MACRO SOUTHEAST ASIA: INTRODUCTION TO SE ASIA
SPRING SEMESTER 2004

Course: Southeast Asia 240 (HIS/ASB/GCU/POS/REL 240; HUM 294)

Time: T Th 9:15 – 10:30
Place: AED 68
Instructor: Chris Lundry
Office: COOR 6666
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 10am to noon, or by appointment
Phone: 965-0477
e-mail: lundry@asu.edu
Teaching Assistant: Fonvunjuntr Srijuntr, or Fon

Office: Coor 6666

e-mail: fons@asu.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 10:40 to 12:40


Course Description:
This interdisciplinary course introduces students to the peoples, cultures, and history of Southeast Asia as well as the political and economic systems and its religious traditions. Societies to be addressed are those today subsumed within the nation states and territories of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, East Timor, and the Philippines.

Requirements:
Attendance and participation
Reading and other class assignments
Map quiz: pass/fail
Six scheduled multiple-choice quizzes, lowest score discareded (33.3% of grade)
Final examination, cumulative (33.3% of grade)
Term paper (33.3% of grade)

Students are expected to read the New York Times or something equivalent daily (I will provide some on-line news sources) as we will discuss in class developments in Southeast Asia. Students will be required to log on to my.asu.edu in order to access grades and postings relevant to the course.

Required texts: (Available at the ASU bookstore except where noted)

Mary Somers Heidhues
Southeast Asia: A Concise History
London: Thames and Hudson, 2000

Alfredo and Grace Roces
Culture Shock Philippines
Graphic Arts Center Publishing company, 1991

Robert and Nanthapa Cooper
Culture Shock Thailand
Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1991

Please note: The Culture Shock books may be between printings, and the bookstore may not be able to fill the order. Students who cannot find the books at the bookstore are urged to find an alternative source for the books (amazon.com, Borders, Changing Hands, Powell’s Books, etc.).


Hammond Map of Southeast Asia
Hammond Maps
(recommended, or access to an online map source)

Uni-Print Reader for History 240
Compiled by instructor and available at Uni-Print, Inc.
710 S. Forest Street, Tempe, Phone: 968-0799
(Note: although this course is cross-listed with other prefixes, the reading packet is under History 240)

This semester the PSEAS is composing a companion website for this course, at www.asu.edu/clas/asian/psea/hst240. The site is a work in progress, and meant to supplement the lectures and readings. I may direct you to the site at certain times during the semester, and I encourage feedback.

Schedule of classes and assignments (Please remember that this syllabus is a fairly rigid guideline as to how the course proceeds, but we will inevitably get ahead or behind at some points. The way to make sure you are on top of things, including assignments and quizzes, is to attend every session. In the case of an absence, it is up to the student to find out if what he/she has missed and if there are any schedule changes):

Note: We will be having guests from the organization Feed the Hungry come in and give a lecture on their experience with the relief effort in Aceh, Indonesia following the December 26 tsunami tragedy. Our guest is still in Indonesia at the writing of this syllabus, so the syllabus will shift in order to allow for this presentation.

 

1) Tuesday, January 18: Introduction
Introduction to the course and the region
Short films: Betel Chewing, and the Cockfight

2) Thursday, January 20: The Region: What is Southeast Asia?
Themes and dichotomies of Southeast Asia
**** Read: Heidhues, pp 7-14 (“Introduction”)
We will begin watching a feature length documentary film entitled Celso and
Cora
, about a young couple who make their home in the slums of modern Manila.

3) Tuesday, January 25: Southeast Asia Librarian Christopher Miller, and How Millions Live

Southeast Asia librarian Christopher Miller will give a presentation on materials and library researchWe will continue watching Celso and Cora. You may write a one-page reaction paper to the film, to be handed in first thing Thursday morning, for extra credit (even if we haven’t watched all of the film yet).
At this point, locate places for the map quiz.

