SE1101E Southeast Asia: A Changing Region
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Preclusions: GEK1008, GEM1008K, SSA1202, SS1202SE
Cross-listings: GEK1008, SSA1202
Southeast Asia has been described as one of the ‘crossroads of the world' – a place where people from many cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds meet. The intermingling of people, the exchange of ideas and international commerce have been part of Southeast Asian life for centuries. This module surveys the broad currents of conflict, change and continuity across the region from a multidisciplinary perspective. It looks at how Southeast Asian societies and political systems have changed over time in response to the pressures of ecology, colonialism, nationalism, urbanization and globalization. The module also looks at the way ethnic, religious, national and regional identities have been constructed, used and altered over time. The overall objective is to provide students with an introduction to different ways of exploring Southeast Asia and different experiences of living in the region.

SE2210 Popular Culture in Southeast Asia
Modular credit: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Preclusion: SE4215
Popular culture – in forms such as music, cinema and magazines – has been seen as a way for non-elite groups to make sense of their common experiences. In the modern era, these pop culture products have also been linked with mass-production and standardised, commercialised commodities which work to entertain and distract. However, more recent scholarship has seen popular culture as a possible means of contesting dominant ideologies. This module examines the debate by considering various forms of popular culture in Southeast Asia.

SE2211 Modern Southeast Asian Social History
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
The intrusion of the North Atlantic world into Southeast Asia during the eighteenth century coincided with changes in patterns of social organisation in the region. These changes presented opportunities to some groups of Southeast Asians but undercut the positions of others. Colonial rule led to the emergence of new elite groups and social tensions. In agriculture, immigration, commerce, rebellion, war, and in the achievement of political independence in the mid-twentieth century, we look at how people from all walks of life took an active part in reshaping their worlds. Thus did Southeast Asia take on the characteristics that mark the region today.

SE2212 Cities and Urban Life in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
Are Southeast Asian urban models unique from those of the West? This module uses historical and emerging developments to re-evaluate debates on Southeast Asian urbanisation. The particularities of Southeast Asian urbanisation will be examined both in terms of its intertwined history with the rest of the world as well as the politics of time and space. The module aims at developing a critical understanding of the interaction between historical, political-economic and cultural processes that constitute urbanization in Southeast Asia.

SE2213 Politics in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Preclusion: SE2281 or SSA2207 or SS2207SE, SC2207
Cross-listing: SSA2207
Political systems in Southeast display a great variety of characteristics. Some, for example, are authoritarian while others are democratic. Some appear stable while others are subject to tumultuous change. This module examines the historical background and the nature of political competition in different countries of the region: how various groups have succeeded or failed in gaining power, the institutions that structure political contests, and the ideas behind different political agendas. The aim is to provide a multidisciplinary understanding of politics in Southeast Asia with which we can revisit ongoing debates on such issues as democracy, legitimacy, stability and reform.

SE2214 Arts of Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
Does Southeast Asian art have its own aesthetic character? Southeast Asia has evolved many distinctive local art forms in such media as textiles, metal, and stone sculpture. For over 2,000 years Southeast Asian artists have explored numerous sources of inspiration: their local environments, their national culture and political situation, changes instigated by politics, technology and the economy, links to other parts of Asia and the global art community. This module will explore both the unique features of the individual works of art and the influences of various external forces which the artists experience and express.

SE2216 Idols, Villains and Jesters
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
In most cultures, one of the major functions of myth and symbolism is to portray the ideal being: the archetypal hero or heroine. Southeast Asia has passed through several historical stages, each identified with heroic beings with different outward attributes. In prehistory, the heroic being was an ancestor. In early history, they were kings and queens who epoused asceticism as a means of achieving spiritual power, which in turn was viewed as the source of early authority. In the late medieval period, Islam and Theravada Buddhism gave rise to new sets of traits which all members of society were exhorted to emulate. This course examines the myths and legends connected with heroic beings and examines archaeological remains, such as statues and temples, in order to fill in the gaps left by the historical of record. One important question to be pondered is this: is continuity or change more characteristic the direction in which the idea of the ideal person has evolved in Southeast Asia?

