Thursday, April 24, 2014

Orwellian Dystopia

Xanh Tran
ASA 002 - A01
Response #4.5: Asian Americans and the Military Guest Lecture

Orwellian Dystopia

Although I missed the first half hour of Professor Darrell Hamamoto's guest lecture, what I did catch gave me insight to a blunt perspective of the Japanese participation in United States' military during World War II and the Second Indo-China War. Professor Hamamoto not only showed eye-opening videos of Asian American experiences, but also shared and connected his own personal stories.  

There are several concepts and themes common between Professor Hamamoto's lecture and Professor Valverde's class. The first that I saw was the presence of cross-racial community strength and support that the African Americans gave to the Japanese community after their release from incarceration after WWII. This was reflective of the discussion in class about Yuri Kochiyama and her involvement in black politics and civil rights. Another concept was the use of the model minority myth to divide these communities' unity and power. Japanese students, regardless of family income, were assumed to be rich and smart by not only academic institutions, but their peers and society. Lastly, I connected the privatization of the university discussed in class to Professor Hamamoto's theories on the university's use of student services like therapy as methods of influencing students for ulterior capitalistic and Orwellian motives. 

According to Prof. Hamamoto, never go here (CAPS). 

No comments:

Post a Comment