4) Thursday, January 27: How Millions Live, cont’d
We will finish and discuss the film Celso and Cora
**** Reconnaissance assignment due

5) Tuesday, February 1: Early Southeast Asia: Kingdoms
****Before this class, read “Material Culture” and “Social Organization” from the reader, and Heidhues, chapters 1 and 2, “Waterways,” pp. 15-34, and “Temples and Rice,” pp. 35-64.
**** Map Quiz. Pass/Fail.

6) Thursday, February 3: Guest Lecture: Rasmi Shoocongdej

Thai Anthropologist Rasmi Shoocongdej will speak about her research and ethnic diversity in Thailand and Mae Hon Son.


7) Tuesday, February 8: Kingdoms, cont’d, and Colonies
****Assignment: Heidhues, chapter 4, “Southeast Asia as a Crossroads,” pp. 87- 108, and from the reader selections from 1688: A Global History (section from “The Empire of Silver” and “The Island World”)
 **** Paper Topic Due


8) Thursday, February 10: Colonies
**** QUIZ #1 on all material to date
****Assignment: Heidhues, chapter 5, “New Directions, New Elites,” pp. 109-130 and the Introduction and chapters 1 and 2 from This Earth of Mankind from the reader.
**** Film: Max Havelaar We will view a small part of the film Max Havelaar.
Anyone wishing to watch the entire film and submit a one-page write up can do so for extra credit. The film can be viewed in the PSEAS library.
 
9) Tuesday, February 15: Nations
**** Assignment: Heidhues, chapters 6, “Violence and Transition,” and 7, “Development and Democracy,” pp. 163-184.
 
10) Thursday, February 17: Religion: Buddhism and Islam
**** Assignment: Read Heidhues, Chapter 3, “Multiplicity of Beliefs,” pp. 65-86
Film: The Middle Path
 
11) Tuesday, February 22: Islam
Film: Muslims
 
12) Thursday, February 24: Christianity
**** Assignment: Read The Mass of Saint Sylvester in the reader
Film: Flowers of May
 
13) Tuesday, March 1: Environment: Natural Resources and the Human Habitat
**** Assignment: James Rush: “The Human Habitat” and “Transformation of the
Land” in the reader

14) Thursday, March 3: Urban Southeast Asia
Film: Cities Under Siege
**** Paper Assignment: Bibliography and Refinement of topic

15) Tuesday, March 8: The Philippines
**** Assignment: Read Children of the Ash Covered Loam in the reader, and by
this time, have the entire Culture Shock Philippines book read

****Note: At any time between March 9 and April 8 students may hand in a rough draft of their term paper for review and feedback. This is recommended but not required, and the draft will not count toward your final paper grade.

16) Thursday, March 10: The Philippines, cont’d, and Indonesia

Spring Break, March 13-20

17) Tuesday, March 22: Indonesia, cont’d.
****Assignment: Read selections from Tales from Djakarta by Pramoedya
Ananta Toer (“Houseboy + Maid,” “My Kampung,” and “Creatures Behind Houses”) in the reader
Film: Riding the Tiger
**** QUIZ #3 on classes 12-16

18) Thursday, March 24: Indonesia, cont’d, and East Timor

19) Tuesday, March 29: East Timor, cont’d
Film: Death of a Nation

21) Thursday, March 31: Malaysia
Film: Mini Dragons: Malaysia

22) Tuesday, April 5: Malaysia, cont’d and Singapore
**** QUIZ #4 on classes 17-21
**** Assignment: Read “The Prisoner in the Theme Park” from the reader

23) Thursday, April 7: Singapore


24) Tuesday, April 12: Laos

25) Thursday, April 14: Thailand,
By this class, have read the entire Culture Shock Thailand book
Term papers due

26) Tuesday, April 19: Thailand, cont’d, and Vietnam
Assignment: Read The General Retires in the reader.
****QUIZ #5, on classes 22-25