SE2217 War and Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
The recent strengthening of the U.S. military presence in Southeast Asia is better understood in comparative, historical perspective. This module identifies and compares a number of periods in the past when a powerful imperial force succeeded in dominating parts, if not all, of the region. This module seeks to identify the attributes of imperial domination in Southeast Asia, how it establishes itself and deals with resistance, how it maintains itself through attraction and coercion, and eventually declines. The choice of specific topics will vary in relation to available expertise.

SE2218 Growth and Development of Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
What is the relationship between growth and development? Does growth lead to development? Given the robust economic growth in Southeast Asia during the past four decades, some economies have become more developed while others have remained poor and backward. The material well-being and the standard of living of the people have improved significantly in some economies, but not so in others. What accounts for this gap? We seek to answer this question by examining the policies and the subsequent experiences and problems of the various Southeast Asian economies in the context of the different development models that have been pursued.

SE2219 Culture and Power in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
How do we understand culture, power and society in Southeast Asia? This module introduces students to debates on culture and power in Southeast Asia with the aim of inculcating comparative and critical reflections on cultural formations in the region. Both classical and contemporary studies of Southeast Asian cultures will be examined in order to better identify central issues around Southeast Asian cultural transformations as well as newer theoretical understandings on the relationship between power, culture, and history.

SE2220 Entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia’s New Economy
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
This module utilizes economic anthropology and related analytical approaches to understand the phenomenon of local traders in Southeast Asia. It investigates the complex relationships between economic life, social structure and systems of beliefs as these are affected by the market economy. Students read works utilizing the economic anthropology approach and use them to investigate selected Southeast Asian societies. The limitations of this approach will be addressed. The aim is to comprehend socio-economic changes at the local level in Southeast Asia.

SE2221 Old and New Music in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
This module introduces the variety of music in Southeast Asia, from traditional to pop, and contributes to students’ understanding of the region. Lectures with audiovisual illustrations, which will emphasize cultural and contextual approaches, will be complemented by practical instruction in playing Javanese gamelan music. We will study the different musical aesthetics, changing cultural and social contexts and functions (from village and palace rituals to arts academies, the cassette industry, and concerts), musical and cultural interaction and the changing musical “landscape” of Southeast Asia. The course is appropriate both for students interested in Southeast Asian culture and anyone who likes music.

SE2222 Southeast Asia in Context
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 0-40-0-50-40 over 5-week summer school
Pre-requisite(s)/Co-requisites: Admission to the Yale-in-NUS Summer School
This module introduces students to the transformations of ethnic, religious, national and regional identities in Southeast Asia across time as seen from a variety of perspectives. Students will have the opportunity to learn about: the region's archaeology, seafaring trade and the meanings of its ancient monuments; the major religions of Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and "Animism" and how they figured in movements for change since the 19th century; the modern management of cultural resources and the impact of tourism; and recent anthropological studies with attention on new themes and the ways Southeast Asian societies are understood from the region itself.

SE3210 Studies in Southeast Asian Arts
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
The module explores in depth a particular Southeast Asian art (visual or performing arts, music, or literature). The specific focus of the module varies (to be announced). Students are introduced to theoretical approaches relevant to the topic, in the context of larger theoretical frameworks (historical, anthropological, etc.) of the study of Southeast Asian arts; and they have a chance to experience the art directly by studying the basics of the artistic practice (e.g., learning to paint, play music, dance). The module emphasizes both an in-depth study of the artand the relevance of such study for broader understanding of Southeast Asia.

SE3211 Religion, Society & Politics in SE Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
Religion is a field of meanings that informs individual people's lives and also underpins social and political identities. While religions in Southeast Asia can be harnessed towards state construction or consolidation, they can also be embraced in ways that escape official control. In the past, religion has enabled people, through their local cults, religious schools, or social movements, to cope with daily existence or even voice their discontent. This module takes a comparative perspective and highlights the theoretical and practical problems related to this field of study.

