Prospectus

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Histories of Southeast Asia (ResMA)

Course
2017-2018

Admission requirements

Admission to the MA Asian Studies (research) or another relevant Research MA. Students from other departments are kindly referred to the course description of the regular MA course.

Description

This course is offered in the form of a literature seminar surveying, in global context, current discourses on the history of Southeast Asia. Attention is paid to a variety of prominent historiographic debates, including ongoing controversies over the prehistoric origins of the region’s population, and over the historical roots of Southeast Asia’s authoritarian ideologies. Students learn to situate Southeast Asia in relation to global historical forces such as colonialism, the Cold War, and Islam, and in relation to the international literature on those topics. The course makes use of comparisons among the Southeast Asian countries, and also highlights their historical relations with China, India, and the Middle East.

Course objectives

Participants will gain a thorough understanding of key current discourses on the history of Southeast Asia, and are trained in critically examining key texts. Both oral and written presentations are required.

Timetable

The timetable is available on the Asianstudies website

Mode of instruction

Seminar
Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The convenor needs to be informed without delay of any classes missed for a good reason (i.e. due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, family issues, problems with residence permits, the Dutch railways in winter, etc.). In these cases it is up to the discretion of the convener(s) of the course whether or not the missed class will have to be made up with an extra assignment. The maximum of such absences during a semester is two. Being absent without notification and/or more than two times can result in exclusion from the term end exams and a failing grade for the course.

Course Load

  • 280 hours
    Contact hours Research MA: 6 hours
    Lectures: 2 hours per week x 13 weeks = 26 hours
    Reading, and preparation of presentations and assignments: 248 hours

Assessment method

Assessment

Presentations and participation in class
Written assignment

Weighing

Presentations and participation in class: 35 per cent
Written assignment: 65 per cent (5 ec: variant: 4000 words; 10 ec variant: 6000 words)

Resit

In order to pass the course, students must obtain an overall mark of 5.50 (=6) or higher. A new version of the final assignment may be written if the overall mark for the course is “5.49” (=5) or lower. The deadline for this version will be determined in consultation. In the case of a re-write the overall grade will not exceed 6.0.

Exam Review

Students may request an oral elucidation of the assessment within 30 days after publication of the grade.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used.

Note: there is no separate Blackboard page available for this ResMa course. Please subscribe to the Blackboard page of the regular MA course.

Reading list

To be announced

For the Research MA students additional reading will be determined by the convener at a later stage taking into account the students’ fields of interest. Extra sessions will be organized to discuss this extra literature.

Registration

Students are required to register through uSis. To avoid mistakes and problems, students are strongly advised to register in uSis through the activity number which can be found in the timetable in the column under the heading “Act.nbr.”. General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch

Registration à la carte or contractonderwijs

A la carte nor contractonderwijs is possible for this course.

Contact

Further information can be obtained from the lecturers: Prof.dr. David Henley and Prof.Dr. H. Schulte Nordholt

Remarks

Students with disabilities

The university is committed to supporting and accommodating students with disabilities as stated in the university protocol (especially pages 3-5). Students should contact Fenestra Disability Centre at least four weeks before the start of their courses to ensure that all necessary academic accommodations can be made in time conform the abovementioned protocol.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to be familiar with Leiden University policies on plagiarism and academic integrity. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you submit any work with your name affixed to it, it is assumed to be your own work with all sources used properly indicated and documented in the text (with quotations and/or citations).