27) Thursday, April 21: Vietnam, cont’d
Film: The Mekong in Vietnam


28) Tuesday, April 26: Cambodia
Film: Raising the Bamboo Curtain


29) Thursday, April 28: Burma
Film: Raising the Bamboo Curtain

30) Tuesday, May 3: Conclusion and Review
**** Quiz #6 on classes 26-29

Final Exam: Thursday, May 5, 7:40 – 9:30 AM, AED 68

Policies:
First and foremost, I follow the university’s guidelines on classroom environment. No inappropriate behavior or language will be tolerated in the class (i.e. racism, sexism, immature behavior). I want my classroom environment to foster learning without distraction, so I do not tolerate disruptive behavior, including talking, reading the State Press or any other newspaper, studying for another class, etc. If you think that what you are talking or reading about is more important than my class, I respect that, but I will ask you to leave and do it elsewhere. I will not hesitate to remove people from my class if these policies are violated, and repeated violation can result in complete withdrawal from the class. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES AND PAGERS DURING CLASS!

Plagiarism: Refer to the university’s policy on plagiarism (http://www.asu.edu/clas/fhd/plagiarism.htm) if you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism. I do not tolerate cheating. Cheating will result in a failing grade, and may endanger your enrollment at the university.

 

 

Make-ups: The final exam: The university’s final exam schedule is inviolate. No one will be excused from taking the final exam at the appointed time except for the most extraordinary circumstances, and certainly not because of “travel plans.” Quizzes: A student’s cumulative quiz score will be based on the average of his or her five best quiz scores; in other words, the lowest of the student’s six quiz scores will be dropped. If a student misses a quiz, however, for any reason, that is the quiz that will be dropped. In case of extended illness, or recurring serious illness that may cause someone to miss more than one quiz, documentation must be provided (i.e. a doctor’s note) before the case will be considered. Please do this without my having to ask you for documentation, in other words come talk to me with a note in hand so I don’t have to ask for it. Otherwise, there will be no make-up quizzes. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of the class period, and will last approximately ten minutes. Students who come in too late to take the quiz will forfeit that quiz.

Assignments and extra credit: All assignments must be typewritten, and follow the guidelines set above. Extra credit may be handwritten, although I prefer them to be typed. Some extra credit opportunities are listed in the syllabus, others will be available on an ad hoc basis (usually PSEAS brown bag lectures or films), and there may be extra credit opportunities on each quiz based on stories on Southeast Asia culled from the New York Times. On quizzes, the extra credit will go directly into your quiz score. For other extra credit, you will receive up to 2 points per extra credit, depending on how well it is done, up to 10 points. After you have reached 10 points, any further extra credit will be worth one point maximum, up to 15 points. These points will be added in to one of your three final grade scores (quiz average, final exam, term paper) as raw percentage points, wherever they are needed most, so there is the potential to raise one of your totals by 1-1/2 grades. Extra credit assignments will have a deadline of two weeks from when they are announced or take place.

The map quiz: All students must pass the map quiz in order to pass the course. The map quiz is not graded and will not count toward your final grade, but a passing score of twelve out of fifteen is required to pass the course. You will not pass the course unless you pass the map quiz. The map quiz will be offered once in class during the semester. If you do not pass the map quiz then, you may take it out of class, as many times as is necessary to pass, by appointment with the teaching assistant. It is recommended that students study the map and pass the quiz the first time it is offered as a working knowledge of Southeast Asian geography will help students throughout the course.

Incompletes and withdrawals: Incompletes will be given out only in the cases of incapacitating illness, and only if the student is passing the course. This is university policy, please do not ask me for an incomplete if you haven’t been coming to class and are failing. You are able to withdraw from the course if you are not doing well, with a deadline set by the university (see below). If this deadline passes, please do not ask me to sign a restricted withdrawal form for you. This is your responsibility!


General Responsibility: You are responsible for attending class, completing assignments and taking exams. If you feel as though you cannot complete the requirements of the class in a satisfactory manner, it is your responsibility to withdraw in a timely manner. Failure to do so will result in a failing grade. Please accept this responsibility as yours, do not blame me if you are not passing, and do not come to me at the end of the semester asking for me to pass you or give you an incomplete if you do not deserve it.

