Fall 2025 Courses

Download summary listing in PDF here.

(World Cultures)

Michael Jin

MW 1:00pm-1:50pm
LEC | CRN 40132 | Lecture Center C6

F 10:00am – 10:50am
DIS | CRN 40118 | ETM&SW 2417

F 11:00am – 11:50am
DIS | CRN 40119 | ETM&SW 2417

F 12:00pm – 12:50pm
DIS | CRN 40120 | ETM&SW 2417

F 1:00pm – 1:50pm
DIS | CRN 40121 | ETM&SW 2417

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This course examines various historical, cultural and political representations of Asia, Asian America, and Asians in the world. Students will explore how peoples and ideas from Asia and across transoceanic and transnational diasporas have influenced a globalized world and continue to inform our contemporary understanding of Asia and Asian America. The course also examines how historical issues such as colonialism, war, gobal capitalism, and migration have shaped the experiences and representations of Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and peoples in Asian diasporas.

(Instructor Approval Required)
To sign up for GLAS 105 and AAMP, please fill out go.uic.edu/aampform

Julian Rey Ignacio

F 10:00am – 10:50am
CRN 40130 | Stevenson Hall 103

F 11:00am – 11:50am
CRN 40127 | Stevenson Hall 103

R 12:30pm –1:20pm
CRN 40128 | TBH 180E

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This seminar is part of the Asian American Mentor Program, a unique program designed to support new first-year or transfer students in their first semester at UIC. The weekly seminar focuses on Asian American identities, cultures, and communities. We will critically examine historical events, the media, popular culture, and personal narratives to study how social, academic, personal, and community issues impact Asian Americans, while paying attention to distinctions between Asian American and Pacific Islander identities and issues. In addition, students will be introduced to college life and campus resources to ease the transition to UIC.

GLAS 105 is an LAS First-Year Seminar offering (see booklet pdf), but is open to students from any College.

Viraj Patel

F 12:00pm – 12:50pm
CRN 40131 | Stevenson Hall 103

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Taught by staff at the Asian American Student Academic Program, the class will focus on life skills that can be useful now and after college with a foundation rooted in Asian American and Pacific Islander and intersecting PC experiences.

(Individual and Society, and Understanding US Society)

Karen Su

MWF 2:00pm – 2:50pm | Lecture Center A2

GLAS CRN 40123 (LEC) & 40124 (DIS)
SOC CRN 40270 (LEC) & 40269 (DIS)

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This course is a legacy of the hard-fought struggles by students, staff and faculty for Asian American studies at UIC since 1991. It serves as a space for students of all backgrounds to gain an introduction to the histories, community institutions and contemporary issues of Asian Americans and Asian diasporics across the globe.

This course makes use of critical thinking, critical creativity, and analytical writing as ways of knowing Asian America.

(Creative Arts and US Society)

Instructor not available

TR 11:00am – 12:15pm | BSB 215

GLAS CRN 40025 (LEC), 40026 (DIS)
ENGL CRN  19879 (LEC), 32405 (DIS)

The course will situate the literature in the chronology of Asian American history, from early immigration in the 19th century through the exclusion era to the watershed years of WWII and the civil rights movements, ending with the major shifts in Asian American demographics following immigration reform in the 1960s. We will also discuss such issues as assimilation, generational conflicts, family, gender, sexuality, and class.

Catherine Becker

TR 3:30pm – 4:45pm | BSB 337

GLAS CRN 41026
AH CRN 41012

This course introduces students to some of the major artistic methods, monuments, and themes associated with Asian art and architecture.

Bridget Wang and Xuehua Xiang

MWF 1:00pm – 1:50pm | Burnham Hall 316

GLAS CRN 40023
CHIN CRN 37488

Chinese culture as reflected in language, communication, daily life, and creative works. Intensive listening, speaking, reading and writing at the intermediate-advanced level.

