THE PACIFIC BASIN AND LATIN AMERICA


Course Description

The prospect of exploring the history of the relationship between two areas of the world narrowly defined as the Pacific Rim and Latin America poses an interesting set of challenges. Both areas host hundreds of communities that have had very complicated histories with respect to their national governments and other nations. In this course, the main goal will be to determine some of the most common cultural traits and socio-historical events that shape the discourse of identity in these enormously rich geographical and cultural areas. In outlining a narrative history to our enterprise of inquiry, I have selected readings and films that, for the most part, have to do with violent episodes in the histories of both of these regions. There are several reasons why I have chosen this approach: one, is because I believe that violent periods expose the social and political frictions that, for one reason or another, have been repressed; secondly, the reasons why these violent periods erupted are oftentimes still very controversial (theories about their origins capture the interest of many scholars and artists around the world today); and third, studying the causes of violent periods can often lead to an understanding of efforts to establish peace and justice in the affected communities. This is an interdisciplinary course, and I hope students will be able to engage critically with the materials and explore their disciplinary interests with passion and respect for the diverse views presented in the articles, books, and films that are part of the curriculum.


Goals and Objectives


Some of the goals of this course are: 1) to foster a critical understanding of human rights in the Pacific Basin 2) to determine what organizations and single individuals have done to promote social justice and peace in their communities, and 3) to evaluate the contribution that artists and intellectuals have made to the ways that communities “imagine themselves.” Students will be asked to take copious notes during class discussions and as they complete their readings, and to carry out research for their final essay.

Assignments
Paper #1                                    15% (3 pages)
Paper #2                                    15% (4 pages)
Paper #3                                    20% (6 pages)
4 Response papers                    25% (1-2 pages each)
Oral Presentations                     10%
Participation                               15%

Written Work

Please type all written work using a standard 12-point font, double-space the text, leave a one-inch margin on all sides, and staple multiple pages. Don’t forget to put your name and course number on the paper. Late papers will be marked down 1/3 grade for each day late.
Please follow the APA Style format for citations and general style formatting. You can find an online version of the APA style manual at:


Schedule of readings

For the most updated schedule of reading please visit the course's Wiki on Angel (angel.soka.edu)

Required Textbook

Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the Attic. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011

PAC BASIN - SPRING 2018


SPRING 2018
Tomás Crowder-Taraborrelli
Office hours: Mondays 11:00- 12:00 p.m. Maathai 414



Introduction to the Pacific Basin

The prospect of exploring the history of the relationship between two areas of the world narrowly defined as the Pacific Rim and Latin America poses an interesting set of challenges. Both areas host hundreds of communities that have had very complicated histories with respect to their national governments and other nations. In this course, the main goal will be to determine some of the most common cultural traits and socio-historical events that shape the discourse of identity in these enormously rich geographical and cultural areas. In outlining a narrative history to our enterprise of inquiry, I have selected readings and films that, for the most part, have to do with violent episodes in the histories of both of these regions. There are several reasons why I have chosen this approach: one, is because I believe that violent periods expose the social and political frictions that, for one reason or another, have been repressed; secondly, the reasons why these violent periods erupted are oftentimes still very controversial (theories about their origins capture the interest of many scholars and artists around the world today); and third, studying the causes of violent periods can often lead to an understanding of efforts to establish peace and justice in the affected communities. This is an interdisciplinary course, and I hope students will be able to engage critically with the materials and explore their disciplinary interests with passion and respect for the diverse views presented in the articles, books, and films that are part of the curriculum.

Goals and Objectives
Some of the goals of this course are: 1) to foster a critical understanding of human rights in the Pacific Basin 2) to determine what organizations and single individuals have done to promote social justice and peace in their communities, and 3) to evaluate the contribution that artists and intellectuals have made to the ways that communities “imagine themselves.” Students will be asked to take copious notes during class discussions and as they complete their readings, and to carry out research for their final essay.