University deadlines:
April 1 (in person), April 3 (on-line): Course withdrawal deadlines

 
May 3: Restricted complete withdrawal deadline. This is the last day students can withdraw from the university, i.e. from all classes simultaneously, with marks of “W” (but only if certified as passing by the instructor).

 

PAPER ASSIGNMENT: 240 SOUTHEAST ASIA

Each student will write one 6-8 page term paper on a topic of his or her choice. It is suggested, but not required, that students choose a topic that reflects the academic discipline under which they have enrolled, e.g. history, political science, anthropology, religious studies, geography, or humanities. Consult the instructor for ideas, if necessary.

General:
In your papers, make use of any class readings that are helpful plus at least three outside sources (academic books or articles). Search for additional sources on your own (see below); when in doubt, however, consult with the instructor. The final paper should include a bibliography, and footnotes where appropriate; when citing sources (including the internet) please make sure that they are complete and in Turabian style (i.e. author, title, date, source). Use the footnote and bibliography forms described in Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1996 (or a later edition). See the attached sheet for examples of common citations. There is a copy of this book at the reference desk at Hayden Library. If you are unsure about the proper forms, consult the instructor. All parts of this assignment must be typewritten; handwritten assignments will be returned in order to be rewritten, and the rewritten assignment will be counted as late. All assignments must be turned in to me in class on the day they are due to receive full credit; only the final paper is graded, but it is possible to lose points if the preceding assignments are not done, late, or do not follow guidelines. I will not accept assignments via e-mail except under exceptional circumstances and prior arrangement.

Dates:
Class #4, January 27: “Reconnaissance”
Each student must submit a (typewritten) page on January 27 with descriptions of three books found (by foot!) in the library. This will not be graded but must be done and will be checked off when completed. In order to introduce students to the Southeast Asian sections of the library, I ask that students go to the library and find a book from the general Southeast Asian section (the DS section, not the Southeast Asian language section) and two others from different sections (i.e. from the political science section with a Southeast Asian subject). Browse the sections and look for titles you find interesting or think would make a good paper topic. Write a complete citation using Turabian bibliographical style (you will use Turabian every step of the way!), and a short (2-3 sentence) description of why you thought the book was interesting. Describe the cover of the book so I know that you didn’t just do this via the library’s web page. Come to class prepared to give a brief description of one or more of your books and why you thought it was interesting.

Class #7, February 8: Paper topic
Each student must submit a (typewritten) paper topic proposal on February 8. The proposal can be as short as two or three sentences, but should give a clear and focused description of the topic. Each topic must be approved by the instructor. There are some topics that are not allowed, e.g. the My Lai massacre, the “Death March” of Bataan, the Tet Offensive. I am not opposed to wartime topics, but these and some others are off limits.

Class #14, March 3: Bibliography and refinement of paper topic
Each student will submit a (typewritten) bibliography (using Turabian style) and a refined paper topic. Each student, at this point, should have a clear idea of the thesis of his or her paper and be able to articulate the thrust of his or her argument, based on at least preliminary research into the subject.

Class #23, April 8: Last chance for drafts
Each student has the opportunity (before April 8) to turn in a draft of his or her paper to the instructor for evaluation. The instructor will make comments and corrections and return the paper to the student. Students should only turn in a draft that is complete and reads as a paper; this exercise is designed to polish the student’s paper. The draft will not be graded.

Class #25, April 14: Paper due.

Grading:
One hundred points are possible for the paper. Ten points will be given for having the correct formalities (footnotes and bibliography in Turabian). Twenty points will be given for correct usage (grammar, spelling, word choice and usage, sentence structure). Seventy points will be awarded for content (facts, analysis, content). Only the final paper will be assigned a grade, but a late submission of any of the preliminary assignments (recon, paper topic, refined paper topic) will result in the deduction of two points from the paper’s final grade. Late assignments will only be accepted one week after their due date. Failure to submit any of the preliminary assignments will result in the deduction of five points (per item) from your final grade. For every class period that the paper is late, a further five points will be deducted.