AFST 203 - “Mixed Race” Identities

Some key questions guiding this course include the following: What is “race,” and what does it mean to be “mixed”? What is the historical situation and tension of “mixing” in the United States, and why is it significant? How do such issues vary from national to transnational contexts? Can one exist in two or more categories at the same time? Why do categories matter? Isn’t everyone “mixed” somehow? Where do you fit in? In examining these questions, this course introduces the study of ‘multiracial identity’ and the ways that it has been experienced, represented and contested in the U.S. and international communities. We will study issues of history, culture, and activism as they relate to various multiracial communities. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, a variety of media in the form of art, print and film will be examined. Students will be exposed to a range of voices from scholars working in disciplines including, Africana Studies, Women’s Studies, Asian American Studies, Anthropology, and Visual Arts Studies. The course will begin by focusing on the experiences of multiracial people in the U.S., but will also examine the lived realities of international populations, including the Amerasian community (a population born from the union of American military men and Asian women) living in various parts of Asia and the Pacific. Letter grade. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits