Recommended Study Sequence

This unit introduces Asian Studies and International Relations. Considering both traditional and contemporary times, it seeks to place Asia’s diverse cultures in a global context. It examines issues such as how to define Asia, how Asian states related to each other, and how Western ideas of international relations have transformed these relations. The unit has two strands, each considering a set of ideas. First it examines the great religions/philosophies of Asian societies – Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Confucianism – have influenced them. It then considers international relations theory and how theories can help us understand the complexities of Asian states’ relations with each other and the wider world.

The encounter between Europe in Asia, propelled by European imperialism, is one of the great events of modern history. The unit ranges widely over Asia and considers issues of contact, perception, and interaction between Asian and European cultures and economies over a period of 500 years. It begins with the origins of Portuguese expansion overseas but there is particular emphasis on the so-called new imperialism of the period after about 1880 and the nationalist and other resistance movements that developed in Asia in response. Case studies will be made of two Asian countries.

A history of Buddhism and its spread through Asian and more recently to the West, introducing its principal beliefs and practices, the diversity of its manifestations, its political, cultural, and social impact. Focus is on contemporary Buddhism.

An introduction to aspects of contemporary Japanese society and culture chosen to introduce key aspects of Japanese society and culture, to position Japan in a global perspective, to investigate questions of how we form knowledge of societies other than our own.

A historical investigation of the experience of the 19th century European empires from the perspectives of both the colonized and colonizers. It examines the combination of domination and cultural negotiation between colonizers and colonized. It examines both how peoples were managed as imperial subjects and how they responded to this management. It looks both at the effect of imperial rule on the colonized, and of empire upon the colonizers. It draws upon historical literature from a variety of sources and perspectives, and within European and Asian history. The focus is chiefly, though not exclusively, upon the British empire and its subjects peoples.

This unit examines contemporary foreign policy issues in North Asia from the perspective of China and Japan. Core issues include a critical evaluation of contemporary Sino-Japanese relations, the role both countries play in regional affairs and why North Asia (in particular the Korean Peninsular) is an intersection point for geo-politics.

This unit examines the interaction between politics and business in the contemporary East Asian and Southeast Asian contexts. Particular attention will be paid to the business-government relationship in a number of key countries and comparisons drawn. The unit examines the issue of the so-called "Asian Way" with respect to business, governing and achieving economic development. It also looks at the so-called "Asian economic miracle" and the "Asian economic crisis" and considers contemporary reform programs aimed at the business-politics nexus in Asia.

This unit provides an introduction to the history of Australian foreign policy relations with Asia. It seeks to acquaint students with Australia's historic and contemporary relations with countries in East and Southeast Asia and to identity the factors that have contributed to their development.

This unit introduces students to the frameworks, topics, and perspectives of security studies and the debates about it. Since the end of the Cold War, the range and content of problems that are defined as threatening personal, group, state, international and global security has widened considerably. It is clear that the risk of major armed conflict between states, which has absorbed the attention of academics and policymakers for the last two centuries, has been compounded by new threats of economic dislocation, transnational crime, environmental damage, state collapse, terrorism, ethnic tensions, etc. These factors have challenged the security studies agenda. The course, therefore, considers these conceptual and practical issues of security at three levels: those of individual security, for example, human rights protection; state security, especially the risks posed by failed states; and international security (both regional and global), in particular the new security architecture as represented by emerging frameworks of security governance. In this respect, by emphasizing the increased recourse to intervention the module aims to consider how global security patterns have been reshaped since the end of the Cold War.

This unit surveys the history of Indonesia, Australia's nearest and most important Asian neighbour. Commencing with the coming of Islam to Indonesia in the twelfth century it concludes with the overthrow of Soeharto in 1998, but the focus is primarily on the 20th Century. The unit looks briefly at the Islamic and Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, the colonial period, the nationalist struggle, the Japanese occupation and in more detail the first fifty years of independence. Indonesia's rich heritage of trade, culture, religions, and ethnicities are all dealt with. The units also examines historiographical problems for the study of Indonesian history and seeks to identify historical patterns.

This unit looks at the role of south Asia in global processes from historical, cultural and economic perspectives. It traces three broad themes: the significance of early south Asian contacts with other cultures; the impact of colonial interactions with Europeans; and the development of postcolonial identities in the Indian diaspora. In particular, we consider how new hybrid formations emerged as products of cross-cultural exchange. The unit contrasts India’s role as an agent of cultural globalisation from the past with its place as a recipient of economic globalisation in the present. We also look at the ways in which issues of caste, religion, social class, gender and unequal access to resources have remained significant factors in thinking through the experience of India’s relationship with the wider world.

This unit gives students knowledge of research methods relevant to humanities disciplines. Modules provide advanced instruction in developing a research topic, evidence-based research and Human Research Ethics processes and policy.

This unit will analyse both the major international issues and crises which America confronted after 1945 and how successive American presidents and their policy makers responded to these problems

This unit is concerned with cultural and intellectual change in twentieth-century China, which saw the end of the imperial system, the establishment of the Chinese Republic, the rise to power of the Chinese Communists, and the launching of the Four-Modernisation Program in the post-Mao era. It will offer insights into the Chinese search for modernity over the last one hundred years, especially the role of the intellectuals and their relations with society and state.

