Race and Labor Relations: Vietnamese Nail Salons in Majority-Minority Neighborhoods" (Moodle article)

***Ocober 15 (M): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Fenggang Yang (Center on Religion and Chinese Society, Purdue University), "Is China the New Roman Empire? The Christian Growth in China and Global Implications," 4:30 pm, Rehm Library

October 17 (W): Discussion
Response paper #4 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

October 17 (W), 6:30pm: Optional review session for midterm exam, Beaven 118

October 19 (F): MIDTERM EXAM

 

RELIGIOUS NEGOTIATION: INDONESIA

October 22 (M): Piety and Work
Read: Rudnyckyj, "Market Islam in Indonesia" (Moodle article)
Hoesterey, "Muslim Television Preacher (Tele-Dai)" (Moodle article)

***October 23 (Tuesday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Anthony W. Lee (Mount Holyoke College), "The Global Flows of Early Photography: The Case of the Scottish Camera in 19th-Century China," 7:00 pm, Smith 155

October 24 (W): Piety and Consumption
Read: Jones, "Materializing Piety: Gendered Anxieties about Faithful Consumption in Contemporary Urban Indonesia" (Moodle article)

***October 25 (Thursday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Chen Chen, Lecture and Discussion, 7:30 pm, Rehm Library
Chen Chen is the 2018-2020 Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence at Brandeis University and author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, which won the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, the GLCA New Writers Award, and was longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Poetry. The collection has also been named a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. He is the winner of the Thom Gunn Award for poetry.

October 26 (F): Discussion
Response paper #5 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

 

POPULATION, PART 1: PARENTING, CHINA

October 29 (M): Fertility and Modernity
Read: Fong, "China's One-Child Policy and the Empowerment of Urban Daughters" (Moodle article)
Kuan, "The Horrific and the Exemplary: Public Stories and Education Reform in Late Socialist China" (Moodle article)

October 31 (W): Childrearing and Class Affect
Read: Kuan, "Banking in Affects," chapter 7, Love's Uncertainty: The Politics and Ethics of Child Rearing in Contemporary China (Moodle article)

***October 31 (Wednesday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Bianca Williams (City University of New York), "Pursuing Happiness as a Political Project: Black Women, Travel, and the Promise of Diaspora," 4:30 pm, Rehm Library

November 2 (F): Discussion
Response paper #6 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

 

POPULATION, PART 2: AGING, JAPAN

November 5 (M): Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Aging
Read: Danely, Aging and Loss: Mourning and Maturity in Contemporary Japan, Introduction, chapters 2, 5

November 7 (W): Aging: Kinship and Spirituality
Read: Danely, Aging and Loss: Mourning and Maturity in Contemporary Japan, chapters 6, 7

November 9 (F): Discussion
Response paper #7 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

 

ARTISTIC PRODUCTION AND CULTURAL CIRCULATION

November 12 (M): Culture Travels
Read: Pick one of the following three articles (the article in bold type is the one that Prof. Leshkowich suggests and on which lecture will focus):
Leshkowich and Jones, "What Happens When Asian Chic Becomes Chic in Asia?" (Moodle article)
Lee, "Beauty between Empires: Global Feminisms, Plastic Surgery, and the Trouble with Self- Esteem" (Moodle article)
Tu, "White Like Koreans: The Skin of the New Vietnam" (Moodle article)

***November 12 (Monday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Todd Lewis, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities (Holy Cross), "Seeing and Understanding Living Buddhist Arts," 4:30pm, Cantor Art Gallery

November 14 (W): Conversation with Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., Rehm Library (please go directly to Rehm). Please note that there will be a breakfast reception prior to the conversation with the Ambassador, starting at 10:15. The reception will take place in Moran Lounge on the fourth floor of Smith Hall (the open area above Rehm Library).
Read: Pick one of the following three articles (the article in bold type is the one that Prof. Leshkowich suggests and on which lecture will focus):
Lie, "What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and National Identity" (Moodle article)
Bestor, "How Sushi Went Global" (Moodle article)
Fish, "Authorizing Yoga: The Pragmatics of Cultural Stewardship in the Digital Era" (Moodle article)

***November 15 (Thursday): Required Outside Event***
the little match girl passion, 7:30 pm, Fenwick Theatre. Tickets will be provided without charge to students in this class.

November 16 (F): Guest visit by artists involved in little match girl

November 19 (M) Discussion
Response paper #8 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

***November 21 (W) - November 23 (F): No Classes, Thanksgiving break***

 

INTIMACY AND AFFECTIVE LABOR

November 26 (M): Call Centers and Sex Work
Read: Mankekar and Gupta, "Intimate Encounters: Affective Labor in Call Centers" (Moodle article)
Padios, "Call Center Agent" (Moodle article)
Hoang, "Flirting with Capital: Negotiating Perceptions of Pan-Asian Ascendency and Western Decline in Global Sex Work" (Moodle article)
Robert, "Prostitute" (Moodle article)

November 28 (W): Reproductive Labor
Read: Rudrappa, "What to Expect When You're Expecting: The Affective Economies of Consuming Surrogacy in India" (Moodle article)
Deomampo, "Race, Nation, and the Production of Intimacy: Transnational Ova Donation in India" (Moodle article)

November 30 (F): Discussion
Response paper #9 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

***November 30 (Friday): Optional Extra Credit Event***
Juno Salazar Parrenas (The Ohio State University),"Semi-Wild Orangutans as Ethnographic Subjects: A Time for Critical Cross-Disciplinary Anthropology," 2:30 pm, Smith LABS 155

 

URBANIZATION

December 3 (M): Civility and Dispossession
Read: Harms, Luxury and Rubble: Civility and Dispossession in the New Saigon, Introduction, chapter 3, chapter 6 (Available as an open-access ebook: http://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/detail/20/luxury-and-rubble/)
Note: the Introduction is required reading; then, pick either chapter 3 or chapter 6

December 5 (W): Discussion

 

CONCLUSION

December 7 (F): Whither Asia?
Response paper #10 due by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.

***December 7 (F): 8pm, Brooks Concert Hall: Optional Extra Credit Event
Gamelan Gita Sari Concert***

 

December 10 (M): Optional Final Exam Review Session beginning at 11:00 am, Beaven 118

FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, December 11, 11:30 am-2:00 pm, Beaven 118