Welcome!

I’m Jasmine. I use she/her pronouns. I am a descendant of enslaved Africans; I was raised in the American South. I’m a senior with an interest in American cultural studies, art as resistance, critical media analysis, and marginalized realities in America. I’m taking this class to deepen my understanding of Asian and Pacific Islander histories in the US. I hope to learn of effective resistance strategies, methods of cultural preservation, and examples of enduring alliances in the face of state-sponsored discrimination. I hope to unlearn racist stereotypes and misinformation.

I should let you know directly that I consider “Asia” a colonial misnomer, a semantic invention designed to place a few billion people, cultures, and histories into a sanitized and homogenized box for popular consumption. With this in mind, I don’t believe in a single or definitive Asian (or Asian American) perspective. Over the course of this quarter, I will explore as many voices and histories as I can from a point of empathetic cultural inquiry.

In keeping with course content, I will also investigate the concept of home as it applies to myself and the API-American community. I’m excited to develop this challenging topic, for I believe that all people are connected in ways that may not be immediately obvious. (And I believe all people of color in America are connected in ways that are often painful — but real — and worthy of intentional consideration.)

And! If it becomes relevant,  I’ll share some of my experiences from living in South Korea from 2012-2014.