Assignments
Paper #1                                  15% (3 pages)
Paper #2                                  15% (4 pages)
Paper #3                                  20% (6 pages)
4 Short response papers                   20% (1-2 pages each)
Oral Presentations                        10%
Participation                             20%

Readings
Complete common readings and any additional readings assigned specifically to you. Take notes.  Come to class prepared to raise challenging questions about the readings. Question the interpretative authority of the authors and also of your classmates and professor.

Abbreviations
CR Common Readings- Every student needs to do the reading and prepare for class discussion
AR   Assigned Reading to 1 student: The student who is assigned the reading must prepare a 10-minute presentation on the reading and prepare to engage with other readings or films scheduled for that day.


Written Work
Please type all written work using a standard 12-point font, double-space the text, leave a one-inch margin on all sides and staple multiple pages. Don’t forget to put your name and course number on the paper. Late papers will be marked down 1/3 grade for each day late.
Please follow the APA Style format for citations and general style formatting. You can find an online version of the APA style manual at:


Schedule of readings
For the most updated schedule of reading please visit the course's wiki (on brightspace)
Required Text
Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the Attic. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011
COURSE WEBSITE

COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1: Introduction to the course
TUESDAY, February 6:
Barter, Shane J., and Michael Weiner. “An Introduction to the Pacific Basin.”       The Pacific Basin: An Introduction.(CR) 9 pgs.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. “Culture as the Ideological Battleground of the Modern       World System”. (CR) 25 pgs.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

FILM: Manufactured Landscapes, Dir. Edward Burtynsky [sequence screened in class]

THURSDAY, February 8:
Byung-Chul Han. “Healing as Killing.” Psycho-Politics. (AR) 4 pgs.
Jenkins, Rhys. “China's Global Expansion and Latin America”. (CR) 29 pgs.
Organization of groups: 1) Human Rights 2) War and International Law 3) Culture and the representation of identity 4) History and memory

Why China matters
TUESDAY, February 13:
Loyalka, Michelle Dammon. “Introduction.” Eating Bitterness: Stories from the
Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration. (AR) 8 pgs.
Loyalka, Michelle Dammon. “The Teenage Beauty Queens.”Eating
Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban
Migration. (CR) 33 pgs.
FILM: Last Train Home, Dir. Lixin Fan (First Part)

THURSDAY, February 15:
Benjamin, Walter. “Imperial Panorama,” “The Telephone.” Berlin Childhood
around 1900. (AR) 6 pgs.
Weiner, Michael. “East Asia: Convergence and Divergence.” The Pacific Basin:
An Introduction.(CR) 11 pgs.
FILM: Last Train Home, Dir. Lixin Fan (Second Part)

The Colonial Years in Latin America (Immigration, Slavery and Race Relations)
TUESDAY, February 20:
England, Sarah and Ian Read. “Latin America: A living and changing artifact.”
The Pacific Basin: An Introduction.(AR) 13 pgs.
Hu-DeHart, Evelyn. “Race Construction and Race Relations. Chinese and Blacks
in Nineteenth-Century Cuba”. Encounters: People of Asian Descent in the
Americas. 8 pgs. (CR)
  
THURSDAY, February 22:
Skidmore, Thomas E., Aline Helg and Alan Knight. “Introduction.”  The Idea of
Race in Latin America, 1870-1940. (AR) 4 pgs.
Dulitzky, Ariel E. “A Region in Denial: Racial Discrimination and Racism in
      Latin America.” Neither Enemies Nor Friends: Latinos, Blacks, Afro-
      Latinos. (CR) 15 pgs.

The Latin American human rights legacy
TUESDAY, February 27:
Las Casas, Bartolome. In Defense of the Indians [Selections] (CR) 3 pgs.
Mignolo, Walter D. “Racism As We Sense It Today.” The Modern Language
      Association of America. (AR) 5 pgs.
Barter, Shane. “The Age of Colonialism (s).” The Pacific Basin: An
Introduction. (AR) 10 pgs.