SE3212 Money and Power in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
Do you need money to have power or is political power the route to wealth? The module addresses such questions by examining the ways economic and political forces have interacted in modern Southeast Asia . It looks at sources of government policy and asks why some societal players have less influence than others. The module also investigates debates over the role of government in the economy, comparing different countries in Southeast Asia . It aims to provide an understanding of the political underpinnings of Southeast Asian experiences of economic growth, crisis, inequality and redistribution.

SE3213 Rice, Spice & Trees: Peasants in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
Southeast Asia has been, and still is comprised of predominantly rural and agrarian societies. This module seeks to develop an understanding of peasant life in the region. Topics to be studied include the village as a construct, the “moral economy” of the peasantry, land and man relations, economic output, and peasant beliefs, consciousness, and cultural expressions. With the peasants’ increasing involvement in the world market and the nation-state, it is also important to consider the penetration of capitalism into the rural economy, as well as the demand for supra-village identification and loyalties. Notions of “development” as they pertain to the peasants, and as postulated by the state, non-governmental organisations and the peasants themselves will also be discussed.

SE3214 Marketing Southeast Asia’s Heritage
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
The systematic study of cultural resources management is a new but highly strategic field. Students will be exposed to concepts including sociological and anthropological frameworks for recording and analysing stability and change in traditional societies, and their potential to contribute to the development of tourism. Case studies of change in traditional societies consequent upon tourism will be examined, and strategies for alleviating the negative effects explored. The module will also deal with issues concerning the design and development of planned exhibitions such as those in museums. Students will explore research techniques useful in planning tourism activities which are educational, sympathetic to cultural resources, and which contribute to the welfare of Southeast Asians.

SE3215 Mass Media in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
Mass media in both print and electronic forms play important roles in Southeast Asian politics and society. This module looks at the histories of mass communications in selected Southeast Asian countries, issues relevant to the media that are being debated, the efficacy of the media as instruments of political propaganda, the exercise of freedom of speech, and patterns of censorship. The economic aspects of the media industry and the changing profiles of professionals involved will also be studied. Finally, the module will consider the controversy over the alleged ills of the media in the dissemination of Western cultural imperialism.

SE3216 Migration and Diaspora in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
The module focuses on migrants in Southeast Asian countries from historical-anthropological perspectives. Discussions include the concepts and patterns of migration in the region, the factors that give rise to migrations, for example, economic hardship and poverty, ethnic conflict, colonialism, political independence and the formation of modern nation-states, and the impact on both the home and host countries.

SE3217 Knowing Southeast Asia: Lives and Texts
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
The study of Southeast Asia often focuses on well-known figures whose biographies dominate most accounts of the region. This knowledge, however, is shaped beforehand by scholars and journalists who produce the texts we use for study. This module looks into lives and texts at two levels: critically evaluating the biographies of 1) select individuals who have shaped the course of Southeast Asian events, and 2) the knowledge-producers themselves, probing the relationship between their backgrounds and their writings. Selected texts are situated in the times in which they were produced: the prevailing academic discourses and debates, the influence of local and global politics, and the institutions that nurture scholarship and disseminate information. The choice of lives and texts to be studied will vary in accordance with the expertise of the instructor.

SE3218 Industrial Challenge in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): SE2215
"To industrialise or not" -- this is the challenge faced by Southeast Asian economies. Why have some economies industrialised faster than others, particularly in the promotion and development of the manufacturing sector? In some economies, the manufacturing industries have remained backward and labour intensive. However, in other economies, they have become modern and capital intensive. This module will examine the industrial development processes that have taken place in Southeast Asia by analysing the various constraints faced by these economies and the responses that have been undertaken by their respective governments including whether to adopt inward-looking or outward-oriented industrialisation policies.

