GEOPOLITICS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA

The course is part of the B.A. program in "Languages, Cultures, and Societies of Asia and Mediterranean Africa" (India and South-East Asia Curriculum).
Its educational objectives fall within the area of cultural and humanistic skills learning.

Knowledge and understanding:
- Understand the complex relationships between physical geography, culture, national sovereignty, and international politics in contemporary Southeast Asia
- Gain awareness of the growing relevance of Southeast Asia as the epicenter of rivalry and conflict between world powers (U.S., China, India, and Japan)
- Understand the multiple roles played by Southeast Asia's states in regional and global geopolitics

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- Apply appropriate analytical methodologies and categories to the study of the influence of geography on South-East Asian states' cultural politics, at both national and international level
- Use videos/films, academic and/or journalistic texts, archival and/or cutting edge materials in the discussion and critical assessment of geopolitical issues in contemporary Southeast Asia

Adequate knowledge and understanding of the historical and cultural processes that have shaped Southeast Asia over the centuries.

This course introduces students to the multidisciplinary study of geopolitics in contemporary Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on the relationships between geography, culture, and politics, as well as on the influence of external world powers in the transformation of the region.

The course focuses on a number of case study countries, discussed through ethnographic and historical evidence. It sheds light on key geopolitical issues (e.g. borders and cross-border circulation; environment and natural resources; security, religion, and foreign policy; ethnic nationalisms and regional integration).

Ba, Alice D. and Beeson, Mark (eds.) (2018), Contemporary Southeast Asia: The Politics of Change, Contestation, and Adaptation (III ed.), Palgrave and Macmillan, London (selected chapters).
Emmerson, D.K. (1984), 'Southeast Asia: What's in a name?', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 15 (1): 1-21.
Thongchai Winichakul (1994), Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

Additional required readings will be announced in class and provided through Moodle.

The oral examination (15-25 min) will be focused on:
a. a topic of choice: the student will choose and present a theme among those analyzed during the course,
b. on the assessment of the student's general assimilation of the course's key contents.

Regarding the grading system (method through which grades will be assigned), regardless of attendance or non-attendance:
A. Scores in the range 18-22 will be attributed in the presence of:
- Sufficient knowledge of the program's contents;
- Limited ability to interpret the contents, formulating independent judgments;
- Adequate communicative skills, especially concerning the use of specific language related to the geopolitical analysis of Southeast Asia;
B. Scores in the range 23-26 will be attributed in the presence of:
- Fair knowledge of the program's contents;
- Fair ability to interpret the contents, formulating independent judgments;
- Fair communicative skills, especially concerning the use of specific language related to the geopolitical analysis of Southeast Asia;
C. Scores in the range 27-30 will be attributed in the presence of:
- Good knowledge of the program's contents;
- Good ability to interpret the contents, formulating independent judgments;
- Fully appropriate communicative skills, especially concerning the use of specific language related to the geopolitical analysis of Southeast Asia;
D. Honors (30 cum laude) will be attributed in the presence of excellent knowledge and understanding, critical analysis skills of the program's contents, judgment abilities, and communicative skills.

Lectures (interspersed with presentations of films and materials), group discussions, exercises in small groups.

Italian

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