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~ select course descriptions

Angry Asians (America in the Sixties) // spring 2026

Although commonly stereotyped as passive and obedient, Asian American anger was key to shaping the political and cultural landscape of the sixties. Through a multimedia exploration of the formation of Asian American identity, especially in relation to and in solidarity with other racial justice movements of the decade, we will interrogate the power as well as the limits of anger. Objects of analysis will include Lela Lee’s “Angry Little Asian Girl” comic series, the Gidra zine archive, the novel and television series Interior, Chinatown, the art of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, and the kung-fu movie The Way of the Dragon.

Face Card: Beauty and Contemporary Media (Studies in Visual Culture) // summer 2025

In a world increasingly dominated by images, the power of one’s “face card” seems increasingly important. This course explores contemporary manipulations of the face in photography, film, and digital media to understand the significance of facial beauty in current debates over desire, identity, and surveillance. This will require a consideration of how modern beauty standards developed from fascist movements of the early twentieth century. Objects of study include Kim Kardashian’s Selfish (2015), GRWM videos, makeup tutorials, Moshtari Hilal’s Ugliness (2025), and Paris is Burning (1990).