A Place for Us
Lesson Guides for Teaching Place-Based Oral History Using an Ethnic Studies Framework
Welcome to "A Place for Us: Lesson Guides for Teaching Place-Based Oral Histories Using an Ethnic Studies Framework," a collaboration between De Anza's Asian American and Asian Studies Department and the California History Center that invites students to critically engage with oral history as a method for challenging dominant narratives and centering marginalized voices in their communities.
This website showcases materials developed by faculty member Francesca Caparas through over a year of classroom testing and refinement. The curriculum is designed for college students and taught from an Ethnic Studies framework, and consists of a three-module structure that guides students through group projects focused on research, oral history interviewing, and zine-making.
We are proud to share these resources publicly for any educator interested in incorporating place-based oral history into their teaching.
Hi! I'm Francesca Caparas, a faculty member in English and Asian American Studies at De Anza College—but feel free to call me Chesa.
This curriculum is based on a series of lessons and activities I use in my ASAM 21 class, "Asian Pacific Americans Make Culture." It takes about 6 weeks of a regular academic quarter allotting 2 weeks for each module. While the readings and theoretical concepts center on Asian American experiences, you don't need to teach Asian American Studies or Ethnic Studies to use it. The assignments are designed to be flexible and can be adapted to fit the structure and goals of your own course.
Module 1, “Orient"-ing Ourselves: Asian Americans and Place-Making
Module 1 invites students to explore how race, ethnicity, and physical space intersect—beginning with the foundational concept of Orientalism by Edward Said and its impact on representations of Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. Through collaborative research, students examine local spaces tied to Asian American communities and reflect on their own roles in group work. This module lays the groundwork for conducting oral histories in the next phase of the curriculum.
Module 2, Oral History Strategies: Finding and Telling the Story
Module 2 equips students with the tools and critical frameworks needed to conduct their own oral histories. Students will explore best practices in interviewing, examine how oral history aligns with the goals of Ethnic Studies, and engage with counter-narratives that challenge stereotypes such as the model minority myth. Students will apply what they've learned to collect and share stories from their own communities.
Module 3, Reclaiming Culture: Storytelling, Zines, and Alternative Media
Module 3 invites students to synthesize everything they've learned about counter-narratives, storytelling, and Ethnic Studies into a creative and collaborative final project. Using the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising (referred to here by its Korean name, Sa-I-Gu) as a case study, students will analyze methods of storytelling through alternative forms of media including film, music, and visual archives. The module will culminate in the creation of a zine where students will present their research and oral histories in an accessible and visually-compelling format.