Asian American Studies (Tri-Co)

Department Website:
https://www.haverford.edu/asian-american-studies

Asian American Studies is a Tri-College program that offers a minor at all three colleges. The interdisciplinary curriculum is designed to help students develop an understanding of Asian American experiences, histories, cultures, and art. While the program centers Asian American experiences and perspectives, it also contextualizes Asian American Studies within the broader field of critical race and ethnic studies, with a focus on how race operates in the United States and intergroup relations between Asian Americans with other racial and ethnic minority groups. Asian American Studies provides rich interdisciplinary training in complex social and cultural issues pertaining to the study of race, ethnicity, and identity; migration and acculturation; intergroup relations; power and privilege; stereotyping and discrimination; and globalization. Studying the experiences of Asian Americans helps students to learn more about themselves and their relationships in an increasingly multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural nation. Students are engaged in thinking deeply about concepts and theory, and relating those in applied ways to contemporary issues and problems in Asian American communities.

 

Learning Goals

  • Gain competence in the theories and methods of the interdisciplinary study of Asian Americans.
  • Contextualize how history has shaped the lives and experiences of Asian Americans, with relevance for contemporary issues and problems. 
  • Study and participate in creative expressions of Asian American experiences through literature, music, and dance.   
  • Examine the experiences of Asian Americans in the broader context of how race operates in the United States and understand intergroup relations with other racial and ethnic minority groups within the United States. 
  • ​Explore perspectives on Asian Americans from outside the United States taking a transnational or global view. 

Haverford’s Institutional Learning Goals are available on the President’s website, at http://hav.to/learninggoals.

Curriculum

The Asian American Studies minor is a 6-credit minor and is composed of the following requirements: at least 3 core courses in Asian American Studies, at least 1 course in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, and no more than 1 course in Transnational and/or Global Connections with Asia. In lieu of specific required courses, the curriculum offers a balance of structure and rigor with reasonable flexibility in possible pathways for completing the minor. The Co-Directors of Asian American Studies will help students select courses that meet the requirements for the minor. Students’ minor experience will culminate with an annual Tri-College Asian American Studies symposium where seniors will present their work in various forms (e.g., music performance, poster presentation), reflecting the highly interdisciplinary nature of the program.
 
Students interested in the Asian American Studies Minor should plan their course schedule in consultation with one of the Co-Directors of Asian American Studies (one located at Haverford/Bryn Mawr, one located at Swarthmore).

Minor Requirements

The 6-credit minor is composed of the following requirements:

  • At least 3 “Core Courses” in Asian American Studies. These courses have a substantive focus on Asian American experiences, histories, and cultures. Please find a current list of approved courses on the Asian American Studies website.

  • At least 1 Course in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies. These courses provide exposure to the experiences, histories, and cultures of other racial and ethnic groups in and of themselves, or in relation to other groups. Many courses that could meet this requirement are drawn from African and Africana Studies/Black Studies; Latin American, Iberian, and Latinx Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies; and other departments. Students should discuss the course they wish to use for this requirement with one of the Co-Directors.

  • 1 Course in Transnational or Global Connections with Asia. No more than one course that offers perspectives on Asian Americans from outside the United States with regard to history, literature, culture, or politics in order to explore transnational or global connections in a broader context. There are many non-language courses offered by East Asian Languages and Cultures/Asian Studies and other departments on Asian history, literature, culture, and politics from regional or global perspectives that could meet this requirement. Students should discuss the course they wish to use for this requirement with one of the Co-Directors.

Please note:

The six minor credits should cross over at least two divisions of the College (e.g., Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Independent Programs).

Senior thesis credit for an Asian American Studies topic may be counted towards the minor. Please discuss your senior thesis topic with one of the Co-Directors of Asian American Studies in advance.

No more than two credits from a single department can count towards the minor and no more than two of the six minor credits may double-count towards the student’s major. We wish to encourage thoughtful and intentional selection of courses for the Asian American Studies minor that help to expand a student’s academic exposure beyond what would have been gained through the major program of study as a matter of course.

Faculty

Below are the core Asian American Studies faculty. Many other faculty contribute courses to the program; see the Courses section for a full listing.

Haverford Faculty

Ruodi Duan
Assistant Professor of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures

Elizabeth Kim
Assistant Professor of English

Theresa Tensuan
Associate Dean of Student Success

Gina Velasco
Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies

Shu-wen Wang
The Robert and Constance MacCrate Chair in Social Responsibility; Professor of Psychology

Bryn Mawr Faculty

Thomas Le
Assistant Professor of Psychology and BiCo Chair of Asian American Studies (TriCo)

Sophia Mao
Assistant Professor of Literatures in English

Swarthmore Faculty

Ryan Ku
Visiting Assistant Professor of English Literature

Roseann Liu
Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies and Educational Studies

Lei X. Ouyang
Associate Professor, Department of Music; Co-Director, Asian American Studies

Vivian Truong
Assistant Professor of History,

Asian American Studies Courses

ASAM H203  ASIAN AMERICAN QUEER AND TRANS STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Gina Velasco

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Asian American Queer and Trans Studies. As such, we will focus on scholarship and cultural production at the intersection of Asian American Studies and Queer/Trans Studies. Throughout the course, we will draw on a range of theoretical and ethnographic texts, as well as forms of queer Asian American cultural production (primarily film and performance). Crosslisted: GSST,ASAM. Lottery Preference: Preference given to Gen Sex and Asian American Studies minors.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ASAM H339  ASIAN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY  (1.0 Credit)

Shu-wen Wang

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

This seminar course addresses major theories and findings in Asian American Psychology, with a focus on immigration and acculturation, ethnic identity, stereotyping and discrimination, families and development, and mental health. Prerequisite(s): One 200 level PSYC course or permission from instructor

(Offered: Fall 2026)

English Courses

ENGL B223  THE HELP: ASIAN AMERICAN LITERATURE & CARE WORK  (1.0 Credit)

Sophia Mao

Division: Humanities

This course surveys Asian American literature and cultural productions that feature the work of care: jobs, whether official or unofficial (such as mothering, nursing, and nannying) that are essential, yet so often undercompensated and overlooked. We will examine how Asian American immigration history has led to the burgeoning of industries around care work. We will see how narrative and fiction portray the troubling entanglements between economic structures, race and gender roles, and personal feeling in the labor of care. This course operates under the premise that an attentiveness to how care unfolds is essential to creating a more just world. Collectively, we will not just talk about care as an abstract set of ideas but concretely practice it with one another in the space of our classroom.