(Individual and Society, and US Society)

Fredy Gonzalez

TR 2:00pm – 3:15pm | Stevenson Hall 220

GLAS CRN 40905
HIST CRN 43799

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Introduction to the main historical events that define the Asian experience in the United States, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

(The Past)

Clare Kim

MW 9:30am – 10:45am | Stevenson Hall 220

GLAS CRN 49095
HIST CRN 49096

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From aliens, coolies, and yellow peril to model minority, techies, and sub-human quants, representations of Asians and Asian Americans have become tethered to the scientific and technological. This course examines the entanglements of race, politics, science, and technology in the Pacific world from the late nineteenth century to the present. Through the lens of techno-Orientalism—an expansion and inversion of Edward Said’s formulation—we consider the historical conditions that have recast the
East, from an imagined Orient suspended in an eternal state of stagnation, to a technoscientific Orient fetishized as the exotic future. Topics covered include colonialism and imperialism; cyborgs and computing;
digital labor and embodiment; biosecurity and intellectual property; migration and the information economy.

Anna Guevarra

TR 12:30pm – 01:45pm  | CRN 44735 | ARC 135

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This course unpacks the long histories, migrations, culture, and politics of the Filipinx/a/o diaspora using a variety of texts including ethnographies, literature, films, poetry, and art. We explore these issues from a critical and social justice lens that are attentive to histories of US imperialism and colonialism and their impacts on processes of racialization and activism, as well as intersectional analyses of identity and community formations in their wake. The course provides an opportunity to engage with and learn from the Chicago Filipinx/a/o American communities.

Catherine Becker

TR 12:30pm – 01:45pm | BSB 385

GLAS CRN 42522
AH CRN 32182

Survey of the historic and contemporary art and architecture of China, Korea and Japan, as well as the architecture and art of Asian Diasporas.

(World Cultures)

Mark Chiang

MW 4:30pm – 5:45pm | Stevenson Hall 320

GLAS CRN 42048
ENGL CRN 43803
MOVI CRN 43802

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This class will introduce students to some of the landmark films of Asian and Asian American cinematic history. While we will attend to the technical elements of film as an artform, the class will mostly explore the social and historical contexts of these films in order to develop a sense of the trajectory of Asia and the Asian diaspora over the course of the 20th century. Coursework will include essays and short writing assignments, as well as a final project. Students will be expected to view the films outside of class—access will be provided. Films for the class will include work by directors such as Wayne Wang, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Akira Kurosawa, Lino Brocka, John Woo, Satyajit Ray, Asghar Farhadi, and others.

Anna Guevarra

T 3:30pm – 6:00pm | CRN 40125 | Jane Addams Hull-House Residential Dining Hall and Stevenson Hall 220 (class will be alternating between these two locations throughout the semester)

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Using Asian and Asian American histories and diaspora as a lens, and food as a storyteller, this interdisciplinary course focuses on exploring the nexus of food and migration. It builds on the thematic of food as sanctuary as we learn to see food as a rich medium for exploring histories, understanding social movements, telling stories and building community. We learn how cooking is a way of nourishing our creativity as well as a means of resistance as we prepare meals and eat together in the historic Hull House kitchen and dining hall. We honor the land and our community and family traditions. We work together to try to cultivate hope and strength in these challenging times.

(World Cultures)

Yue Zhang

TR 11:00am – 12:15pm | BSB 365

GLAS CRN 40034
POLS CRN 39407

Main issues of contemporary Chinese politics and social change; the decline of the last imperial dynasty; the republican era; the rise of communism and China under the rule of Mao Zedong; and the reform period (post-1978).

(World Cultures)

Seung Whan Choi

TR 2:00pm – 3:15pm LEC | BSB 219

GLAS CRN 43548
POLS CRN 43547

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This course is designed to introduce Korean politics to undergraduate students. Relying on a textbook on Korean politics, journal articles and Korean films.

(US Society and World Cultures)

Nadine Naber

TR 12:30pm – 1:45pm | BSB 281

GLAS CRN 47032
ANTH CRN 47033

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A comparative study of contemporary Arab and Asian communities in the US and around the globe that examines issues of militarism/war; immigration/displacement; racism; and social justice activism.

(The Past and US Society)

A. Naomi Paik

MW 3:00pm – 4:15pm | Burnham Hall B10

GLAS CRN 48694
BLST CRN 48695

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This interdisciplinary course examines histories and narratives of U.S. imperialism and racism. Its investigation begins from the following concepts: the United States has long held and continues to maintain imperial powers across the globe, and U.S. imperial power is inextricably tied to the workings of racial hierarchy. Drawing on critical ethnic and feminist studies, this course focuses on imperial and racist power not only in more obvious sites of government action (like military bases or warfare), but also in an extensive range of everyday practices in which ordinary people participate, like consuming products produced abroad or migrating from colonized countries.