THURSDAY, March 1:
Carozza, Paolo G. “From Conquest to Constitutions: Retrieving a Latin   American Tradition of the Idea of Human Rights.” (CR) 33 pgs.
Start reading Julie Otsuka's The Buddha in the Attic.
FIRST SHORT RESPONSE DUE ON Sunday March 4 by 6 p.m.!

Japanese Immigration to the United States
TUESDAY, March 6:
England, Sarah and Michael Weiner. “Migration, immigration, and settlement
within the Pacific Basin.” The Pacific Basin: An Introduction. (AR) 10
pgs.
Sunada Sarasohn, Eileen . “On Being Japanese in America.” The Issei: Portrait       of a Pioneer: An Oral History. (AR) 6 pgs.
Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the Attic. 1- 60 pgs. (CR)

THURSDAY, March 8:
O’Brien, David J. and Stephen S. Fugita. “The Concentration Camp Experience.”
      The Japanese American Experience. (AR) 13 pgs.
Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the Attic (finish de novel) (CR)
Community Cinema Screening: Dolores - March 8th (Thursday), 7-9 p.m., PAU 216
 
With intimate and unprecedented access, Peter Bratt's Dolores tells the story of Dolores Huerta, among the most important, yet least-known, activists in American history. Co-founder of the first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez, she tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the 20th century.

http://www.soka.edu/news_events/calendar-of events.aspx?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D126271087

Active Citizenship
TUESDAY, March 13:
Loewen, James W. “The Vietnam War in High School American History”. Censoring
History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United
States. (CR) 22 pgs.
Luther King, Martin. "Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom.” (AR) 6 pgs.
FILM: The Trials of Muhammad Ali (sequence screened in class)

THURSDAY, March 15:
Malcom X, "After the Bombing/Speech at Ford Auditorium.” (CR) 14 pgs. Audio   on Youtube (follow this link).
Marable, Manning. “They Don’t Come Like the Minister.” Malcom X: A Life of    Reinvention. (AR) 30 pgs.
MUSIC: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. “The Message.” [in class]
The Economist. “Rappers’ knuckles rapped: A genre’s popularity worries
officials.” (AR)
First Paper due March 27 by 6 p.m.
SPRING BREAK 3/19-3/23 J J

Human Rights Violations in the Southern Cone
TUESDAY, March 27:
Roniger, Luis and Mario Sznajder. The Legacy of Human-Right Violations in the       Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. “Preface” and
“Introduction.” (CR) 9 pgs.
Roht-Arriaza, Naomi. “The Actors Behind the Pinochet Cases.” The Pinochet           Effect: Transnational Justice in the Age of Human Rights. (AR) 17 pgs.
FILM: The Pinochet Case (sequence screened in class)

THURSDAY, March 29:
Roniger, Luis and Mario Sznajder. Chapter 1 The Legacy of Human-Right   Violations in the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.(CR) 38    pgs.
FILM: The Pinochet Case (sequence screened in class)

Remembering and forgetting
TUESDAY, April 3:
Sturken, Marita. “Absent Images of Memory: Remembering and Reenacting the     Japanese Internment”. Perilous Memories: The asia-Pacific War(s).            (CR) 16 pgs.
FILM: History and Memory, dir. Rea Tajiri. (screened in class)

