CoursesThe Chinese Body and the Production of Space in Chinatown
ASAM 313

The Chinese Body and the Production of Space in Chinatown

This is primarily an art and planning course that centers on the representation of the oriental, specifically the Chinese, in both its historical and present contexts.

Instructor(s)
  • Kenneth Lum
Semester

Spring 2022

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Tuesdays, 1:45 PM – 4:45 PM
(Approved Wharton requirement sector: Humanities and Cultural Diversity in the United States)

The localization of the Chinese throughout the Americas within Chinatown precincts was also subject to representational imaginings that were negotiated through the lens of civic planning. This course will study the often-fraught negotiation between representation and planning. The hyper-urbanization of China over the past several decades has radically altered traditional conceptions of public space in China. Mass migration from rural to urban areas has meant very high population densities in Chinese cities.

This course will tackle the topic of embodiment and the Chinese body from different angles. No singular approach will be followed. The methodology will be constellational and fluid. The course will be part public art course studying the nature of representation, part cultural studies course examining identity politics through the prisms of cinema and popular forms of printed media, and part city planning course examining the structuration of the ethnic enclave of Chinatowns.

Hear more about the course from Professor Lum in this interview for The PARK Podcast:

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