From “Opium War” to “War on Drugs”: Asian Americans’ Transcultural Journey

The lecture will focus on the cultural-psychological aspect of Asian Americans’ experiences. Both the international context for their early emigration and the American cultural environment for their acculturation process will be examined (adaptation = selective process vs. unconditional assimilation). The interrelatedness between the two larger contexts will be analyzed to interpret the behavioral patterns that underlie the Asian Americans’ efforts to construct a citizenship and build an identity.

Author Bio

Jianguo Ji, Adjunct Professor and Coordinator of Asian Studies Program at City College, CUNY, currently teaching Asian American Politics & Law at the City College, Human Communication at Brooklyn College , Communication Skills at LaGuardia Community College , and Intensive Chinese courses at New York University. Professor Ji received his doctorate in Humanities from Columbia University. A published author of books and articles on crosscultural studies, comparative literature, and foreign language teaching methodology, his present research interest is in issues on Asian Americans' transcultural experiences and the dynamics of U.S-China relations.