Course Outline for Ethnic Studies 6
Introduction to Pacific Islands and Oceania Studies

Effective: Fall 2024
SLO Rev:
Catalog Description:

ES 6 - Introduction to Pacific Islands and Oceania Studies

3.00 Units

This course is an interdisciplinary and comparative study of race and ethnicity with a special focus on the cultures, histories, traditions, experiences, struggles and resistance of the people of the Pacific Islands and Oceania (Polynesian, Micronesian, Melanesian communities) under the broader categorization of one of the four historically defined racialized core groups in Ethnic Studies: Asian American and Pacific Islanders. It consists of an examination of Oceania's history through the pre-colonial period to present events and issues. Key themes include: racism, racialization, self-determination, imperialism, colonialism, settler colonialism, decolonization, immigration, intersecting identities, resistance, justice, liberation, solidarity, and the creative expression of the people of Oceania throughout the diaspora. Groups include: Native Hawai’ian, Samoan, Samoan American, Tongan, Maori, Tahitian. Fijian, Solomon Islanders, Chamorro, Papua New Guinea, Palauan, Marshallese, and Native American.
2203.00 - Ethnic Studies
Optional
Type Units Inside of Class Hours Outside of Class Hours Total Student Learning Hours
Lecture 3.00 54.00 108.00 162.00
Total 3.00 54.00 108.00 162.00
Measurable Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self- determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies;
  2. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities;
  3. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies;
  4. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to build a just and equitable society;
  5. Examine pre-colonial societal, political, cultural, and economic structures and practices in the Pacific Islands and Oceania, including identity, gender, family, and creation stories;
  6. Compare and contrast the diverse communities that fall under the broader categorization of Pacific Islander, including the regions of Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia;
  7. Evaluate historical and contemporary issues of the Pacific Islands and Oceania, as related to politics, government, land use, ecology, economics, tourism, health, education, and militarism;
  8. Examine migration of Pacific Islander communities in relation to militarism, imperialism, colonialism, and its effects and impact on the cultural, psychological, and social acculturation and transnational character of Pacific Islander communities in the U.S. and their respective places countries of origins;
  9. Examine media representations and stereotypes that stigmatize, marginalize, or negatively impact Pacific Islanders and as it relates to tourism, culture, and cultural appropriation;
  10. Demonstrate and evaluate the movement for Pacific Islands Studies, Oceania Studies, and Critical Pacific Islands Studies as academic disciplines and how it fits within the broader context of Asian American Studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, and Ethnic Studies.
Course Content:

  1. Key concepts in Ethnic Studies

    1. Race, racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, anti-racism

    2. White supremacy, ethno-centrism, imperialism, settler colonialism

    3. Self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty

  2. Geography of the Pacific Islands and Oceania, subgroupings, nations, ethnic and cultural identities as related to precolonial definitions and contemporary groupings, such as Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia

  3. Pre-colonial Societies

    1. Creation stories, rituals, and belief systems

    2. Intersectionality of culture, family, kinship, and gender 

    3. Navigation and migration

    4. Trade and economy

    5. Political organization

  4. Racism, Colonialism, Settler Colonialism, Militarism, Tourism, and Christian Missionaries

    1. Colonialism by Spain, France, U.S., the British Empire, Chile, and Indonesia

    2. Impact of Christian missionaries on colonialism, settlement, culture

    3. Illegal annexation of Hawai’i by the U.S.

    4. Sugar plantations

    5. Impact of settler colonialism, tourist industry, white supremacy, racism, racialization

    6. Impact on diet and health

    7. Labor and economic impact

    8. Removal, relocation and migration patterns

    9. Military bases, nuclear testing, military recruitment, vet services

  5. Asian American and Pacific Islander Diasporic Communities and Identity

    1. Family and cultural expectations for children 

    2. Intersectionality of ethnicity, race, gender, and sexuality - emphasis gender, LGBTQ 

    3. Impact of colonialism and Christianity on gender and culture

    4. Intersection of race, racism as they relate to immigration status

    5. Loss of language and identity and forced acculturation

    6. Inter-group conflict

    7. Pride and celebration related to agency, self-determination, cultural heritage and practices

    8. Transnational families, communities, and movements, ie support from the diasporic community after “natural” disasters like tsunami, fires, and volcanic eruptions