ENGL H249  INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN AMERICAN LITERATURE  (1.0 Credit)

Elizabeth Kim

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course will explore the diversity of Asian American experience by studying a selection of foundational and emerging works by Asian American writers. Assigned readings of various literary genres will address themes such as immigration, generational conflict, racism, assimilation, difference, and political struggle. Key lines of inquiry include: What does Asian American identity, culture, and aesthetic look like? How do writers represent them? What does the racial and literary category “Asian American” constitute? Crosslisted: ENGL. Pre-requisite(s): None

ENGL H306  TOPICS IN ASIAN AMERICAN LITERATURE: ASIAN AMERICAN HYBRIDITY  (1.0 Credit)

Elizabeth Kim

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course will study the relationship between form and content in a diverse range of experimental and multi-media works by contemporary Asian American authors to explore the ways in which they address the hybrid identity marker “Asian American.” Through examining works of various genres paired with critical texts, we will analyze how authors combine media and what this reflects about Asian American identity, experience, and survival. Lottery Preference: None

Gender and Sexuality Studies Courses

GSST H203  ASIAN AMERICAN QUEER AND TRANS STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Gina Velasco

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Asian American Queer and Trans Studies. As such, we will focus on scholarship and cultural production at the intersection of Asian American Studies and Queer/Trans Studies. Throughout the course, we will draw on a range of theoretical and ethnographic texts, as well as forms of queer Asian American cultural production (primarily film and performance). Crosslisted: GSST,ASAM. Lottery Preference: Preference given to Gen Sex and Asian American Studies minors.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

Music Courses

MUSC H123  MUSIC & GLOBAL SUBCULTURES  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course explores the informal processes through which subculture participants negotiate their use of music as a means of constructing, maintaining, and resisting cultural norms and social institutions. With a focus on the everyday, we will investigate the social processes and contexts involved in the creation and maintenance of musical subcultures and countercultures through ethnographic studies and films. The course will emphasize the impacts of theories of globalization and sovereignty, which have, for both better and worse, significantly influenced scholarship around musical subcultures and countercultures of the Global South. While ‘youth’ subcultures remain a key component of subculture studies, we will also address the challenges of aging within musical subcultures, including the work of scholars like Andy Bennett and Tom Turino. Specific studies read in this course will include punk scenes in Mexico City, San José, Costa Rica, and Peru; Chinese musical communities in Cuba (Dr. Porras!); heavy metal music in Jakarta; hip-hop in New York; Kwaito music in South Africa; Cumbia and its reaches; and more.

Peace, Justice and Human Rights Courses

PEAC H329  AFRO-ASIAN SOLIDARITIES  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This interdisciplinary course analyzes the relationship between Black and Asian communities in the Americas, highlighting moments of solidarity and unity and areas of divergence and conflict. Moving from slavery to indentureship to U.S. immigration, particularly post 1960s, students will examine the rhetoric of the yellow peril, the myth of the model minority, the rise of Black Power movements, orientalist stereotypes, and anti-blackness within the Asian (inclusive of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean) community. Pre-requisite(s): PEAC 101 or 201 or consent of instructor Lottery Preference: PJHR, AFST, and FGSTC students

Psychology Courses

PSYC H339  ASIAN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY  (1.0 Credit)

Shu-wen Wang

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

This seminar course addresses major theories and findings in Asian American Psychology, with a focus on immigration and acculturation, ethnic identity, stereotyping and discrimination, families and development, and mental health. Prerequisite(s): One 200 level PSYC course or permission from instructor

(Offered: Fall 2026)

Writing Program Courses

WRPR H153  CHRONICALLY ONLINE: ASIAN AMERICANS AND THE DIGITAL HUMANITIES  (1.0 Credit)

Bethany Swann

Division: First Year Writing

Instead of treating Asian American studies and the Digital Humanities (DH) as unrelated fields, this course views them as mutually constitutive. Asian American studies shapes DH’s critical concerns while DH reframes how knowledge about race and technology is created and reproduced. How can humanities-based questions sharpen our understanding of the relationship between race, data, and power? How might digital methods offer fresh ways to visualize erasure, map resistance, and tell stories that disrupt dominant narratives?

(Offered: Fall 2026)

WRPR H155  ORIGIN STORIES: ASIAN AMERICAN NARRATIVES OF MIGRATION, DISPLACEMENT, AND DIASPORA  (1.0 Credit)

Theresa Tensuan

Division: First Year Writing

In this course we will read a range of origin stories--creation narratives, memoirs, alter/native accounts of settler colonialism, and trickster tales--that delineate constructions of identity and constitutions of community with a focus on the ways in which writers and artists represent ongoing “encounters” between indigenous and imperial cultures, examining inventive work that play with genres ranging from the lyric to the epic to speculative fiction as a means of offering new ways of understanding history and imagining the future. Open only to first-year students as assigned by the Director of College Writing.

(Offered: Spring 2027)