Singapore

Empire is an emotive word. Anything related to it is usually presented in negative terms, connoting exploitation, oppression, arrogance. But imperialism and its most visible products, empires and colonies, was a central force in the experience of all civilizations from the beginning of recorded history. Imperialism defined, shaped, often even determined the very existence of most human beings for most of the last three millennia—and was a profound force in the making of the modern world in the last five centuries. Empires brought civilizations together and propelled globalization. Imperialism shaped world politics, culture and economy. Colonies and the colonial experience shaped societies and reflected changing balances of power and energy. The very idea of empire established a world view that shaped our modern world, for better and worse. This module will introduce you to the study of Empires, Colonies and Imperialism by examining the imperial experience in the context of modern global history. We will tackle our topic by addressing three questions: Why and how were empires established in the first place? Why and how were empires developed and consolidated? And why and how were empires left or lost?

This module provides an introduction to Chinese history and culture from the earliest known periods up until the eighteenth century, focusing on Chinese political, social, and cultural history. In this course, we will also regularly examine interactions between the Chinese and their neighbors, particularly the steppe nomads from the north and westerners from Inner Asia and Europe. The course is open to all students without a prerequisite and assumes no prior knowledge of the material. During this course, we will always ask what evidence supports different historical interpretations, and students will be encouraged to provide their own readings of primary sources in translation.

This module introduces students to the field of history, with a focus on East, Southeast, and South Asia. Among the topics to be discussed are interaction with the West, various forms of nationalism, and the impact of globalization. Students are encouraged to think comparatively and to formulate their own opinions and positions on historical issues based on what they have learned in the module. The module is intended for students from any faculty who are interested in learning more about the history of the region.

Students can expect to attain:
An informed, broad understanding of Asian History from earliest times to the present (with a focus on modern history)
An introduction to historical thinking (causality, change over time, context, contingency, complexity), the "tools" provided by historical analysis
An ability to engage and think about contemporary Asia critically by learning how to identify connections between past and present, and historicize and situate events, processes, and individuals
An appreciation of and introduction to comparative analysis of societies, patterns, and dynamics

This course will introduce you to some basic concepts and debates on Globalization. It will then address the ways in which new media and technology practices are informed by, as well as, inform globalization (particularly issues of global inequality). This course adopts a CRITICAL and THEORETICAL view on globalization and its relation with new media. This is to say that contrary to unreflexive popular opinion in which we see globalization only in celebratory ways, this course will equip you to see globalization in terms of the various inequalities it produces yet the promise it can hold. The course tries to get us to think of the barriers produced by globalization, the kinds of new identities being produced, the links between contemporary globalization and earlier forms of colonialism, labor exploitation in media practices in globalization, and so on.

GE 1022 H (GEOPOLITICS) is an exciting introduction to the world of practical, formal and popular geopolitics via numerous case studies and multi-media presentations. The basic aim is that each of you will become familiar with the world political map and the relevance of geopolitics as ways of understanding and seeing our world. The Geopolitics module provides an engaging way to integrate aspects of modern history with political geography, for instance through the analysis of nationalisms and territorial disputes (in different parts of the world); through the study of the Cold War in relation to changing political landscapes in Southeast Asia; and through more contemporary understandings of the global geopolitics associated with the so-called War on Terror; and global issues of ecological security and environmental geopolitics. We will also examine contemporary geopolitics, such as the disputes over the South China Sea, Trump's geopolitics tweets, North Korea and nuclear power, and popular geopolitics.

Southeast Asia is a region of many identities, peoples, environments, and histories. It is a region with an initial definition imposed by outside powers and recalibrated by local forces. That it is even a region at all is claimed to be miraculous given the impacts of colonialism, war, postcolonialism, and modernity. This module takes Southeast Asia not as a “miracle” region but as a region of multiple, interlinked paths of development. Our definition of development, and the kind of development this module advocates for, is “growth with equity”. This kind of development is not always either successful or evenly distributed, however! And while Southeast Asia is a distinct geographical region (hence the ability to offer this course), this course will assess the complex relationships and political, economic, and cultural differences within the region as well as its interactions with the world at large.

In general, this module is aimed at getting student to critically engage with the ‘work’ or ‘power’ of maps in shaping the historical emergence of the modern world and in its ongoing transformation. To do this we will combine diverse modes of learning, covering issues of knowledge and content (the history of cartography), practical skills of map making/reading, and critical skills of evaluating and interpreting maps. We will stimulate a critical awareness of mapping as an evolving technology that has far-reaching social and political considerations.

This module introduces students to contemporary debates in population from a geographical perspective. It focuses on the ways that geography contributes to, and is reinforced, in the processes and meanings of life and death. Besides examining historical and contemporary population trends and demographic transitions, this module also investigates the discourses and politics of fertility and women's bodies, migration and transnational life, disease and health-care, and ageing, death and dying. The module enables students to understand contemporary population problems and solutions, and to critically analyse how these influence policies and everyday lives. This module is open to all students who are interested in population issues from a social science perspective.

This module introduces contemporary issues shaping our world and the geographical perspectives needed to understand them. Starting with ‘how geographers view the world’, the module offers a lens to analyse issues like climate change, urban flooding, human-environment relations, challenges of migration, cultural diffusion, economic integration and so forth. Each lecture will touch on contemporary scenarios and geographical analyses of issues. Students will also be exposed to field work techniques and strategies of project management in group discussions and project assignments. The goal is to develop students with strong ‘geographical imaginations’ better able to understand the world and all its complexities.

Drawing from theoretical arguments made by feminist geographers and non-geographers, the module provides a gendered re-orientation of critical issues for the. Students will learn about gender and the city in terms of ‘4Rs’: (Methodological) Re-writing; (Social) Reproduction; (Resource) Redistribution, and (Political) Recognition.