Fall 2014 Course Spotlight: AMS 4973: Research Seminar in American Studies- Chinese in America

This fall, AMS students will have the wonderful opportunity to complete their senior seminar with Dr. Wing Chung Ng on the topic of the Chinese in America. Dr. Ng describes the course in this way:

This seminar is designed for students in American Studies and History to engage in a semester-long research project under the broad subject of the Chinese in America. The Chinese presence in the United States encompasses a history of over 170 years. Interesting historical topics for research are plentiful, and the subject matter should be particularly attractive to students who want to explore questions concerning migration and settlement, ethnic community, citizenship, culture and identity. For AMS students, this seminar will provide an opportunity to apply theoretical understanding of race, class, gender, ethnicity, transnationalism and other versatile conceptual tools in a historical context.

Dr. Ng, a recent Fullbright Scholar, is a historian of modern China and the Chinese Diaspora. He has done work on Chinese international migration to North America and Southeast Asia focusing on questions of social institutions, cultural practices and identity. His latest project is on Cantonese opera, a popular theater of South China and among the Chinese overseas. His book The Rise of Cantonese Opera is forthcoming from the University of Illinois Press and the Hong Kong University Press.