Prospectus

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Seminar III: Heritage of South and Southeast Asia

Course
2024-2025

Admission requirements

Propaedeutics exam of the BA South and Southeast Asian Studies, together with 45 EC from the second year, including Seminar II: Futures of South and Southeast Asia or Seminar II: Current Affairs of South and Southeast Asia. If you do not meet this requirement but would still like to take the course, please mail both the course coordinator and the BA SSEAS study advisor, explaining the reasons for your interest.

Description

This seminar will introduce students to some of the key concepts, issues, debates, and literature surrounding the idea and politics of heritage. Bringing together both theoretical literature and case studies from South and Southeast Asia, the seminar will focus on a multi-layered set of questions around the theme of heritage: collection, representation, 'museumization', historicity, modernity, identity, memory, and conflict. Students will be exposed to pertinent literature from various disciplines, including history, art history, anthropology, and human geography. They will be shown how to understand heritage in terms of objects, traditions, narratives, frames, agendas, claims, and negotiations, and how to place heritage issues in cultural, social, political, and economic context. The format is inclusive and participatory. The majority of the seminars in the series are structured around interpretations and discussions of specific primary sources, led by second-year student presenters. Other seminars take as their starting points presentations of ongoing dissertation research by third year students.

Course objectives

  • to give students a good conceptual understanding of the idea of heritage

  • to introduce students to key texts and arguments surrounding heritage

  • to teach students to apply general knowledge of heritage issues to specific case studies and debates from South and Southeast Asia -

  • to give students instruction and experience in analysing primary sources

  • to improve students' ability to review secondary literature in a comprehensive and critical way

  • to improve students' ability to present and contest arguments

  • to encourage students to relativize culturally and historically specific assumptions

  • to meet the need for a regular gathering of, and discussion among, all students of the South and Southeast Asian Studies programme at a stage when most of its other components are optional and specialized

  • to give third year students a group forum in which to present and discuss their ongoing BA dissertation research

Timetable

The timetables are avalable through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

Twelve seminars including short lectures, student presentations, and participatory discussions.

Assessment method

Assessment and weighing

  • weekly postings in response to set readings: 10%

  • presentation: 10%

  • general participation: 5%

  • essay: 35%

  • examination: 40%

The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.

Resit

A resit of the final examination (40%) is possible.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

To be specified in the course syllabus.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr

Remarks

None