South & SE Asian Studies

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. 

This survey course covers the history of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China. It covers the pre-1949 revolutionary struggles, socialist transformation and construction in the 1950s, political movements from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, and post-Mao economic and political reforms, up to the consolidation of Xi Jinping’s personal rule. The permeation of the party-state’s power into diverse aspects of social life is one key feature of communist rule, and this entire course closely integrates national and international political events with the daily lives of Chinese people. It examines historical transformations in the fields of economics, culture and the arts, family and gender relations, public health, and environment and ecology during the century, throughout the study of revolutionary wars, political movements, and reforms. 

This introductory level course familiarizes students to a variety of local Singapore texts from a variety of genres - poetry, short stories, plays, novels, and film. Students gain a deeper understanding of major themes, cultures, identities and lifestyles represented in Singapore literature, as well as national issues and perspectives. It introduces students to Singapore literature and culture through a literary lens. It includes major works of literature by Singaporean authors, such as Edwin Thumboo, Catherine Lim, Kuo Pao Kun, Haresh Sharma, Gwee Li Sui, Claire Tham, Philip Jeyeratnam, Tan Tarn How and films by Eric Khoo, as well as a wide range of critical essays and commentaries. Students analyze works by the authors from a variety of perspectives, in an effort to evaluate how the artistic community frames images of Singapore. This is a suitable course for students that do not have a background in Singapore literature. 

This course examines the history of the Indian subcontinent from the 18th century to the present day. It begins by examining the twilight of the Mughal empire on the one hand, and the gradual expansion of European power across the region on the other. After looking at the ways in which the Portuguese and the Dutch established themselves around the Indian Ocean littoral at a time when territorial control was firmly in the hands of local rulers, it then examines how large parts of this region were incorporated into the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the process it examines the pivotal political, economic and social transformations witnessed under colonial rule and examine its legacies. Using a focus on South Asia to probe and better comprehend the development and dissolution of colonialism, it will simultaneously probe forms of colonial control to identify the forces that have most profoundly shaped the region today.

This course examines the influence and impact that magic and myth have in Southeast Asian society. Students examine the duality of magic as a norm and a taboo, and explore magic’s role in righting injustices, recording denied history, and gender inequality. Students conduct a comparative study between aspects of magic and mythmaking between Southeast Asia and other regions in the world. The course applies themes and theories from academic material to the real world. 

This course examines various historical networks that flow across the Malay world from the 11th to the 21st centuries. It introduces students to the evolution, characteristics, and impact of commercial, diasporic, political, religious, educational, and media networks on the lives of Malays and other communities in the region. The three themes that recur throughout the course are: how networks are formed and sustained; how they interact with one another; how insights from different disciplines can aid in a more holistic study of these networks.

This course provides an overview of the historical development of India and South Asia. It addresses questions of Indian and South Asian historiography, covers the main continuities and changes in Indian and South Asian history, and identifies important personae and events. The course develops the general ability to understand key processes and events and their local/national and global relevance for the region today.

This course examines the politics of Southeast Asia. Topics covered include: colonialism, nationalism, democracy, authoritarianism, war, economic development, social development, overseas Chinese, ethnicity, religion, populism, and international relations, as they apply to Southeast Asian politics.