Category Archives: Social Justice

HS Asian American Studies cont.  (History – Cultural Studies) (Sam)

An inclusive and landmark history, emphasizing how essential Asian American experiences are to any understanding of US history

Original and expansive, Asian American Histories of the United States is a nearly 200-year history of Asian migration, labor, and community formation in the US. Reckoning with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in anti-Asian hate and violence, award-winning historian Catherine Ceniza Choy presents an urgent social history of the fastest growing group of Americans. The book features the lived experiences and diverse voices of immigrants, refugees, US-born

Asian Americans, multiracial Americans, and workers from industries spanning agriculture to healthcare.

Despite significant Asian American breakthroughs in American politics, arts, and popular culture in the twenty-first century, a profound lack of understanding of Asian American history permeates American culture. Choy traces how anti-Asian violence and its intersection with misogyny and other forms of hatred, the erasure of Asian American experiences and contributions, and Asian American resistance to what has been omitted are prominent themes in Asian American history. This ambitious book is fundamental to understanding the American experience and its existential crises of the early twenty-first century.

Learning goals:

  • Reading text (both in class and outside of class)
  • Fully participate in discussions
  • Written reflections
  • Quizzes

• • Research and other scholarship connecting  to cultural studies

  • Outside work: A moderate amount (e.g., 30-60 min) for each session
  • Mature themes: Due to the nature of history, some elements could include loss of life and violent acts as essential to survival.

HS – Black AF History cont. (History, Cultural Studies)

Note: This class is open to high school students only.

If you’ve ever sat through an American history class wondering where all the Black people were—besides slavery and Martin Luther King Jr.—Michael Harriot has written the antidote to your frustration. Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America is what you’re looking for. It’s equal parts history lesson, roast session, and revolutionary act.

Harriot sets the entire Eurocentric timeline on fire and rebuilds it from Black roots. From the African presence in America before 1619 to the myth of Lincoln’s “great emancipation,” this book challenges everything we thought we knew—and does so with receipts.

Let’s be clear: this is not your average history text. Harriot writes like your brilliant, sarcastic cousin who majored in African American Studies and never lets foolishness slide at Thanksgiving dinner. His voice is conversational, hilarious, and unrelenting. One moment, you’re cackling at his takedown of founding father folklore; the next, you’re stunned by how deep the lies in our textbooks really go.

Learning goals:

  • Reading text (both in class and outside of class)
  • Fully participate in discussions
  • Written reflections
  • Quizzes

• • Research and other scholarship connecting  to cultural studies

  • Outside work: A moderate amount (e.g., 30-60 min) for each session
  • Mature themes: Due to the nature of history, some elements could include loss of life and violent acts as essential to survival.