SOSANT2140 – Regional ethnography: East and Southeast Asia
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
This course gives an introduction into the ethnography of East and Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on current research interests related to that region. The course approaches East and Southeast Asia from a transnational perspective, addressing the historical legacies (colonialism, Cold War rivalries, trade) and current trends (migration, displacement, environmental crisis) that have shaped and continue to impact social and cultural lives in the region beyond the framework of the nation-state. By focusing on mobility, boundaries, sexuality and gender, multispecies worlds, indigeneity, capitalism and urban change, we will explore, amongst other things, the following set of questions:
- How is relatedness produced in this part of the world?
- How does the gift economy and private life underpin the “formal” economy and state-society relations in China today?
- How is wealth being made in East Asian nightclubs, where men come to network amongst themselves, while women engage in the sexual and emotional labor that allows these connections to arise?
- How does the state come to be formed in the everyday in Southeast Asia, and what can we learn about state power and resistance by studying small-scale highland communities?
- How does being indigenous become tied into contemporary resource struggles in Southeast Asia?
- How are fluid gender identities made sense of, and how does sexuality become tied into both nationalist and postcolonial projects across the two regions?
- And finally, what can we learn about Asia’s changing position in an increasingly globalized world when we look at cases of capital, labour, and urban development in this dynamic region?
The course conveys knowledge about regional ethnography and provides thereby a basis for comparative ethnography.
As the course proceeds, the students will first obtain an overview of anthropological research traditions related to the region, and of main questions and themes that have been developed from regional ethnography. Subsequently, the main part of the course will focus on recent and current subject matters that shape contemporary anthropological research on the region.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
- Overview of the East and Southeast Asia’s contribution to anthropology.
- Familiarity with central themes in regional anthropology.
- Thorough understanding of recent and current research themes in regional anthropology.
Skills
- Competence in regional ethnography and familiarity with main themes in the region’s contemporary anthropology.
Competencies
- Ability to engage with and communicate contemporary social anthropological Insights.
- Understanding and respect for social and cultural, as well as historical variation, as well as for theoretical and methodological differences between regional anthropological approaches.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
Basic knowledge in social anthropology.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2110 – Regional Ethnography: Middle East and SOSANT2120 – Regional Ethnography: Africa.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2110 – Regional Ethnography: Middle East and SOSANT2130 – Regional etnografi: Latin-Amerika.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2120 – Regional Ethnography: Africa and SOSANT2130 – Regional etnografi: Latin-Amerika.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2110 – Regional Ethnography: Middle East and SOSANT2150 – Regional etnografi: Norden.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2120 – Regional Ethnography: Africa and SOSANT2150 – Regional etnografi: Norden.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2130 – Regional etnografi: Latin-Amerika and SOSANT2150 – Regional etnografi: Norden.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2110 – Regional Ethnography: Middle East and SOSANT2160 – Regional etnografi: Oceania.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2120 – Regional Ethnography: Africa and SOSANT2160 – Regional etnografi: Oceania.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2130 – Regional etnografi: Latin-Amerika and SOSANT2160 – Regional etnografi: Oceania.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2150 – Regional etnografi: Norden and SOSANT2160 – Regional etnografi: Oceania.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2110 – Regional Ethnography: Middle East and SOSANT2170 – Regional ethnography: Europe.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2120 – Regional Ethnography: Africa and SOSANT2170 – Regional ethnography: Europe.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2130 – Regional etnografi: Latin-Amerika and SOSANT2170 – Regional ethnography: Europe.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2150 – Regional etnografi: Norden and SOSANT2170 – Regional ethnography: Europe.
- 10 credits overlap with SOSANT2160 – Regional etnografi: Oceania and SOSANT2170 – Regional ethnography: Europe.
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT2110 – Regional Ethnography: Middle East.
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT2120 – Regional Ethnography: Africa.
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT2130 – Regional etnografi: Latin-Amerika.
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT1101 – Regional etnografi: jordens folk og kulturelt mangfold (discontinued).
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT2150 – Regional etnografi: Norden.
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT2160 – Regional etnografi: Oceania.
- 5 credits overlap with SOSANT2170 – Regional ethnography: Europe.
Teaching
Lectures take place throughout the semester.
Examination
Take home examination.
Language of examination
You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
The examination text will be given in English and Norwegian.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.