#RealRating

For this class, you will have to show up for every lecture since her PowerPoint are not posted, and they will be very helpful for your final. The main part of the class will be a presentation in your discussion, which is pretty easy, I think. Then, you have an essay that you can write on any topic you want. I recommend writing on something modern because your final will cover more historical topics that you won't be able to use if you write about them in your first paper. There are no tests, and the final is a take-home essay that Tamai gives you an entire weekend to complete. This class is full of supportive people, and they want you to succeed. At the end of the class, you are able to write an evaluation of what grade you think you deserve and they actually take your opinion into consideration.

Summary: I definitely recommend this class if you want an easy GE (there are easier ones, but I found this class especially rewarding), and I also think that you will definitely learn something new. If you are an Asian you may even take something extra away from the class.

I really liked this class there was a ridiculous about of reading but there was no test just essays so as long as you went to the lectures you should be good I did the reading just in case. The discussion is mandatory and the attendance for it is very harsh. The homework in this class is reading and she has videos you have to watch and fill out worksheets these can be pretty lengthy. Was a very easy class would recommend. Also, I loved the lectures they were very organized and easy to understand and Tamni was always quick to respond to emails and really nice.

I really enjoyed the content of this class! My only complaint is that the TA graded the term paper kind of harshly especially considering this is a GE. This class also had a lot of readings and film responses. The final exam was a 3 hour timed essay (taken at home) and they grading was a little more lenient than the term paper.

I loved this class, and Professor Tamai is amazing! She's really funny, and she shows us videos that are actually helpful and very interesting. You will feel welcome, especially if you are Asian haha because you will learn about your culture. We seriously covered every single Asian culture and it was great.

I am so glad I had Professor Tamai for my first quarter. She was extremely nice and accommodating. Throughout lecture you could see how engrossed with the material she was displaying empathy and energy while she lectured. Every week we would learn about a new community. Because of COVID Professor dropped the midterm so we only had a paper and a final to do. A paper was the main assignment for the class, where you were graded on having an outline, a draft, and the final product. Discussion sections were structured differently where you had to sign up to be the week's leader. The leader would have to read all the readings and summarize/teach them to the group for the week. You'd be put in groups and your written summary would be graded. Along with that you'd have film questions to answer for a film assigned every now and then. The readings assigned weren't terrible but I do recommend getting familiar with a few of them since the final is a timed essay. Overall a great environment Professor has created and would recommend to others.

Professor Tamai is an AMAZING person. Her lectures are fun, and she truly cares about her students. She is very willing to help if you reach out. The readings can sometimes be quite lengthy (but informative!), but it is not necessary to read every single word. Just skim the majority of the text. The movies we were required to watch were all super interesting. There was also extra credit. Overall, I learned a lot about Asian America. Take this class if you're interested in learning about American history through an Asian lens.

Honestly I wasn't a big fan of Asian American studies, but Dr. Tamai is really sweet and does a good job lecturing overall! She really cares for her students and is extremely mindful of the COVID situation. I took this class as a GE, and the workload was relatively light. The grade was based on a final exam, term paper, discussion participation, and film responses (no midterm during COVID). There was a lot of reading assigned for this class, but to be honest I was able to get by without doing most of it (however, if you're interested in asian am studies/have the time, definitely take the time to read!). The grading for the final and term paper were fairly lenient, so I wouldn't worry too much about those. Overall, if you're looking for a fairly chill GE and have an interest in asian american studies, take this class!

To start off, I was already interested in AAS 20, but Professor Tamai really made me even more intrigued in the subject and now I'm considering an AAS 20 Minor. Overall, this class is very manageable, but there is a lot of reading. You don't necessarily have to read all of it, she even says to read the into and conclusion and then the topic sentences of each paragraph in between because she even knows the stuff she gives is long (but also this is a way more efficient way of reading anyways) but make sure to write a sentence or two about the reading when you read it for later on because you will need the readings for the final!! I'm a STEM major, so I'm not too fond of reading, so that I would say was the only part I didn't really like.

Otherwise, I would definitely say take this class, especially if you are Asian American or just want to learn more about this subject because Professor Tamai will really make you appreciate and admire the Asian American community. The lectures were so diverse and engaging and I always made an effort to make it to class live, also because she's hilarious and sometimes her kid comes in and he's so funny and adorable. She gives lots of cool anecdotes about her past studies which I always found super interesting and it really brings the content to life. Each week you basically focus on a different Asian American subgroup so it's a really holistic class on the whole community.

Also, go to her office hours!! She's so helpful and always willing to be there for her students to talk about the lectures, life, anything! She does take the lecture down after one week and doesn't upload slides, but that just made me more on top of my work in the class.

For discussion, attendance is part of your grade (try to get Sharon, she's hilarious and so much fun), but for my discussion section, it was basically a discussion in breakout rooms every week. We also have to write a term paper, but it's not bad at all, you can basically write on anything related to Asian American communities and she has a do an outline, RD, and a peer review to really keep us on track which I really liked.

So, this class isn't the easiest because of how much reading there is, but I would still recommend taking this class, it's so rewarding and so engaging and I hope I can take a class with Professor Tamai again!! She cares so much about her students and them learning and has a heart of gold, I'm so happy I had her!

Prof Tamai was an awesome lecturer. I felt sort of badly for her because only two people out of like 150 kids had their videos on for lecture. Still, prof Tamai always had very engaging lectures that were interesting and eye-opening. I'm a first year who was looking for a good GE to take. I'm glad I took this course because I learned a lot about my own family's heritage. Overall, the class was not super difficult. It consisted of one final, one 6-8 page term paper, section participation, and film responses. (Tamai dropped the midterm because of Covid) The amount of reading for this class is actually INSANE. It wasn't uncommon to have 100+ pages of reading material as homework. However, Tamai advises that you only need to read the intro and conclusion and just skim the rest. This will save a bunch of time and you get a good grasp of course concepts through this method. The paper was pretty chill also. You get to write about any topic that relates to Asian America. Section participation is 30%. Just show up and work with a group one week to discuss the material for the week and you will get full participation credit. (Get Sharon if possible for your TA) Also, Tamai offers Extra Credit opportunities where you journal your life during Covid. Overall, I strongly recommend taking this class. Tamai is such an awesome prof. Hands down my fav prof of the quarter.

Professor Tamai was fantastic in helping students transition from high school to college. There was a significant amount of reading, but her lectures made it totally manageable. She offered a "diary" extra credit, and actually read them. She definitely cares about her students and their well-being, and has a super structured class that makes it easy to follow the material.