Southeast Asia courses

AMST 353 Southeast Asian North Carolina (ASIA 353). Drawing from Asian American Studies and Asian Studies, the course explores the political histories and lived experiences of Southeast Asians and Southeast Asian Americans in North Carolina. Students will consider issues relevant to NC Southeast Asian communities such as food justice, labor organizing, mental health support, anti-racism work, transnational connections, etc. Course materials will include both written academic works and first-person narrative accounts from local community members.

ANTH 375 Memory, Massacres, and Monuments in Southeast Asia (ASIA 375). The past in Southeast Asia’s present, focusing on global, national, and local processes; individual and collective memory; and the legacies of violent death.

ASIA 151 Literature and Society in Southeast Asia. This course is an introduction to the societies of Southeast Asia through literature. Background materials and films will supplement the comparative study of traditional works, novels, short stories, and poems.

CMPL 252 Popular Culture in Modern Southeast Asia (ASIA 252). This course examines popular culture in Southeast Asia as a response to colonialism, nationalism, modernization, the state, and globalization. Topics include theater, film, pop songs, television, rituals, and the Internet.

GEOG 64 Vietnam. Explores modern Vietnam and situates the American war in broader spatial and historical context. Draws on fact, fiction, and visual media to introduce a fascinating place, rich in history, and to animate a geographic imagination students can take anywhere.

GEOG 266 Society and Environment in Southeast Asia. This survey integrates sociological, biophysical, and geographical elements to examine interactions of population and environment across the ecologically-diverse and historically-rich region of Southeast Asia. Draws on multiple data sources, perspectives, and media to explore Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, the Philippines, and neighboring countries.

HIST 131 Southeast Asia to the Early 19th Century (ASIA 131). The history of Southeast Asia from prehistory to “high imperialism.” Long-term political, economic, social, and religious developments, including Indianization, the impact of China, and the first contacts with Europeans.

HIST 132 Modern Southeast Asia (ASIA 132). The history of Southeast Asia from the 19th century to the present. Long-term political, economic, social, and intellectual questions, including the impact of imperialism, the rise of nationalism, the transformation of the economy, the Cold War, and the coherence of Southeast Asia as a region.

LING 260 Languages of Southeast Asia (ASIA 260). This course surveys languages spoken in Southeast Asia, an area rich in linguistic diversity, which is home to more than five language families and well over 1,000 individual languages. Students will investigate the languages–in situ and in the diaspora–through the lens of descriptive linguistics, and will explore the social, cultural, and political aspects of languages in the region. This course is appropriate for students with an interest in linguistics or in Southeast Asia.

MUSC 212 Ensemble 11: Gamelan. Learn to play the gamelan. Named for the Hindu goddess of music, arts, and science, Gamelan Nyai Saraswati is a traditional Javanese musical ensemble, which consists primarily of bronze instruments––including gongs ranging from 6 inches to 4 feet in diameter and metallophones with anywhere from five to fourteen keys––but also includes stringed instruments, wooden xylophones, flutes, drums, and human voices.

MUSC 240 Performance in Southeast Asia: Gongs, Punks, and Shadow Plays (ASIA 240). The study and comparison of contemporary Southeast Asian performance genres (music, theatre, dance, ritual) in historical and cultural contexts.

PWAD 570 The Vietnam War (HIST 570, ASIA 570). A wide-ranging exploration of America’s longest war, from 19th-century origins to 1990s legacies, from village battlegrounds to the Cold War context, from national leadership to popular participation and impact.

RELI 384 Religion and Globalization in Southeast Asia (ASIA 384). How does globalization affect religious life? How do historical, cultural, and religious traditions mediate the experience of globalization in particular locales? This course analyzes the forces and practices associated with political-economic and cultural globalization in Southeast Asia and explores the religious transformations and innovations that these processes have inspired.

VIET 101 – 204 Vietnamese language. Modern Vietnamese, beginning through intermediate levels.