Entry code required. Emphasizes improving language skills for research. Primarily for Southeast Asian Studies majors. Entry code required. Theory and applications in economic development and international trade.
Main themes are cultural contact and the growth of states and peoples.
In this class we will be reading a selection of literature written by Southeast Asian, European , and Asian American authors. We will focus on the literatures of the colonial and postcolonial periods in Southeast Asian history. We will question what we can learn about the histories of Indonesia, Viet Nam, Burma, Thailand, and the Philippines through our study of these literatures. In addition to the novels and short stories, we will also read two theoretical works, one by a Vietnamese American scholar and one by a North American scholar. These books should help us to understand the ideological positioning of the literary works and how the books work to reinforce or shape our ideas about colonizer and colonized through shifting notions of race, class, religion, and gender.