Critical Social Inquiry 0251 - Cheap Labor to Terror Suspect

This course focuses on the political, economic, ideological, social and cultural dimensions of South Asian migration to the United States as a case study for investigating processes of U.S. racial formation. In particular, we will unpack both the "exceptionality" of elite migration form South Asia (the "model minority") and the post-9/11 category of South Asian/Arab/Muslim within the larger context of South Asian diaspora (hi)stories. We will begin, roughly, with Indian labor migration with the system of British colonial indenture in the Americas, proceed through the "free" labor migration of workers in the colonial and post-colonial period, and conclude with the place of South Asia and South Asians in the US-led war on terror. Our approach will be interdisciplinary, working with social theory and history as well as literature, film, and music. Our primary analytic lens will be critical race theory, broadly construed to interrogate the interrelationships between hierarchies of race, gender, class, sexuality, nation and religion.

Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time. This time includes reading, writing and group assignments.