new paper topic - i think!
sorry if this asian american stuff is boring to you, dear readers. but do not fear, i will end with a fun little vignette that is tried and true always a crowd pleaser. nod.
I was really struggling to find a good paper topic for my race law class. By the way, I have four other classes going on this semester, this just happens to be the class that I have the most personal attachment to and most resonance with, so that's why i'm forever writing about this class here. Initially, I was really pumped up with the idea of writing about Native American policy in the United States because of course there is a HUGE body of law and policy that dates back hundreds of years and is still hugely relevant in today's discussion, so it would be immensely interesting to delve deeper into it. i went to the library to take a look at what books might be available so i could find a good jumping off point and really delve into a good and meaty topic, but after flipping through a few books pulled randomly off the shelf i quickly realized that i was completely in over my head. there was no way that i could possibly build any sort of basic understanding of tribal law sufficient to write an informed research paper focusing on one issue.
anyways, long story shorter my professor suggested picking a topic which had more of a "personal hook." i took that to mean that perhaps i should so something more with an asian emphasis, because i am asian and that's what i know. so i took that idea and decided to do some really broad searches on lexisnexis: "asian american apolitical," "asian american affirmative action." can i just say that there are a lot of angry asians out there? there were literally hundreds of articles about these topics - i was really surprised. and did you know that asians only make up about 4% of the u.s. population? i sure didn't.
okay this is getting long. so sorry. and i need to write the funnie vignette. anyways, after a lot of reflection and thinking i think i'm going to write about the evolving stereotypes and perceptions of asian americans beginning from immigration policies in the twentieth century labelling the asian american as a "foreigner" to more of a "model minority" mindset and exploring where we might go from here into the future. it should be interesting.
okay now for the little story.
there's an LLM student who works at the library from Bangalore, India. I'm not sure what his full name is but we call him Mandu. My supervisor and I have been feeding him a new hostess snack each week as a way to educate him about american snacks. his favorite so far has been the twinkie and we're working our way up to the snowball because it's the oddest snack. when eating the ho-ho he remarked that "you can only eat one," which is so true. it's not the best immersion into american culture, but he likes the snacks and he tells us about india when he eats them. it's a marketplace of ideas!
I was really struggling to find a good paper topic for my race law class. By the way, I have four other classes going on this semester, this just happens to be the class that I have the most personal attachment to and most resonance with, so that's why i'm forever writing about this class here. Initially, I was really pumped up with the idea of writing about Native American policy in the United States because of course there is a HUGE body of law and policy that dates back hundreds of years and is still hugely relevant in today's discussion, so it would be immensely interesting to delve deeper into it. i went to the library to take a look at what books might be available so i could find a good jumping off point and really delve into a good and meaty topic, but after flipping through a few books pulled randomly off the shelf i quickly realized that i was completely in over my head. there was no way that i could possibly build any sort of basic understanding of tribal law sufficient to write an informed research paper focusing on one issue.
anyways, long story shorter my professor suggested picking a topic which had more of a "personal hook." i took that to mean that perhaps i should so something more with an asian emphasis, because i am asian and that's what i know. so i took that idea and decided to do some really broad searches on lexisnexis: "asian american apolitical," "asian american affirmative action." can i just say that there are a lot of angry asians out there? there were literally hundreds of articles about these topics - i was really surprised. and did you know that asians only make up about 4% of the u.s. population? i sure didn't.
okay this is getting long. so sorry. and i need to write the funnie vignette. anyways, after a lot of reflection and thinking i think i'm going to write about the evolving stereotypes and perceptions of asian americans beginning from immigration policies in the twentieth century labelling the asian american as a "foreigner" to more of a "model minority" mindset and exploring where we might go from here into the future. it should be interesting.
okay now for the little story.
there's an LLM student who works at the library from Bangalore, India. I'm not sure what his full name is but we call him Mandu. My supervisor and I have been feeding him a new hostess snack each week as a way to educate him about american snacks. his favorite so far has been the twinkie and we're working our way up to the snowball because it's the oddest snack. when eating the ho-ho he remarked that "you can only eat one," which is so true. it's not the best immersion into american culture, but he likes the snacks and he tells us about india when he eats them. it's a marketplace of ideas!
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