ARCH 190: East Asian Architecture: A Global Perspective (Fall 2020 & 2021)
​This course introduces the architectural traditions and influences of East Asia, focusing on China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. The pedagogy of East Asian architectural history in the west often focuses only on the traditional vernacular architecture of the countries and overlooks the dynamic cultural exchanges that took place beyond these regions. This has produced a landscape of knowledge that is often based on stereotypes and exoticized imaginaries of the East. The reproductions of East Asian architecture in North America have proved this exactly, such as the design of Chinatowns. The aim of this course is to reconsider the stereotypical images of East Asian culture in the West, understanding East Asian architecture as diverse and evolving entities that participate in cultural exchange. You will learn to approach East Asian Architecture in a spirit of empathy and engage in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary understandings of its buildings and landscapes.
​
​
ARCH 190: Food and Architecture (Spring 2020)
This course explores the formal and aesthetic connections between food and architecture, and consider how food, with its performative and spatial aspects, shaped the built environment and other cultural landscapes. Architectural studies have seldom engaged the subject of food while there is much to learn from one another. The transformation of food spaces were indicators of civilization predicated on race, gender, class, and many other factors. Participants will critically examine the connections between food and architecture from a wide array of theoretical and methodological approaches including the scholarly works from the disciplines and fields of Geography, Anthropology, Sociology, Material Culture, Ethnic Studies, and Gender Studies. The course is open to all students and may particularly interest those who are interested in exploring the historical, social, and cultural aspects of food spaces. ​
​
​
ASAM: Introduction to Asian American Studies
This course explores the key concepts, theories, sites, and themes in the interdisciplinary inquiry of Asian American Studies. Students will learn about Asian American experiences from a wide array of theoretical and methodological approaches, including the scholarly works from the fields and disciplines of Asian American Studies, Critical Race Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, History, and Architectural History. Students are encouraged to explore the intellectual boundaries of these overlapping academic fields while also cultivating their own identities based on their chosen fields of study and intellectual curiosity. The course is open to students regardless of their department/program affiliations and may particularly interest those who hope to pursue careers in community organizations, historic preservation, and teaching and writing about Asian American history.
​
​
ASAM: Asian American Experiences in the Built Environment
This course introduces students to the spatial, architectural, and material dimensions of Asian American experiences, exploring Asian American historical sites to critically examine questions like identity-making, community resistance, and cultural adaptation. Therefore, an important component of the course is to learn about how to conduct architectural research, exploring how Asian Americans create meanings for themselves through the built environment. Students will be provided with a list of Asian American historical sites I identified with the State Historic Preservation Office. Students are also encouraged to suggest places that they have a personal connection to and have direct access to relevant personal or archival collections. Each group will write a short essay and present the project in class using a short film.
​