Zeina Zaatari

MW 4:30pm – 5:45pm | Lecture Center A2

GLAS CRN 46219
GWS CRN 46217
ANTH CRN 46220

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An introduction to Middle East and Muslim feminisms that draws on the social sciences. Emphasizes intersections of family, religion, nation, colonialism, militarism, gender, and sexuality.

Michael Jin

MW 3:00pm – 4:15pm | BSB 315

GLAS CRN 50208
HIST CRN

This course explores the history of modern Korea and global Korean diaspora through music. From Pansori to modern K-pop, students will examine selected genres of popular culture as a window into major historical forces of the long twentieth century —such as colonialism, war, political repression, social movement, democratization, and globalization—that have shaped historical perspectives, politics views, and social and cultural values in modern Korea and Korean diaspora.

Laura Hostetler

MW 01:00pm – 01:50pm
LEC | Burnham Hall 308

F 12:00pm – 12:50pm
DIS | ETM&SW 2217

F 01:00pm – 01:50pm
DIS | ETM&SW 2217

GLAS CRN 40081 (LEC), 40082 (DIS), 40083 (DIS)
HIST CRN 41206 (LEC), 31207 (DIS), 31208 (DIS)

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A detailed survey of China’s late imperial period, covering a broad range of issues from state institutions and elite power, to popular culture and peasant revolt.

(The Past and World Cultures)

Rama Mantena

TR 09:30am – 10:45am | Burnham Hall 309

GLAS CRN 48728 (LEC), 48729 (DIS)
HIST CRN 48726 (LEC), 48727 (DIS)

Examines anti-colonial resistance to British rule starting with the 1857 Revolt, Indian nationalism, and the formation of independent nation-states in South Asia.

Michelle Lee

TR 09:30am – 10:45am | BSB 113

GLAS CRN 46373
GWS CRN 11911
COMM CRN 49513

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This class introduces students to the visual culture of, for, and by Asian Americans. We will use an interdisciplinary approach that combines visual theory and ethnic studies to examine visual culture as a medium through which Asian American histories, critique, and stories are told. This includes but is not limited to visual arts in museums, films, television, digital media, and fashion.

Rama Mantena

TR 02:00pm – 3:15pm | GH 204

GLAS CRN 47183 (U), 47185 (G)
GWS CRN 35624 (U), 35625 (G)
HIST CRN 35567 (U), 35568 (G)

A study of the diversity of women’s experiences in South Asia in a range of social, cultural, and religious contexts.

Michelle Lee

R 03:30pm – 06:00pm | BSB 389

GLAS CRN 44941 (U), 44942 (G)
GWS CRN 34643 (U), 34644 (G)

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Advanced, cross-disciplinary examination of feminism among Asian Americans from critical race and decolonizing perspectives and in a transnational context.

Fredy Gonzalez

TR 11:00am – 12:15am | BSB 281

GLAS CRN 47037 (U), 47038 (G)

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Advanced, cross-disciplinary, seminar-style exploration of issues related to gender and sexuality among Asian Americans with critical attention paid to feminist and queer perspectives on the politics of representation and identity construction.

Mark Liechty

TR 11:00am – 12:15am | LCA 5

GLAS 42022 (U), 42023 (G)
HIST 31222 (U), 31223 (G)
ANTH 31226 (U), 31227 (G)

Examines the emergence of colonial cultures of domination and resistance on the Indian subcontinent from the 18th century to 1947.

Mark Chiang
CRN 40141

Fredy González
CRN 45569

Anna Guevarra
CRN 40142

Julian Rey Ignacio
CRN 45570

Michael Jin
CRN 40143

Clare Kim
CRN 47152

Michelle Lee
CRN 49716

Nadine Naber
CRN 40144

Karen Su
CRN 40146

Mark Martell
CRN 40907

A. Naomi Paik
CRN 47153

Justin Phan
CRN 40145

Gayatri Reddy
CRN 43730