American Studies 345 - Model Minorities

(Offered as AMST 345 and SOCI 345)  The United States has long struggled with challenges created by the need to absorb ethnic and racial minorities.  In the face of seemingly intractable problems, one solution has been to designate a “model minority,” which then appears to divert attention from the society at large.  Earlier in the twentieth century, Jewish Americans played this role; today, Asian Americans are the focus.  This course examines specific instances in which Jewish Americans and Asian Americans both embraced and rejected the model minority stereotype.  Course units will also examine the underside of the model minority stereotype, quotas imposed to limit access to education and employment as well as social and legal actions taken in response to such restrictions. The course will feature a range of materials, including plays, fiction, journalism, and visual works.  Students will read scholarship in the fields of American Studies, Sociology, History, and Critical Race Studies.

Fall semester.  Limited to 25 students.  McCloy Visiting Professor Odo and Lecturer Bergoffen.