Prospectus

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Academic Skills (South and Southeast Asian Studies)

Course
2016-2017

Admission requirements

None

Description

This course, which is obligatory for all first year students of the BA South and Southeast Asian Studies, is designed to offer students instructions around and practice in academic skills. Students will learn new skills around university-level reading, listening, writing, note-taking and basics of academic research. Students will also be trained to organise their time strategically, in order to make maximum use of their university experience. It also offers a generate scope for presentation and discussion of academic topic, for example in the form of guest lectures.
The course will help students to access and use the South and Southeast Asia collections of the University Library. It provides library instructions on how to find and use various sources of information pertaining to South and Southeast Asia. Students will also be introduced to collections of local museums, such as the National Museum of Ethnology. They will have the opportunity to attend academic seminars to familiarise themselves with academic culture in a broader sense
The sessions on Research skills are part of the course Histories of Modern South & Southeast Asia
The sessions on Oral presentation skills and Academic writing techniques are part of the course Classical Cultures of South & Southeast Asia: Seminar 1

Course objectives

Students will:

  • Improve their studying skills with respect to methods, planning and preparation;

  • Improve their reading skills and comprehension using reading strategies;

  • Recognize and use various types of argumentation, identifying logical fallacies;

  • learn how to find scholarly literature with the help of traditional and digital methods and techniques;

  • learn to evaluate sources (books, articles, websites) as to scholarly quality and reliability, using library databases and internet tools (Ulrich’s, domaintools.com);

  • develop the skill to identify main topics and main ideas in academic lectures and publications.

  • learn to apply formal guidelines to the writing of academic papers.

  • learn how to formulate a well-defined research question, including main and subsidiary questions;

  • learn how to structure academic texts and oral presentations;

Timetable

See the timetable of the programme. An overview of all sessions will be placed on Blackboard.

Mode of instruction

  • Tutorial.

Course Load

52 hours (partly part of the courses Classical Cultures of South & Southeast Asia: Seminar 1 and course Histories of Modern South & Southeast Asia)

Assessment method

Assessment takes place during the courses of which the academic skills sessions form part.

Blackboard

Blackboard is used for notifications, general course information, course material and information on course schedule.

Reading list

Materials will be placed on Blackboard.

Registration

For the academic skills sessions no registration via uSis is required; students register for courses of which the academic skills sessions form part. Registration within the Blackboard course Academic Skills South and Southeast Asian Studies is necessary.

Contact

Prof.dr. Nira Wickramasinghe
Dr. E.M. Raven
Dr. M.F.J. Baasten