Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies.
Limited places are also open for exchange students.
Please note: this course takes place in The Hague. Traveling between University buildings from Leiden to The Hague takes about 45 minutes.
Description
Culture: South and Southeast Asia introduces critical questions around cultural practices and cultural politics in contemporary South and Southeast Asia. The course offers critical analysis of key conceptual categories that help understand questions of culture in the regions, such as the “modernity” versus “tradition” paradigm, the idea of a “South Asian” and a “Southeast Asian” region, notions of cultural politics, nationalism, globalization, diasporic cultures and so on. We question both “high culture” as well as the cultural mechanisms of nation-states, heritage management, identity formation, language development, as well as questions of class, gender and the market which undercut the field of culture. An important dimension of the course is to open up questions of culture to the pushes and pulls of the nation, communities and individual negotiations in South and Southeast Asia. The lectures explore connected themes from both South and Southeast Asian perspectives as well as comparatively. Covering five inter-related themes with individual lectures on South and Southeast Asia by turns, the course expects students to gain critical tools in both understanding and questioning cultural forms, structures and politics.
The course readings consist of articles that address important issues and provide and analyse case studies.
Course objectives
The student:
has a thorough understanding of the cultural context of a particular geographical area in the world from a global perspective;
is familiar with cross-cultural communication aspects of international relations within the context of a specific area;
is able to critically reflect on the cultural developments in the chosen geographical area from a global perspective
has in-depth knowledge of cultural production and identity formation in a geographical area in its global context;
has the ability to analyse an artefact of the chosen area using the concepts and theories introduced in Cultural Studies, Communicating Power and Introduction to Area Studies;
has the ability to reflect on the meaning of the main concepts in cultural, sociolinguistics and intercultural communication studies as applied in different cultural contexts;
has the ability to use the theories discussed in the course to identify and compare communicative, narrative and visual productions from regions of their choice;
is able to situate a cultural artefact within the context of the cultural production and cultural policies of the region of their choice;
has the ability to collect and analyse specialised literature using traditional and electronic methods and techniques;
has the ability to formulate a well-defined research problem based on specialised literature, set up, under supervision, a study of a limited size and formulate a reasoned conclusion;
has the ability to explain research findings in a clear and well-argued way in the form of a short essay;
is able to present his findings and arguments in a coherent and clear way in the form of a short presentation and during in-class debates;
is able to give and receive feedback to and from peers in a constructive fashion and use reasoned criticism to revise one’s own point of view or own argumentation;
is able to take on board the instructions and criticism of supervisors, and take previous instructions and criticism into account in new situations.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Lectures are held every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Weekly lectures will cover issues both inside and outside the readings.
Tutorials
Tutorials are held once every three weeks, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your tutor in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence. Being absent without notification and valid reason or not being present at half or more of the tutorial sessions will mean your assignments will not be assessed, and result in a 1.0 for the tutorial (30% of the final grade).
Course Load
Total course load for this course is 5 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), this equals 140 hours, broken down by:
Attending lectures: 24 hours
Attending tutorials: 8 hours
Assessment hours (midterm and final exam): 4 hours
Study of compulsory literature: (approximately 7 pages per hour): 64 hours
Time for completing assignments, preparing classes and exams: 40 hours
Assessment method
Assessment
Midterm exam: Written take-home examination.
Final exam: Written examination with open questions.
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Tutorials | 30% |
| Midterm Exam | 30% |
| Final Exam | 40% |
End grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
The end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of tutorial, midterm exam and final exam.
The weighted average of the midterm exam and final exam needs to be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 6), or the weighted average of midterm- and final exams is lower than 5.5, there is a possibility of retaking the full 70% of the exam material, replacing both the earlier midterm and final exam grades. No resit for the tutorial is possible.
Please note that if the resit exam grade is lower than 5.5, you will not pass the course, regardless of the tutorial grade.
Retaking a passing grade
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2017 – 2018.
Exam review
How and when an exam review takes place will be determined by the examiner. This review will be within 30 days after official publication of exam results.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for tutorial groups. Students are requested to enroll on Blackboard for this course, but only after correct enrolment in uSis.
Reading list
The readings for the course consist of articles and chapters on major themes, presenting and analyzing case studies from South and Southeast Asia. The list will be announced via Blackboard.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis can be found here.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Contact
For tutorials
Prof. Dr. B. Arps
Dr. S. Sunderason
Dr. A.T.P.G. van Engelenhoven
When contacting lecturers or tutors, please include your full name, student number and tutorial group number.