GRSJ 235: Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Structures in Modern Asia

Instructor: Dr. Yao Xiao

Situates “Asia” in a global context and explores the complex relationships between gender, social structures, and social change.


Term 2

Description: What is going on with “Asia”? Are we talking about a name, a concept, a continent, a variety of societies, a million different ways of life, or perhaps, some profound geopolitical changes in the world? “Asia” – almost as an antithesis of the “West” – is constantly in the making, in movements of people, in intellectual debates, and in the midst of changing social structures that affect communities locally, nationally, and transnationally. It is in these complex contexts of Asia that we turn our attention to questions of social justice: What happens to people who live the intersected tensions of gender, race, sexuality, class, and various other forms of power relations? Who needs what justice? What can we do, personally and structurally? As co-learners, we will utilize an interdisciplinary lens to explore the geopolitical, economic, and cultural changes in Asia, and to critically reflect on interrelated issues of class, gender, race, sexuality, spirituality, ecology, indigeneity, decolonization, diaspora, and globalization.