Prospectus

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Premodern History of South and Southeast Asia

Course
2017-2018

On 14 September there will be NO class due to the opening of the Asian Library! The first class is on 21 September.

Admission requirements

None.

Description

This course provides a long-term history of South and Southeast Asia from 3500 BCE to 1850 CE. After a historiographical (sources & concepts) and geopolitical (la longue durée) introduction the lectures engage (in chronological sequence) with themes that connect the various regions of South and Southeast Asia. We will compare the most prominent regional developments of settlement, state-formation and cultural developments and connect them through various trans-regional processes of migration, trade and conquest.
The course will also reflect on the unity and diversity of the SSEA region as a whole by discussing three regional varieties of globalization: Indianization, Islamization and Colonization

Course objectives

Students will gain basic knowledge of the main historiographical concept and discussions and of the developments of the pre-modern history of South and Southeast Asian history. They will be able to understand what long-term conditions and historical processes unified and divided the SSEA macro-region. Students will gain a sense that history itself is not somewhere out there but part of an ongoing process.

Timetable

Timetable

Mode of instruction

  • Lecture

Attendance is not obligatory for lectures. The conveners do not need to be informed in case of missed classes. Information and knowledge provided in the lectures greatly contribute to the subsequent courses of the programme and their contents will be part of the examination. In order to pass the course, students are strongly advised to attend all sessions.

Course Load

Total: 140 hours

  • Lectures (incl. learning): 40 hours

  • Literature: 96 hours

  • Examination: 4 hours

Assessment method

Assessment

Midterm exam and exam at end of the term;

Weighing

Midterm exam (written examination with short essay questions, 50%) and exam at end of the term (written examination with short essay questions, 50%);

Resit

In order to pass the course, students must obtain an overall mark of 5.50 (=6) or higher.The individual exams cannot be retaken. There is one opportunity for a re-sit of the entire course (100%).

The course is an integrated whole. The final examination and the assignments must be completed in the same academic year. No partial marks can be carried over into following years.

Exam review

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results (in BB) at the latest.

Blackboard

Blackboard

Reading list

  • Herman Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, A History of India (London & New York: Routledge 2016 – sixth edition)

  • Anthony Reid, A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Oxford: Blackwell, 2015)

Registration

Students are required to register through uSis. To avoid mistakes and problems, students are strongly advised to register in uSis through the activity number which can be found in the timetable in the column under the heading “Act.nbr.”.

Not being registered, means no permission to attend this course. See also the ‘Registration procedures for classes and examinations’ for registration deadlines and more information on how to register.

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Studeren à la carte.
Contractonderwijs.

Contact

Dhr. Prof.dr. J.J.L. Gommans

Remarks

Students with disabilities

The university is committed to supporting and accommodating students with disabilities as stated in the university protocol (especially pages 3-5). Students should contact Fenestra Disability Centre at least four weeks before the start of their courses to ensure that all necessary academic accomodations can be made in time conform the abovementioned protocol.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to be familiar with Leiden University policies on plagiarism and academic integrity. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you submit any work with your name affixed to it, it is assumed to be your own work with all sources used properly indicated and documented in the text (with quotations and/or citations).