SE4101 Southeast Asia Studies: Theory and Practice
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
Preclusions: ALL Non SE major students.
The module prepares Honours students for their thesis exercise, particularly in the choice of analytical framework and appropriate research design. Students are introduced to various ideas about 'theory' and 'practice' in research on Southeast Asia. Different disciplinary approaches are compared and evaluated in terms of the way they formulate research questions, conceptualise research design and measure evidence. Attention will also be paid to modes of writing and representation adopted in texts under study. Seminar discussions are aimed at helping students think critically about the suitability of various approaches to their own research interests.

SE4212 Elites of Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
Aristocrats, bureaucrats and tycoons are just some of the different players that have occupied elite positions in Southeast Asian societies. This module looks at these and other elite groups in terms of the roles they have played and how they have acquired, maintained or lost elite status. Why, for example, is the military an elite group in some countries but not others? Do wealthy people inevitably hold political power? The module also investigates the effects of various types of elite rule on politics, economic growth and social justice.

SE4213 Literature in Southeast Asian Societies
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
This module will focus on the literatures of the region in relation to their socio-political and cultural contexts. Such study will include the literary works of pre-colonial, colonial and independent Southeast Asian societies in the light of such historical factors as colonialism, nationalism, Westernisation, the penetration of capitalism and the spread of the print media. The texts will be studied in relation to their imaginative, sociological and ideological dimensions.

SE4216 Southeast Asia in Archaeological Perspective
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
Modern Southeast Asian cultures are the outcome of a process of cultural evolution during which man has adapted to a tropical environment. The module examines aspects of the region’s environment to which its cultures have adapted, introduces students to early human fossils, and discusses the discovery of agriculture, the bronze age, and the beginning of village life. A survey of historical archaeology then follows: the proto historical period and the indigenous base of early civilisation; the classical period of the Indianised kingdoms, with emphasis of art, architecture, trade and urbanisation; and the post-classic period, including the fall of Angkor, the rise of the Thai, the coming of Islam, and the effects of the coming of the Europeans, depicted at the sites of trading ports, palaces and forts.

SE4217 Southeast Asia in the Global Economy
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
Southeast Asia is becoming increasingly analysed as a subsystem of the global economy as economic production transcends national boundaries, and becomes more and more internationalised. This module examines Southeast Asia’s recent modernization efforts in relation to worldwide development and debates on inter-regional competition, trade and industrial policies, and multinationalism. The module will focus on the dynamics behind sustainable development, Southeast Asia’s competitive strategies and political-economic responses, and regional localisation in an era of globalisation.

SE4218 Majorities and Minorities in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
This course focuses on the relations between majorities and minorities in Southeast Asia. Its aims are to understand how the relationships between the state and its peoples of different ethnicity and between the majority and the minority have brought about historical development and change, politically and economically, in the region. Discussions include the historical background of these peoples, their legends and myths of origins, cultures, relationships among ethnic groups and their perceptions of themselves and others, economic life and trade, migration, colonialism, the rise of the nation-state and its impacts on multi-ethnic societies.

SE4220 Special Studies on Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
This module is intended to enable students to pursue in-depth readings on a particular topic of interest to them which is relevant to the mission of the Southeast Asian Studies Programme but is not covered in the normal curriculum. It enables students to devise their own means of delving into an inquiry on a particular highly-specialized topic. The onus is on the student to compose a detailed list of readings on a topic which they themselves define, and to find a lecturer willing to supervise the student in completing and absorbing the reading material. The mode of assessment for this module is project work and examinations.