This unit is concerned with the theory and practice of democracy in modern and contemporary history of Asia. It explores a range of issues relating to liberalism, human rights, political reform and democratization. It seeks to explain the differences in the ways in which democracy has been conceived, understood and practiced in different cultures and societies. It also examines the East-West debate on "Asian values" and the suitability of Western-style democracy to Asia. Finally, it discusses the prospects for democracy in Asia.

This Asian history unit is concerned with the transformation of China in a social, political and intellectual context since the middle of the nineteenth century. The unit focuses on China's modern transformation in the first half of the twentieth century and its contemporary relevance. The scope is broad, encompassing changes from the last decades of the Qing Dynasty to the Republican era and the rise to power of the Communists in 1949. The approach is issue-oriented, thematic and, where appropriate, chronological.

This unit aims to provide third year humanities students with first-hand knowledge of workplaces or research processes related to their chosen filed of study (major), such as art galleries, museums, libraries, local and state government, tourism and administration or in academic contexts. The units will introduce students to various fields in which the skills developed over two years of study in humanities can be applied. It will augment their study and provide much needed work experience. The internship placement and/or project will be chosen by the student in consultation with the staff member responsible for the major area and the placement will be overseen and the academic work assessed by the member of staff responsible for the major area of study relevant to the internship.

The unit provides an overview of the main political features and issues of the Southeast Asian region. This region is adjacent to Australia and thus events there have great strategic and economic significance for us. The countries of Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, are organised into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The unit focuses on the political relationships between these countries, both bilateral and regional, within the ASEAN and other nearby states, including Japan, China and Australia. Some of the issues covered include sensitive border disputes, piracy, illegal immigration, Insurgencies, Islamist terror networks, as well as issues related to aid, development and economic cooperation and competition.

Islam is a significant feature of Southeast Asia’s past and present. Employing methodologies and insights drawn primarily from history, political science, and anthropology, this unit explores Islam’s place in and contribution to contemporary Southeast societies and politics, as well as its history in the region. Major themes to be explored include: the debates about Islam’s spread to Southeast Asia and its interaction with the region’s established socio-religious features, the colonial experience, Islam’s often contested place in the national life of Southeast Asian nations, its past and ongoing links with the rest of the Muslim world, as well as contemporary issues associated with the War on Terror and conflicts in Muslim societies.

Popular representations of world politics shape our collective understanding of political history and international relations. This unit examines the ways in which film can communicate political messages to its audience, as well as the far more difficult issue of the effects that those messages might have on viewers. Although the discipline of International Relations (IR) has overwhelmingly ignored popular culture, it is the argument of this unit that popular culture actually provides us with a wealth of significant representations of world politics.

This unit presents a social and cultural history of Japan from the mid nineteenth century to the present. The principle organising theme is the question of modernity: what are the different ways that Japan has expressed its modern identity? How has this been shaped by Japan's position in relation to both the West and its Asian neighbours? What is the relationship among the state, its citizens, and history in negotiating identity? How has war affected Japanese modernity and what we know of modern Japan?

This unit studies the history of the post-war Japanese political experience. In particular, examining the interaction between domestic political developments, and security and foreign policy matters.

This unit is concerned with developments in China since the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. It will focus on the post-1976 period, which saw the adoption and implementation of an "open-door" policy and the launch of the "Four Modernisations". Due attention, however, will also be paid to the history and politics of the 1950s and 1960s as backgrounds. The unit will be issue-oriented, exploring a whole range of social and political issues that will have a bearing on China's future as a potential world power in the twenty-first century.

Since the end of the Cold War, the European Union (EU) has become not only one of the central actors in world affairs, but its novel forms of governance and dynamics of integration have marked its uniqueness in the history of international life. This unit provides introduces students to the diverse international roles of the EU as well as the nature of its external relations. It also considers the recent assertions that the EU’s foreign policy is “in crisis.” The unit will evaluate from different perspectives the institutions involved in the international diplomacy of the EU and its development of foreign policy.

This unit investigates the far-reaching political and social changes underway in Indonesia, Australia's closest and most important Asian neighbour. It studies in depth the turbulent period since the 1998 overthrow of Soeharto, paying particular attention to the dramatic struggle for political reform against efforts to preserve much of the status quo. The unit examines the far-reaching constitutional reforms implemented since 2000 and the accompanying new political structure that is emerging. Indonesia's status as an emerging democracy is a particular focus of the unit against the backdrop of challenges such as economic crisis, Islamist terror, separatist pressures, and endemic corruption.

This unit examines problems and issues in international politics. In particular the unit critically assesses the major theoretical paradigms associated with attempts to explain international behaviour of key individuals, nations and the international system. Major issues and key problems in world affairs since the end of World War Two (such as justice and equality, human rights and terrorism) are examined.

This unit will look at the historical heritage of Japan that is central to contemporary Japanese identity and culture.

This unit will examine a series of topical theoretical issues such as claims concerning the end of sovereignty, the emergence of a borderless world, the triumph of liberalism following the end of the Cold War and the so-called 'War on Terrorism' since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Finally it will examine the rise in prominence of so-called 'low politics' issues such as human rights, gender and the environment.