ASIA AM 20
Contemporary Asian American Communities
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Multidisciplinary introduction to contemporary Asian American populations and communities in U.S. Topics include contemporary immigration, demographic trends, sociocultural, economic, and political issues, and interethnic relations. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
This class is really interesting! Professor Hirabayashi is a great lecturer, I really enjoyed listening to the way many concepts of this class have applied to his own life. The class lacks of PP so if you are the kind of person that needs to have a PP to take notes, I suggest not to take this class. You don't have a specific book but rather weekly articles to read (THEIR CONTENT IS IMPORTANT FOR BOTH THE MIDTERM AND FINAL!) You also have to write 2 papers in topics related to the course (don't worry, they are not research papers and are fairly easy to write after doing some minor research) You also have to do a group presentation during discussion section. (EASY AS WELL) Though this class doesn't offer extra credit, you ready don't need it. If you pay attention during class, go to section, read the articles and revise the study guide you should be fine! As an Asian American myself this class is really interesting, it brings awareness of certain topics that are overlooked in the As American community. My final grade: A I think this class will be offered again during Spring 2016! Highly recommended!!
This class is really interesting! Professor Hirabayashi is a great lecturer, I really enjoyed listening to the way many concepts of this class have applied to his own life. The class lacks of PP so if you are the kind of person that needs to have a PP to take notes, I suggest not to take this class. You don't have a specific book but rather weekly articles to read (THEIR CONTENT IS IMPORTANT FOR BOTH THE MIDTERM AND FINAL!) You also have to write 2 papers in topics related to the course (don't worry, they are not research papers and are fairly easy to write after doing some minor research) You also have to do a group presentation during discussion section. (EASY AS WELL) Though this class doesn't offer extra credit, you ready don't need it. If you pay attention during class, go to section, read the articles and revise the study guide you should be fine! As an Asian American myself this class is really interesting, it brings awareness of certain topics that are overlooked in the As American community. My final grade: A I think this class will be offered again during Spring 2016! Highly recommended!!
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - I wouldn't say that this is the easiest GE out there, but it is definitely a good one to take if you are out of options. In terms of workload, there is a LOT of reading. I'm talking like at least 50+ pages every single week. However, you can get away with not reading all of it and just choosing one or two reading assignments per week, since the professor talks about the material from the reading in the lecture. The syllabus says that the reading is required to be completed before the lecture, but it only really matters during discussion, so make sure that you are able to understand the material for the week before your discussion section. The most annoying part of the class for me was the discussion section. This is because your participation really matters and is critical in getting a good grade in the class. However, it kinda depends on your TA at the same time. Mine was really kind and decided to give everyone a good grade in participation at the end of the quarter, despite how many times you participated, which I thought was nice, but also I felt scammed because I participated a lot more than my peers in fear of getting a bad grade. The grading for this class was interestingly dispersed, as we did not have a midterm during my quarter, but we only had a term paper and the final exam. Dr. Tamai also makes her A a 95%+ and a 90-94% is an A- so keep that in mind. The term paper was a 6-8 page research paper on any topic of your choice, and it is about 25% of your grade, so make sure that you work hard on it and go to the writing center to revise. It is also critical to meet with your TA about your paper and get it looked over if you want, because the TA ends up grading it. I felt like my TA was unnecessarily harsh in terms of grading our papers in our quarter, as I received a grade that was lower than the average on my paper, but it definitely deserved a lot higher. Dr. Tamai's lectures are only recorded for weeks 1-2 when people are still dropping or getting into the class. She doesn't record after those weeks, so make sure that you go to all the lectures because they have critical information that helps if you don't want to do the reading that week and still want to clutch up for the discussion section. Since she didn't have a midterm, her final exam was longer than in previous years. It was an essay and 3 define the term/explain the significance questions, and then another question that was kinda like "what did you learn this quarter." It was quite doable as long as you studied the main terminology and key concepts that kept being brought up throughout the quarter. Dr. Tamai also creates an assignment at the end of the quarter where you get one page of a Google Doc to explain what grade you'd assign yourself and why. I really liked this because her cutoff for an A was 95%, and it was kinda scary going into the final exam knowing you had less than that, but she is very generous and says she does consider the grade you give yourself in the Google Doc. Overall, the concepts in this class are quite interesting, and as long as you put some work in, you should be able to succeed.
