Modern Asia​
Institution code: COMM2377 (RMIT University - Vietnam campus)
​
Teaching period: Trimester 1/2016
​
Role: Lecturer
​
Curriculum innovation:
I taught, and later on as part of my role as Coordinator of the Contextual studies strand, developed a revised syllabus for this course with the independent consultation of Christian Berg.
​
Innovations within this course include:
1. Diversifying weekly assigned background content for students. This is necessary as as the course is pitched at a first-year level. Assigned content usually comprises of an academic text, a news or magazine article, and a multimedia piece. In cases where there are multiple readings, videos, articles, students may choose one from the list from each category.
2. Diversifying the mode of assessment with a clear focus on scaffolding students’ academic literacy. Assessments include (1) an annotated bibliography in preparation for the final essay, (2) a presentation, and (3) a written essay piece.
3. Streamlining course content so that issues of globalisation and modernity become a thread tying weekly topics together, rather than existing in themselves as fragmented and inefficiently covered topics.
​
Syllabus:
Week 1: What is Asia?
Week 2: Southeast Asia – a short history
Week 3: Modernity
Week 4: Urbanisation
Week 5: Nation & National identity
Week 6: Neo-Confucianism and the role of media
Week 7: Consumerism
Week 8: Economic issues of modern and globalised Asia
Week 9: Orientalism and representations of Asia
Week 10: Gender & Sexual identities
Week 11: The crisis of modernity: the individual experience
Week 12: Course review
​
​Introduction Video:
