Third Semester: Elective courses

The student choses one 7,5 credit course per period.

1st period

September

ACES43: Human Rights in Asia (7,5 credits)

The aim of the course is to enable students to critically analyse the problems and prospects for human rights implementation in Asia. The course focuses on the cultural, social, economic and political factors that obstruct or support the realisation of human rights in different Asian societies. Differences and similarities with respect to human rights problems and policies in the region are analysed and discussed. Asian countries’ participation in the international human rights regime is analysed, including the ratification of different human rights instruments.

The course studies the relationship between international human rights law and national law. It also introduces students to local and regional debates and work on human rights, with special attention to the often widely different approaches to and priorities in human rights work among governments and NGOs. The course addresses a wide range of human rights issues, including the rights of different groups of people such as children, women, and minorities. The course builds upon standard works in international human rights law but aims to integrate international legal theory with social and political theories and area studies. An interdisciplinary approach to the study of human rights is advocated and used throughout the course. This is reflected both in the teaching, choice of topics, and in the selection of literature.

ACES43 Course plan (new window)

ACES45: Media and Popular Culture in Asia (7,5 credits)

The course makes use of insights from media and communication studies, cultural studies, and area studies. Students are introduced to different media and communication theories and perspectives on the role and impact of media and popular culture in society. The course focuses on different types of media and popular culture, including print media, television, film, and the Internet, in the context of the cultural, social, political and economic developments of different Asian societies. In this context the relationship between media and the political structures of different Asian societies is also studied and analysed.  This includes studying how the media and popular culture in turn influence the social values, political beliefs, identities, and behaviours of different individuals and communities in Asia.

The course introduces students to different forms and genres of popular culture in Asia and media consumption trends among different groups of individuals and communities. An important question is how popular culture consumption is shaped by, and in turn influences, class, gender, age, ethnicity, religious beliefs, rural–urban differences, and contending political ideologies. In focus are also the effects of media globalization and new media, i.e. the Internet, on the media systems, cultures and societies in Asia. The course pays particular attention to whether, how, in which ways, and to what extent, the forces of globalisation intersect with local cultures and traditions in Asia.

The course includes both comparative studies of Western and Asian media systems and popular culture genres and comparisons between different Asian societies. It also includes case studies of different individual Asian countries.

ACES45 Course plan (new window) 

ACES41: Economic Development & Asian Studies (7,5 credits)

The overall objective of this course is to provide the student with a theoretical and analytical framework to understand the rise of Asian economic power and estimate the potential impact of Asia’s rise on current economic conditions, globally and regionally and at macro and micro levels. In order to achieve this, historical cases are scrutinised to obtain a better understanding of the sources of long-run economic development and to extract possible lessons. The main explanations are reviewed and contrasted with new empirical evidence.
    
The course hence aims at providing the student with a certain degree of typological understanding of factors, processes, and consequences of economic growth and development crises on economies and individuals in Asia and in the world.

ACES41 Course plan (new window) 

ACES48: Gender in Asia (7,5 credits)
(this course is not given in the fall semester of 2012)

The aim of this course is to explore how gender roles, relations and identities are constructed, deployed, challenged, and resisted in Asia. This course engages with theoretical approaches within gender studies. It focuses on how sex, gender, and sexuality are conceptualized in theory and practice. Exploring the social and individual processes involved in the enactment of gender relations, the course investigates alternative, complementary and conflicting explanations for the operation of gender. Analysing social and individual significance of gender the course examines various areas of social life where gender shapes interactions and forms meaning: e.g. family, reproduction, sexuality, culture, religion, politics, economy and development. The majority of the literature have a central focus on women’s experience but the newer men’s studies tradition is also covered.

ACES48 Course plan (new window)

2nd period

October/November

ACES46: Religion, identity, politics and society in Asia (7,5 credits)

The course deals with broader religious developments in Asia, as well as with in-depth analyses of cases in East, South-East and South Asia. The course provides the students with overviews of contemporary religious developments in East, South-East and South Asia. It aims at exploring religions in constant change, as expressions of the time and place where they are observed, not as static traditions. Particular theoretical attention is paid to the impact on religion from modernisation, globalisation and commodification. Religion as an important part of power structures, including gender relations, is analysed.

The discussions focus on how individuals, groups and nations use religious traditions in multiple ways, for instance; as sources for identity, as inspiration for theoretical ideologies and in legitimizing practical political policies and strategies. Processes of revitalisation and innovation include religious influence on media, pop culture and consumer culture, as well as the emergence of new religious movements.

Seminars allow the students to focus on a geographical area or issue of their own choice.

ACES46 Course plan (new window) 

ACES49: Asian Business Perspectives and Globalization (7,5 credits)

Some of the world’s most competitive companies can be found in Asia. These firms have increasingly become more global. This process has led to increasingly interdependent markets, networks and flows of information and people worldwide. A good understanding of how the complexities of this context affect today’s firms and organisations is vital for those working in and studying them. In this course, students will get familiar with theories related to the international business firm in the global economy. The course participants will also apply these theories onto real life cases and examples from Asia.  

ACES49 Course plan (new window) 

ACES44: Development theories and issues in Asia (7,5 credits)

The course offers an interdisciplinary in-depth study of the major issues surrounding development today. The aim is to provide students with tools for theoretically analyzing and discussing contemporary development issues by examining various theories of development – from modernization, and neo-Marxist theories, to neo-liberal, post-modern, post-development, as well as alternative forms of development and the challenges for the future.

The course looks critically at development theories and their impact on the most urgent areas of development as well as highlight controversies and points of convergence that exist between different theoretical traditions. It also covers the practices and agents of development and the role of NGOs, presenting detailed case studies for the students to discuss and learn from. The course starts with a discussion of the “knowledge” and “needs” of the class, and as it covers a wide range of topics it is possible for students to concentrate on specific issues of interest. 

ACES44 Course plan (new window) 

3rd period

November/December

ACES47: (Un)sustainable  Asia (7,5 credits)

The course deals with contemporary issues relating to (un)sustainable development in Asia in a global context. In addition to a general introduction to the concept of sustainability and frameworks for identifying, studying and understanding sustainability, the students get acquainted with a range of issues and implications of (un)sustainable development in the context of contemporary Asia.

The course proceeds from the notion that sustainability is multi-dimensional, multi-scalar and multi-temporal and must be approached from an international, intergenerational and intersectional perspectives. Single issues can be studied on local, national and global levels.

The course aims to provide an opportunity for reflection on sustainability challenges, responses and implications in Asia in a global context. The objective is to develop skills in identifying, locating and tracing challenges and responses to sustainability in Asia and to problematise, understand and suggest options for tackling these within a global context.

The course introduces trans-disciplinary frames and theoretical debates including the concepts of Sustainability, Sustainability Science, Earth System Studies and Earth System Governance.

There is a focus on global and Asian sustainability challenges and responses relating to issues such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, overfishing, land use and degradation, food security, water scarcity, and health.

The reshaping of Asian landscapes (such as deforestation, regulation of water courses, urban sprawl, tarmacisation) and changes in values in times of profound economic and social change is discussed.

The tools include constructing, analysing and interpreting data on sustainability issues as well as presenting, discussing and evaluating data, conclusions and future scenarios.

ACES47 Course plan (new window) 

ACES42: Framing realities: Analysing discourse (7,5 credits)

In addition to understanding the basic theoretical assumptions that underlie the notion of ‘discourse’, students are sensitised to a wide range of issues and implications arising from the concept of ‘discourse’.

The basic assumption is that social realities are construed upon these discourses. The course provides theoretical and methodological approaches to analysing discourse. The approaches are multi-disciplinary, with a focus on the Asian region, but taking into account Asia’s global interconnectedness, both in discourse and practice.

The course introduces different approaches to discourse analysis with a focus on the practical use of discourse analytical methods. This involves a discussion of the different types of societal issues and phenomena that can be analysed through the use of discourse analysis. It also involves a concrete discussion of what types of material can be analysed using discourse analysis, including contextual differences related to different types of material. The concepts of text and context are central in this 

Firstly, we look at different approaches to the study of discourse and discuss their differences and similarities as well as advantages and disadvantages. Secondly, we look at a number of illustrative case studies: how have various researchers succeeded in analysing discourse? What issues and topics are analysed? What kinds of material is analysed? What analytical tools are used? Thirdly, based on the discussion of case studies, we develop a ‘discourse tool kit’ that helps us analyse discourse.

Students will practise their analytical skills in workshop-like seminars through practical exercises in which they will apply the instruments in the tool kit to specific textual material. 

ACES42 Course plan (new window) 

ACES40: International relations in Asia (7,5 credits)

This course presents some general perspectives of International Relations. Using a framework consisting of different levels of analysis, central concepts and theories are discussed. At one level, the international system is the focus of analysis and problems concerning international security, international political economy, and North-South relations are dealt with. At another level of analysis, the focus is on the actors in international politics. Here we deal with issues of transnational actors and international organisations, environmentalism, nationalism and ethnicity, cultural conflict, postcolonialism, regionalism and integration, terrorism, human rights and gender issues. The third level is concentrated on the interaction between two or more actors. At this level national and international conflict and cooperation is analyzed. Examples will focus on East, South-East and South Asia.

ACES40 Course plan (new window) 

4th period

December/January

ACES13: Applied Fieldwork (7,5 credits)
(mandatory course)

The course is interdisciplinary and deals with the application of research methods and specific techniques in relation to the design and writing of a master thesis. During this period the student travels to Asia to carry out fieldwork for the master thesis. The student will be affiliated with one of the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies’ academic partners in Asia. The course is organized by the partner institution in collaboration with the Centre.

Peking University, China (new window)

Waseda University, Japan (new window)

Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia (new window)
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India (new window) 

For those who cannot go to Asia a course is offered in Lund.

The coursework is primarily based on the students’ thesis topics with the applied aspects of the project plans, such as adaptation to current local conditions in the area of fieldwork, access to data and populations, identification of data sources, key informants, alternative research strategies, etc. The aim of the course is to finalize the preliminary research plan, and put it to work. The basic idea of the course is to use the student’s project plans as a starting point to discuss various problems of applied fieldwork.

ACES13 Course plan (new window)  

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