South & SE Asian Studies

This course introduces South Asian Islamic society, culture and religious thought, especially in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives, the three South Asian countries with a Muslim majority and where Islam forms an important cultural element. The focus of this course is the period from c. 1750-1950, during which important developments took place in South Asian Islam. The course outlines the role of Islam in pre-colonial society as well as the movements for religious and political reform of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Questions of language and literature are also addressed.

This course looks at the relationship between the built environment and spiritual space with special focus on Southeast Asia. It looks at a range of spiritual practices and the forms they take including temples, mosques, shrines, and symbols. It addresses how religion shapes and connects cities in different ways as well as how globalization transforms and is transformed by spiritual space. The course examines debates surrounding these questions through cases within and beyond Southeast Asia. Topics range from ghost films to heritage sites. It provides a strong understanding of the religious and spiritual practices, global processes and political events shaping Southeast Asia. It also develops visual analysis skills necessary to read and write about spiritual space in a variety of forms. Course discussions and assignments unpack the aesthetic traditions, politics, and morals surrounding specific cases in order to complicate what it means to be global, regional or local. The content goes beyond Southeast Asia and cuts across disciplines, drawing from Art and Architectural History, Anthropology, Urban Planning, and Geography.

This course examines Thailand through the perspective of its military experience from past to present. It introduces students to various aspects of Thailand within the realm of conflict from its military history to its strategic culture. As such, the course adopts a multidisciplinary approach, encouraging students to look at Thailand from a range of disciplines whether it is history, politics, or international relations. Though it may be helpful, no prior knowledge or experience will be assumed. Students are expected to develop the ability to manage and analyze potentially complex and challenging issues through the use of evidence and theories, and be able to communicate them in both oral and literary manner.

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach by introducing contemporary development issues in the Global South. It draws on literature from Political Science, Economics, History, and Sociology. The module explores and analyzes the intersection of politics, history, sociology, governance, and economics in relation to development in the Global South. It does so by investigating the influence of colonialism, governance, culture, institutions, conflicts, and external forces on the development trajectories in the Global South. Empirically, the course addresses important questions such as: What is the connection between colonial history and development in the Global South; Why have some countries within the Global South developed faster than others since the WWII; What has been the impact of institutions on development in the Global South; What has been the impact of natural resources on politics and development in the Global South; Are there forms of corruptions compatible with development in the Global South; What is the role of foreign aid and foreign direct investments in development, including the China-effect in the Global South? e module also introduces students to important political economy theories such as Neo-patrimonialism, Corruption and Clientelism, Developmental state, Decoloniality. It achieves all the above by offering space for a diversified body of literature and perspectives.
 

This course covers the rich history and development of traditional Thai medicine, theoretical concepts, types of treatment with herb, massage, herbal sauna, and other curative applications. It covers traditional Thai medicine and health care, and its integration into the country's health care system. It provides a basic knowledge in human anatomy and physiology necessary for Thai massage, its history, benefits and limitations, and steps, postures and the etiquette of Thai massage. The course includes demonstrations. 

This course examines the military situation of Singapore and how it is governed by its place in the Malay world and its fluctuating strategic value to great powers. Students learn the 700‐year approach to the island’s military history and examine the relative impact of its distant and recent past on its present situation. 

Using New Express Plus: Burmese by Masahiko Katō as the course textbook, this course teaches the fundamentals of spoken Burmese. 

This course deepens understanding of Singapore history through an examination of different representations of history: academic scholarship, social memory and oral history, heritage. Each section incorporates fundamental concepts and debates behind the production of history, together with the application of these ideas to specific Singapore case studies. At the end of the course, students will be able to critically analyze Singapore history as a whole in terms of historiography and heritage studies, whilst gaining familiarity with the treatment of key issues in Singapore's past.

This course examines the intersection of involuntary labor, transnational migration, and sexual exchange, broadly categorized under “human trafficking.” While this issue has gained urgency with the adoption of the United Nations’ Palermo Protocol (2000), historical inquiries reveal that commercial sexual labor has existed in various forms and under different guises throughout history. This course situates contemporary human trafficking within a continuum with historically similar practices, some of which were considered “indigenous” to Asia. This course looks at traditional forms of servitude and sexual exchange in east and southeast Asia, as well as the contemporary transnational migration of women for the sex industry. It engages with historiographic and ethnographic accounts on slavery, dependency, and other forms of servitude in Asia as a necessary background to the examination of modern practices of using women for sexual services.  

The course delves into the social and economic conditions that have historically facilitated the growth of the sex industry, including colonial establishments, and military mobilization, and the so-called “white slave” trade that spurred abolitionist movements by feminist and religious groups in the early 20th century. For contemporary cases, it examines practices that have been associated with human trafficking, such as prostitution and international brokered marriages. The course investigates the possibility of agency among exploited women, potentially challenging the predominant victimhood narrative. It concludes with a discussion on the social norms surrounding payment for intimate relations.