    9. Transnational feminism 

  6. Environment/environmental racism

    1. Impact of rising sea levels and increasing extreme weather patterns due to global warming

    2. Mass fishing and water rights

    3. Ocean pollution

    4. Ecological effects of tourism and commercial development

    5. Land access

    6. Geothermal development

  7. Education - inequity, decoloniality, and self-determination

    1. Hawai’ian schools and preservation of Hawai’ian language

    2. Liberatory practices in Pacific Islands Studies and Ethnic Studies

    3. Challenges and inequity in higher education

    4. School-to-Prison pipeline and incarceration rates for Pacific Islanders in the U.S.

  8. Asian American and Pacific Islander struggles, resistance, solidarity, and anti-racist and anti-colonial movements

    1. Sovereignty movements in the Pacific

    2. Artistic and cultural resistance - from local to transnational

    3. Transnational Climate Justice movement

    4. Solidarity with other racialized communities: i.e. Polynesian Panthers, AAPI allyship and solidarity, etc.

    5. Anti-militarism - domestic and across the Pacific

    6. Immigrant Rights

  9. Health

    1. Major health issues related to diet impacted by colonization, access/lack of access to resources

    2. Toxic effects due to war and military activities such as environmental degradation and radioactivity

  10. Representations in Media and Tourism

    1. Cultural appropriation and commercialization

    2. Land loss, displacement, homelessness on indigenous land

    3. Stereotypes

    4. Hollywood, Sports

Methods of Instruction:
  1. Class and group discussions
  2. Community activities/civic engagement projects
  3. Discussion Seminar
  4. Group Presentations
  5. Guest speakers
  6. Written assignments
  7. Textbook reading assignments
  8. Research project
  9. Presentation of audio-visual materials
  10. Lecture/Discussion
  11. Distance Education
  12. Lecture/Discussion
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
  1. Oral History Project: interview a family member or an elder member of a Pacific Islander community. Base questions on their childhood, immigration, cultural identity, or myths and creation stories from the person's culture. Write an analysis paper, using themes and topics from readings that are relevant to the interviewee's oral history
  2. Representation: Bring in a media sample or a representation of Pacific Islanders or Pacific Islander culture from a movie, article, news site, website, tourist magazine, etc. and present to the class. Analyze what stereotypes persist and connect to historical representations of people from the Pacific Islands, especially during colonialism.
  3. Participatory Action Research Paper and Presentation: Choose an issue impacting the Pacific Islander community and develop a research question. Write a 4-5 page analysis paper and present on the research methodology, process, findings and action steps.
  4. Environmental Issue Essay: Select a topic related to how the environment in the Pacific Islands is impacted by climate change such as rising sea levels; write a five page paper including a bibliography of no less than 5 books/journal articles (must include both sources), using APA style
  5. Community Engagement: Guest lecturers from local Pacific Islander community organizations like the Pacific Islander Wellness Initiative. Attending the Pacific Islander student club and/or learning community “Family Night” or "Rock the Mic" events as participants/performers.
  1. Written assignments
  2. Class Work
  3. Final Examination or Project
  4. Research Projects
  5. Quizzes
Upon the completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. Analyze the impact of colonialism and settler colonialism on Asian American and Pacific Islander history, identity, and culture and various sovereignty, resistance and/or decolonial movements;
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, and more among the diverse communities within the Pacific Islands and Oceania;
  3. Examine various struggles, resistance efforts, racial and social justice efforts, solidarity, and liberation movements as enacted by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders relevant to current and structural issues on communal, national, international, and/or transnational levels.
Textbooks (Typical):
  1. Enomoto, J., Case, E., Dawrs, S., et al. (2022). Pacific Islands Studies: A Transformational Movement Center for Pacific Islands Studies http://hdl.handle.net/10125/81452.
  2. Dr. Leonard Mason and Dr. Robert Kiste (2020). NUCLEAR DIASPORA: BIKINI & ENEWETAK, 1946-1988 Pacific Collection, University of Hawaii Hamilton Library https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/collections/show/25.
  1. Camacho, K.L. (2019). Sacred Men: Law, Torture, and Retribution in Guam Durham: Duke University Press.
  2. Camacho, K.L. (2021). Reppin: Pacific Islander Youth and Native Justice University of Washington Press.
  3. Nomura, G.M. and Hune, S. (Eds) (2020). Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women New York University Press.
  4. Okihiro, G.Y. (2015). American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders University of California Press.
  5. Hau’ofa, E. (2008). We Are the Ocean: Selected Works University of Hawai’i Press.
  6. Palaita, D. G., K. A. Borja-Navarro, R. Benigno Cantora, A. Fatilua Tunai Tuala (2012). Matamai2: Intersecting Knowledge across the Diaspora (Volume 2). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform .
  7. Kurashige, L. (2017). Pacific America: Histories of Transoceanic Crossings University of Hawai‘i Press.
  8. Matsuda, M.K. (2012). Pacific worlds: a history of seas, peoples, and cultures Cambridge University Press.
  9. Jetñil-Kijiner, K. (2017). Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Mashallese Daughter University of Arizona Press.
  10. Nohelani Teves, S. (2018). Defiant Indigeneity: The Politics of Hawaiian Performance The University of North Carolina Press.
  11. Tuhiwai Smith, L. (2012). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (2nd). Zed Books.
  • NA
Abbreviated Class Schedule Description:
An introduction to the studies of the Pacific Islands and Oceania and its Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian communities.
Discipline:
Ethnic Studies*