ASAN 491Z: Topics in Asian Studies – East Asian and Asian American Youth Digital Media Culture: Comics, Videos, Music, and Games
Asian and Asian American issues through the lens of transpacific pop-cultural media…
About the Instructor
Jade Lum, MA, English, is currently a PhD student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the English Department of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Besides this course, she has previously taught first-year composition courses, literature courses on the fairy-tale genre and gender, and children’s literature. Jade has also assisted in multiple college courses including two semesters of ENG 385 (Fairy Tales and their Adaptations) and ASAN 465 (Anime). Her research interests include fairy tale studies, adaptation studies, gender studies, and new media studies; throughout graduate school, she also found a love for studying and writing about Japanese anime culture and the K-pop and J-pop industry, reflecting her love for anime and K-pop since she was younger. Jade has presented at multiple conferences, as well as recently published work about these research interests.
For inquiries: email: jlum24@hawaii.edu
Varied Dates (7/3-8/1/23)
This course examines the ties between East Asian and Asian American digital media such as comics, movies, TV shows, music, and video games to examine the dreams, fears, and aspirations of young Asians and Asian Americans. The rise of digital media has allowed young Asians and Asian Americans to become consumers and creators of a transnational “Pop Pacific” culture involving both East Asia and America. Students will be introduced to foundational historical context and literary and cultural studies theories in order to build the vocabulary needed to discuss and digest the texts for this course.
East Asian media has boomed in global popularity because of the rise of digital platforms like YouTube and Netflix, thereby providing young Asian Americans a chance to see themselves being represented in ways traditionally denied by Western media. This rise of digital media has also allowed young Asians and Asian Americans to become consumers and creators of a transnational “Pop Pacific” culture involving both East Asia and America. Using a series of blog posts, cultural analysis papers, in-class discussions, and presentations, students will apply what they know and will learn about East Asian and Asian American pop culture to create entertaining and engaging academic content that will allow them to express their ideas about the texts and issues that resonate with them the most.
Fulfills general education requirement: WI
Updated 12/08/2022