|
1. Introduction
SYNOPSIS:
Southeast Asia today encompasses the mainland states of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and the maritime states of the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and East Timor. It is a region characterized by diversity, and by cultural, linguistic, and religious variety, arising from indigenous sources as well as exogenous influences. Traditional polities ranged from highly localized units to centralized kingdoms, which were mostly superseded by Western colonial Powers, who were responsible for drawing the region's present-day boundaries. In the aftermath of colonialism, a host of decolonizing experiences produced different successor regimes - from democratic to semi-authoritarian to communist. This module focusses on the geographical basis, historical background, and contemporary birthing of regionalism, amidst such diversity. It aims to introduce students to the political, strategic and economic aspects of regional cooperation, particularly through ASEAN. It also encourages them to consider the cumulative impact of such cooperation on the formation of a Southeast Asian regional identity, and the prospect of an indigenous collective political imagination bridging the diverse communities.
Selected Sources:
- Mary Somers Heidhues, Southeast Asia: A Concise History. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000.
- Clark D.Neher, Southeast Asia. Crossroads of the World. Dekalb, ILL: N.Illinois Univ., 2000.
- Nicholas Tarling, Nations and States in Southeast Asia. Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- Abu Talib Ahmad & Tan Liok Ee, eds., New Terrains in Southeast Asian History. Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2003.
- Amitav Acharya, The Quest for Identity. International Relations of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Joel S.Kahn, ed., Southeast Asian Identities. Culture and the Politics of Representation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Singapore: ISEAS, 1998.
- Michael Leifer, Dictionary of the Modern Politics of South-East Asia. 3rd edn. London: Routledge, 2001.
- Milton Osborne, Exploring Southeast Asia: A Traveller's History of
the Region. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2002.
- Donald E. Weatherbee & others, International Relations in Southeast Asia. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
2. Requirements
SYSTEM OF TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT
Each weekly lecture will last two hours, and each tutorial (held on alternate weeks) will also last two hours. Students are required to write four response papers and one term paper, and sit for a mid-term test and a final examination. Assessment in this module will be based on both open and closed-book exercises and tests, with Continuous Assessment (of response and term papers, a mid-term quiz, and tutorial performance) amounting to 70%, and the final closed-book examination accounting for 30% of the total marks.
Meeting Times and Venues (Semester 2, 2008-2009)
Lectures: Mondays 10.00 am - 12.00 pm (SR 5)
Tutorials (held every other week):
GP 1: Mondays, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm(SR5)
GP 2: Wednesdays, 10.00 am - 12.00 pm (SR5)
|
