Summer 2024 - GA 202 E100

Studies in Global Asia (3)

NASouthAsianDiaspora

Class Number: 3254

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 6 – Jun 17, 2024: Tue, Thu, 4:30–7:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    15 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces students to a topic in Global Asian Studies not otherwise covered in depth by regularly scheduled courses. Sample topics include South Asian diasporas; Global Asia in Vancouver; refugee experiences; or Korean culture. This course may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Students with credit for ASC 202 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

South Asian Diasporic Cultures: South Asia in Film and Literature

This course centres on representations of South Asian diaspora mainly focusing on North America (Canada and the United States) and the UK. These stories of settler colonialism, as well as South Asian complicity within settler colonial narratives, will be contrasted with literature about South Asian migration and exclusion in other contexts such as countries within the Middle East and Uganda in the 1970s. We will look at a variety of cultural texts produced about and by South Asian diasporic communities and reflect on how identity, home and belonging were fraught with global power relations such that South Asian migrants were forever migrants. The course will proceed through a close reading of South Asian diasporic film, poetry, art and literature to help us critique and understand South Asian identity and culture in the diaspora in all its multiple, contested and contradictory meanings.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the course students will:

  • be able to explain how cultural representations are imbued with power.
  • have developed the skills necessary to critique a variety of cultural texts.
  • build an understanding of South Asian diasporic cultures.
  • have built the skills to write a properly referenced academic essay.

Grading

  • Participation 20%
  • Film Review 20%
  • Group presentation and write-up 25%
  • Final exam (take-home) 35%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

All readings will be circulated electronically and hyperlinked in your Canvas course. You will not be required to purchase any textbook for this course.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.