Fall 2025 - I wouldn't say that this is the easiest GE out there, but it is definitely a good one to take if you are out of options. In terms of workload, there is a LOT of reading. I'm talking like at least 50+ pages every single week. However, you can get away with not reading all of it and just choosing one or two reading assignments per week, since the professor talks about the material from the reading in the lecture. The syllabus says that the reading is required to be completed before the lecture, but it only really matters during discussion, so make sure that you are able to understand the material for the week before your discussion section. The most annoying part of the class for me was the discussion section. This is because your participation really matters and is critical in getting a good grade in the class. However, it kinda depends on your TA at the same time. Mine was really kind and decided to give everyone a good grade in participation at the end of the quarter, despite how many times you participated, which I thought was nice, but also I felt scammed because I participated a lot more than my peers in fear of getting a bad grade. The grading for this class was interestingly dispersed, as we did not have a midterm during my quarter, but we only had a term paper and the final exam. Dr. Tamai also makes her A a 95%+ and a 90-94% is an A- so keep that in mind. The term paper was a 6-8 page research paper on any topic of your choice, and it is about 25% of your grade, so make sure that you work hard on it and go to the writing center to revise. It is also critical to meet with your TA about your paper and get it looked over if you want, because the TA ends up grading it. I felt like my TA was unnecessarily harsh in terms of grading our papers in our quarter, as I received a grade that was lower than the average on my paper, but it definitely deserved a lot higher. Dr. Tamai's lectures are only recorded for weeks 1-2 when people are still dropping or getting into the class. She doesn't record after those weeks, so make sure that you go to all the lectures because they have critical information that helps if you don't want to do the reading that week and still want to clutch up for the discussion section. Since she didn't have a midterm, her final exam was longer than in previous years. It was an essay and 3 define the term/explain the significance questions, and then another question that was kinda like "what did you learn this quarter." It was quite doable as long as you studied the main terminology and key concepts that kept being brought up throughout the quarter. Dr. Tamai also creates an assignment at the end of the quarter where you get one page of a Google Doc to explain what grade you'd assign yourself and why. I really liked this because her cutoff for an A was 95%, and it was kinda scary going into the final exam knowing you had less than that, but she is very generous and says she does consider the grade you give yourself in the Google Doc. Overall, the concepts in this class are quite interesting, and as long as you put some work in, you should be able to succeed.
Most Helpful Review
Although Professor Toyota can be repetitive since she would summarize the assigned readings, she is still a great professor since she would share her stories as a former journalist and emphasize how social science skills are necessary and are still used out there in the vast variety of jobs. The readings she assigned were excellent choices because they were interesting to read. And the book she told to us to buy isn't necessary, but I would buy it since it has some interesting articles to read if you're highly interested in Asian American communities. To supplement the readings, she would show us videos or invite guest speakers. The grade of the class is usually composed of an in-class essay midterm based on the assigned readings and two assignments that contribute to your final essay. The workload isn't heavy unless you plan to keep up with the readings. Furthermore, if you think this would be an easy solid A, you have to understand the grading requirements of your TA. I should had received a B+ in the class, but I got an A- instead since Professor Toyota promised a grade bump if your TA recognized you for participating in or showing up for discussions.
Although Professor Toyota can be repetitive since she would summarize the assigned readings, she is still a great professor since she would share her stories as a former journalist and emphasize how social science skills are necessary and are still used out there in the vast variety of jobs. The readings she assigned were excellent choices because they were interesting to read. And the book she told to us to buy isn't necessary, but I would buy it since it has some interesting articles to read if you're highly interested in Asian American communities. To supplement the readings, she would show us videos or invite guest speakers. The grade of the class is usually composed of an in-class essay midterm based on the assigned readings and two assignments that contribute to your final essay. The workload isn't heavy unless you plan to keep up with the readings. Furthermore, if you think this would be an easy solid A, you have to understand the grading requirements of your TA. I should had received a B+ in the class, but I got an A- instead since Professor Toyota promised a grade bump if your TA recognized you for participating in or showing up for discussions.
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