Summary

Creator:

Wang, Caroline C.

Abstract:

The "Asians in America" house course was the first course pertaining to the Asian diaspora and Asian American studies to be taught at Duke University. Undergraduate student, Caroline Wang, organized and instructed the class in the Fall and Spring of 1982. The collection contains syllabi, course proposals, readings, and materials related to Wang's senior thesis about Japanese American internment during World War II.

Extent:

0.75 Linear Feet

Language:

Materials in English.

Collection ID:

UA.30.01.0098

University Archives Record Group:

30 -- Student and Alumni Papers and Materials
01 -- Individuals

Background

Scope and Content:

Collection contains materials related to preparation and instruction for the 1982 house course, "Asians in America." This includes articles and course readings, course syllabi and proposals, subject files, correspondence, and student assignments. Also includes a script for Caroline Wang's senior honors thesis and a video recording on the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, written and narrated by Caroline Wang.

Biographical / Historical:

Caroline Wang graduated from Duke University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in Arts, Media, and Politics. During her time at Duke, Wang pursued an interest in documentary photography and documentary writing. Her senior honor's thesis included a treatment and video recording for a documentary about Executive Order 9066 and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Wang received a Master of Public Health in 1989 followed by a Doctor of Public Health degree in 1993 from UC Berkeley. In 1992, while researching women's reproductive health in Yunnan Province, China, she developed in partnership with Mary Ann Burris, the community-based participatory research methodology known as photovoice.

Duke University began the house course program in 1969 to offer courses based on student interests. These half-credit courses are typically taught by undergraduate students under a faculty advisor's supervision and are held in residence halls.

In January 1982, Caroline Wang submitted a proposal in application to teach the house course, "Asians in America," for the Spring semester at Duke. This would mark the first course taught at Duke pertaining to the Asian diaspora and Asian American studies. After receiving approval to teach the course, Wang, an undergraduate at the time, organized and co-instructed the class with Steven Chin, who had graduated from Duke in May 1981. That following Fall of 1982, Wang went on the teach the course again as its sole instructor. In describing the course's objectives and goals, Wang wrote that it would "introduce students to the history and literature of Asians in America, with special emphasis on the Chinese and Japanese experiences. Course attention will be directed also toward contemporary issues... and matters of identity."

Source: Course proposal summary form, September 1982

Acquisition Information:

The Caroline Wang course materials for "Asians in America" were received by the University Archives from Caroline Wang as a gift in 2022.

Processing information:

Processed by April Blevins, March 2023

Accessions described in this collection guide: UA2022-0074

Rules or Conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:

Asian Americans -- Study and teaching
Universities and colleges -- Alumni and alumnae
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
Student teaching

Names:

Duke University -- Students
Duke University -- Curricula
Duke University. History