THURSDAY, April 5:
Lee, Erika. “The Chinese Are Coming. How Can We Stop Them.” At America’s      Gates: Chinese Immigration During The Exclusion Era, 1882-1943. (CR) 22   pages.
Lee, Erika. “The Keepers of the Gate: U.S. Immigration Officials and Chinese Exclusion.” At America’s Gates: Chinese Immigration During The Exclusion Era, 1882-1943. (AR) 28 pages.
Jelin, Elizabeth. "The Minefields of Memory." (AR) 3 pgs.
Soka Community Cinema: Look and See: Wendell Berry’s Kentucky, Pauling 216, 7 p.m.
Look & See revolves around the divergent stories of several residents of Henry County, Kentucky who each face difficult choices that will dramatically reshape their relationship with the land and their community. Filmed across four seasons in the farming cycle, it blends observational scenes of farming life, interviews with farmers and community members with evocative, carefully framed shots of the surrounding landscape.  Thus, in the spirit of Berry’s agrarian philosophy, Henry County itself will emerge as a character in the film - a place and a landscape that is deeply interdependent with the people that inhabit it. 

Trauma, families and national histories
TUESDAY, April 10:
Barter, Shane J. “Armed conflict across the Pacific: Patterns and
possibilities.” The Pacific Basin: An Introduction. (AR) 9 pages.
G. B. Tran's Vietnamerica: A family’s journey. First Part. (CR) 117 pgs.
(Graphic Novel)
SECOND SHORT RESPONSE DUE ON ANGEL, April 10th, at 6 p.m.

THURSDAY, April 12:
Singer, Marc. “Time and Narrative: Unity and Discontinuity in The
Invisibles.” Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods. 14
pgs. (AR)
Tran, G. B. Vietnamerica: A family's journey. Second part (CR)last 200 pgs.

Identity, ethnicity, national identity and genocide
TUESDAY, April 17:
“The civil rights issue of our time’: how Dreamers came to dominate US
politics.” The Guardian, January, 2018. (AR) 4 pages.
De León, Jason. “Prevention Through Deterrence.” The Land of Open Graves:
Living and Dying On The Migrant Trail (CR) 37 pages.

THURSDAY, April 19:
Stillman, Sarah. “When Deportation is a Death Sentence.” The New Yorker,
February, 2018. (CR) 13 pgs.
Organize groups for presentations.
Second Paper due April 22 by 6 p.m.

The Pacific War
TUESDAY, April 24:
Dower, John W. " 'An aptitude for being unloved' ": war and memory in Japan".
Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering: Japan in the Modern World. (CR) 31 pgs.

THURSDAY, April 26:
Renov, Michael. "Warring Images: Stereotype and American Representations of
the Japanese, 1941-1991". (CR) 26 pgs.
THIRD SHORT RESPONSE DUE APRIL 30 by 6 p.m.

The Pacific War (continue)
TUESDAY, May 31:
Dower, John W. War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War [Chapter
selections for student presentations].

THURSDAY, May 3:
Dower, John W. War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War [Chapter
selections for student presentations].
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Soka Community Cinema Presents: Iris, Pauling 216, 7 p.m.
Iris pairs the late documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), then 87, with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. Iris portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are her sustenance. She reminds us that dressing — and indeed, life — is nothing but a grand experiment. "If you're lucky enough to do something you love, everything else follows." 

The Pacific War:The Lessons of War (cont.) 
TUESDAY, May 8:
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (if need)

THURSDAY, May 10 (last class J:
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (if needed)
FOURTH RESPONSE DUE SUNDAY MAY 15 by 6 pm!!!

May 16 to 22: Final's week
Third Paper due March 20, by 6 p.m.
Bibliography
Barter, Shane J., and Michael Weiner. “An Introduction to the Pacific Basin.” The Pacific Basin: An Introduction, edited by Shane Barter and Michael Weiner, Routledge, 2017.

Benjamin, Walter. Berlin Childhood around 1900. Harvard University Press, 2006.

Carozza, Paolo G., "From Conquest to Constitutions: Retrieving a Latin American Tradition of the Idea of Human Rights" (2003). Scholarly Works. Paper 581.

De León, Jason. “Prevention Through Deterrence.” The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying On The Migrant Trail. University of California Press, 2015, pp. 23-37.

Dower, John W. " 'An aptitude for being unloved' ": war and memory in Japan". Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering: Japan in the Modern World. The New Press, 2014.