SE4221 Southeast Asian Postcolonialism
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
This module draws on insights from postcolonial criticism – a genre of writing that examines colonial practices, particularly, it exclusionary discourses and ambivalent interpretations – to rethink social categories and identities that constitute the political imaginings of postcolonial Southeast Asia. It explores how colonialist categories and knowledges on race, ethnicity, class, gender, culture/tradition and space return, in active forms, in the present, and how such “survivals” can be studied both historically and theoretically to reveal the connections between the political imaginings of the colonial and the postcolonial. It aims to: firstly, shed light on the politico-theoretical difficulties in the production of counter knowledges and counter histories in contemporary Southeast Asia; and secondly, unsettle conversations on the East-West divide by demonstrating the centrality of colonialism/postcolonialism in the making of the modern condition not only in the postcolonies but also in the metropole.

SE4223 Knowledge, Power and Colonialism in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
Students of history usually mine Western accounts of Southeast Asia for the facts that they may contain, assuming that such texts are simply a means of accessing a vaguely apprehended reality “out there.” This module examines the ways in which writers located themselves vis a vis the region; the kinds of images, themes and motifs they used to describe it; the ideas and doctrines that informed them; the institutions and other works they affiliated their writings with; and the power over the societies of the region that arose from their enterprise. Modern scholarship has largely inherited Orientalist ways of looking at Southeast Asia. What are the alternatives?

SE4224 Politics and Business in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
Political and business systems in Southeast Asia are inextricably linked. This module examines a range of issues situated at the intersection of economics and politics, such as financial stability and crisis, technological upgrading, transnational production networks, corruption and monetary policy. It will focus on a selection of such issues in order to introduce and analyse different approaches and arguments. Students will be asked to engage with both the reasoning and evidence used to defend contending explanations and policy prescriptions.

SE4225 The Cold War in Southeast Asia
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 3-0-0-2-3
Pre-requisites: 80 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfil the SE shared major requirement.
As Southeast Asian states achieved independence, new pressures reached the region. Between the late 1940s and the early 1980s, Southeast Asia represented an arena of competition between the communist and capitalist worlds. This competition took many forms: diplomatic, political, military, economic, ideological and cultural. Some Southeast Asians took sides, for reasons ranging from the idealistic to the mercenary. Some Southeast Asian states became battle-grounds. For all the region’s societies, the political and diplomatic history, journalism and student life, social and intellectual change, and fiction and film of the Cold War era reflected a process of reconciling international and local forces.

SE4401 Honours Research Project
Modular credits: 12
Workload: 0-0-0-30-0
Pre-requisites: Cohort 2001: Completed 100 MC of which at least 32 MC should fulfil SE major requirements, & CAP minimum of 4.0.
Cohort 2002 & 2003: (1) Complete at least 100 MC, of which at least 32 MC should fulfill SE shared major requirements, and obtain a minimum CAP of 4.0 at the point of registration OR (2) Complete at least 100 MC and obtain a minimum SJAP of 4.0 (based on 56MC of SE major requirements) and CAP of 3.5 at the point of registration.
Cohort 2004: (1) Complete at least 100 MC including 56MC of SE major requirements and (2) Obtain one of the following minimum standards at the point of registration (a) minimum CAP of 4.0 or (b) minimum SJAP of 4.0 and CAP of 3.5
Preclusions: SE4660, ALL Non-SE major students
Students are required to conduct research on a Southeast Asian topic under the supervision of a member of staff. Topics will be chosen by students in consultation with staff. The length of the honours thesis should not exceed 12,000 words. The honours thesis is equivalent to three modules.

SE4660 Independent Study
Modular credits: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-10-0
Pre-requisites: To be offered subject to the agreement of the Supervisor and Department. Complete at least 100MC including 56MC of major requirements and obtain a minimum CAP of 3.2
Preclusions: SE4101, SE4401S
The Independent Study Module is designed to enable the student to explore an approved topic in depth. The student should approach a lecturer to work out an agreed topic, readings and assignments for the module. A formal, written agreement is to be drawn up, giving a clear account of the topic, programme of study, assignments, evaluation and other pertinent details. Head's and/or Honours Coordinator's approval of the written agreement is required. Regular meetings and reports are expected. Evaluation is based on 100% Continuous Assessment and must be worked out between the student and the lecturer.