AMES 253 - Community Formation in Hawai’i

Credits: 2
The course is tied to the broad themes and questions of AMES 100 and AMES 103 as they play out in the specific places of Hawai’i including localizing knowledge and community engagement. This course is to examine questions regarding the production of knowledge about communities and nations. What does it mean to use categories that refer to specific groups and nations? How do these categories arise? Who benefits from these categories and whom they disadvantage? This course will also enable its participants to then apply critical thinking skills to knowledge-production issues related to communities of color in Hawai’i. Participants will learn different ways of understanding the specificities of communities of color such as Filipino American and Samoan American migration and colonization histories, identity and community formations, and institutional and national politics, as they all relate to critiques of ethnicity, “nation,” and power.

Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in AMES 206 and HUMAN 186. Eligible for ENGL& 101 or instructor’s permission.

Satisfies Requirement: Social Science

Course Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:

Analyze the concepts of social constructions, power relationships, prejudice, discrimination and segregation, integration, pluralism and assimilation.
Indicate the ways in which race/ethnicity intersect with gender, sexuality, and class.
Produce a critical analysis of key historical events unique to the history of race and ethnicity in Hawai’i.
Identify significant contributions that each settler groups have made to the development of Hawai’i history and society.
Explore lived experiences and viewpoints held by members of different racial and ethnic groups.
Research the problems and opportunities that various racial and ethnic groups face in the Kingdom of Hawai’i.

Program Outcomes

Articulate knowledge of comparative and interdisciplinary topics related to ethnic minority groups’ narratives.
Demonstrate skill in community organizing.

College-wide Outcomes

Critical Thinking - Critical thinking finds expression in all disciplines and everyday life. It is characterized by an ability to reflect upon thinking patterns, including the role of emotions on thoughts, and to rigorously assess the quality of thought through its work products. Critical thinkers routinely evaluate thinking processes and alter them, as necessary, to facilitate an improvement in their thinking and potentially foster certain dispositions or intellectual traits over time.
Written Communication - Written Communication encompasses all the abilities necessary for effective expression of thoughts, feelings, and ideas in written form.