Asian American Identity in the United States

All-Gender Course; Prerequisite - Successful completion of one year of high school social studies or permission from the administration; Fall semester or Full-year course
COURSE DESCRIPTION
​What does it mean to be “Asian American?” What challenges have Asian Americans encountered in their journey for self-definition and visibility in America’s Black-white binary -- a racial paradigm that has existed for centuries? This course examines the complex diversity and lived experiences of the Asian American community.  Using historical text, literature, and media, students examine the evolution of Asian American identity with particular attention to how it has been influenced by concepts of war and empire, race, assimilation, citizenship, appropriation, and the US Civil Rights Movement. A key focus of this course is the agency that Asian Americans have exhibited in constructing who they are and want to be across ethno-nationality, class, gender, religion, language and age. Students explore topics of their choosing that focus on specific Asian and Pacific Islander communities (e.g.Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Samoan and Vietnamese, etc.) and/or issues of personhood; model minority stereotype; multiracial Asian Americans;  intergenerational dynamics in the Asian immigrant family; immigrant youth, identity, and organizing; Asian feminism; and #StopAsianHate. This course offers students an interdisciplinary understanding of Asian American identity as a dynamic process redefining historical notions of race.  
WHAT STUDENTS SAY

Asian American Identity in the United States is a new course for 21/22 school year at One Schoolhouse. To read what students have said about other One Schoolhouse courses, visit our What Students Say webpage!

WHAT STUDENTS DO
Learning is an active process at One Schoolhouse. Students design, create and apply. And, they engage with classmates and connect with their teachers through discussions, video conferences, and projects. Specifically, in this class students will:
  • Set goals that drive their learning. Students reflect regularly on their growth, and meet on video chat with their online teacher to review progress towards their goals.
  • Have choice in how they learn new content and practice new skills. Students are given agency to determine the best ways for them to learn.
  • Apply what they are learning to the real world. Learning is meaningful and connects to concepts outside the classroom.
  • Practice constructive engagement in a diverse and changing world. Students interact with classmates from across the country and around the world.
  • Gain academic maturity. Online learning takes greater discipline and independence than a traditional face-to-face classroom. Teachers support students to build this skill.
SIGNATURE ACTIVITIES
Examples of signature activities and projects for this course are:
  • Engage in discussion each week with your classmates about topics covered through reading of texts & viewing of documentaries
  • “What it means…” these are one-one and a half page essays that ask students at the end of each week to describe what it means to be Asian American in the United States after learning about a specific theme.  Each week the definition of Asian American becomes more descriptive, deeper and richer in its cultural, historical and social significance
  • Research projects will also be offered so that students can dive deeper into one of the many layers of AAPI identity and discover its roots and evolution more critically and fully.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SECOND SEMESTER?
Students wishing to pursue an Asian American Identity project may enroll in the course for the full year. For students continuing into Semester II, the course shifts into personalized, project-based work, where students engage in deep, sustained inquiry; authentic and iterative research; critical analysis; and rigorous reflection, revision, and assessment as they journey through a self-designed, long-term activism, design, or research project on the topic of their choosing. Guided by a One Schoolhouse teacher, students pursue individual study/self-assessment or collaborative seminar/peer-review. Pathway options from which students choose include:
  • Spring Activism Seminar: In this seminar, students identify a need and create a plan to effect economic, environmental, political, or social change in a target community. Utilizing a social science approach to research and evaluation, students are guided through the process of planning the deployment of a novel idea and identifying markers of success. Students may create a strategic plan for a club or non-profit or design an artistic product in this seminar. 
  • Spring Design Seminar: In this seminar, students design a technological solution to a real-world problem. Through the engineering design process/scientific method, students gather and analyze data to determine the effectiveness of their model or the accuracy of their hypothesis. Students may prototype and produce a public product in this seminar. 
  • Spring Research Seminar: In this seminar, students answer a theoretical or ethical question. Utilizing the social science/humanities tools for source evaluation, students collect, critique, and evaluate artifacts or primary source documents to explore their thesis. Students may create a written or multimedia product in this seminar. 
​Upon completion of their inquiry-driven project, students will have gained academic maturity and expanded their ability to engage in a diverse and changing world. They will be able to draw and defend conclusions from theoretical underpinnings, contextual background, and mathematical analysis or source evaluation. Finally, they will have created and tested something useful of their own design or will be able to defend a position based on their own research
COURSE APPROVAL
One Schoolhouse is fully accredited with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges through December 1, 2025; we are an approved online publisher for the University of California. ​​
Teacher Will Be Announced Soon!