Dower, John W. War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War. Pantheon, 1987.

Dultizky, Ariel E. “A Region in Denial: Racial Discrimination and Racism in Latin America.” Neither Enemies Nor Friends: Latinos, Blacks, Afro-Latinos,” edited by Anani Dzidzienyo and Suzanne Oboler, Palgrave Macmillian, 2005, pp. 39-58.

Gambino, Lauren. “The civil rights issue of our time: how Dreamers came to dominate US politics.” The Guardian. 27 January 2018.

Han, Byung-Chul.  “Healing as Killing.” Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power. Verso, 2017, pp. 29-32.

Hu-DeHart, Evelyn. “Race Construction and Race Relations. Chinese and Blacks in Nineteenth-Century Cuba.” Encounters: People of Asian Descent in the Americas. Ed. Rustomiji-Kerns, Rajini Skrikanth and Leny Mendoza Strobel. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999.

Jelin, Elizabeth. “The Minefields of Memory.” NACLA.

Jenkins, Rhys. “China's global expansion and latin america.” Journal of Latin American Studies , vol. 42, no. 4, Nov. 2010, pp. 809–837.

Las Casas, Bartolomé, and Stafford Poole. In defense of the Indians. Northern Illinois University Press, 1992.

Lee, Erika. “The Chinese Are Coming. How Can We Stop Them.” At America’s Gates: Chinese Immigration During The Exclusion Era, 1882-1943.” University of North Carolina Press, 2003, pp. 23-73.

Loewen, James W. “The Vietnam War in High School American History”. Censoring History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States. Hein, Laura and Mark Selden. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.

Loyalka, Michelle Dammon. Eating bitterness: stories from the front lines of Chinas great urban migration. University of California Press, 2012.

Malcom X. “After the Bombing/ Speech at Ford Auditorium.” YoutTube.

Marable, Manning. “They Don’t Come Like the Minister.” Malcom X: A Life of Reinvention.

Martin Luther King, Jr. “Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom.” Teaching American History, teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/nonviolence-the-only-road-to-freedom/.

Mignolo, Walter D. “Racism As We Sense It Today.” The Modern Language Association of America.

O’Brien, David J. and Stephen S. Fugita. “The Concentration Camp Experience.” The Japanese American Experience.

Otsuka, Julie. Buddha in the Attic . Anchor, 2012.

Renov, Michael. "Warring Images: Stereotype and American Representations of the Japanese, 1941-1991." The Culture of Japan as Seen Through Its Leisure. Ed. Linhart,S., and Sabine Frühstück. State University of New York Press, 1998.

Roniger, Luis and Mario Sznajder. The Legacy of Human-Right Violations in the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Oxford University Press, 1999.

Roht-Arriaza, Naomi, “The Actors Behind Pinochet Cases.” The Pinochet Effect: Transnational Justice in the Age of Human Rights.” University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005, pp. 208-237.

Sarasohn, Eileen Sunada. The Issei, portrait of a pioneer: an oral history. Pacific Books, 1990.

Skidmore, Thomas E., Aline Helg and Alan Knight. The Idea of Race in Latin America, 1870-1940. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990.

Stillman, Sarah. “When Deportation is Death Sentence.” The New Yorker, February 2018.

Sturken, Marita. “Absent Images of Memory: Remembering and Reenacting the Japanese Internment”. Perilous Memories: The asia-Pacific War(s). Ed. Fujitani, T., Geofrey M. White, and Lisa Yoneyame,. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001.

The Economist. “Rappers’ knuckles rapped: A genre’s popularity worries officials.” 25 January 2018.

Tran, GB. Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey. Villard, 2013.

UN General Assembly. (1948). "Universal declaration of human rights" (217 [III] A). Paris. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

Wallerstein, Immanuel. “Culture as the Ideological Battleground of the Modern World-system.” The Essential Wallerstein. New York: New Press, 2000.