Undergraduate - UnitATS3089 - Social institutions and power in Asia

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Japanese Studies
Offered	Clayton First semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Jeremy Breaden

Synopsis

This unit examines social institutions as sites for the exercise of power among individuals, organisations and states in Asia. Institutions such as education, law, family, mass media, religion and business are examined from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, using contemporary case studies drawn from across the Asian region. The unit explores how policy, discourse and practice surrounding social institutions shape and are shaped by individual action, and how the study of social institutions can enrich understanding of the cultures.

Outcomes

Students successfully completing the unit will be able to:

Identify the key contemporary social institutions in a variety of local, national and transnational contexts in Asia;
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the key changes in social organisation and lifestyles in Asia today, and the regional and global dimensions of these changes;
Apply a range of disciplinary approaches to analyse major contemporary issues in Asian societies;
Employ appropriate strategies for communicating the findings of analysis to a range of audiences and stakeholders;
Reflect on the relevance of Asian experiences of social change to other national and individual circumstances;
Understand how cultural context affects the dynamics of individual and group empowerment in Asian societies, and communicate that understanding to others;
Read critically and engage with existing research, with the potential to facilitate life-long learning;
Demonstrate independent research skills including enquiry techniques, critical thinking, and advanced skills of oral and written communication.

Assessment

Written work (3000 words): 70%
Exam: 20%
Participation: 10%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Jeremy Breaden

Workload requirements

One 1-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

International studies
Chinese studies
Indonesian studies
Japanese studies
Korean studies

Prohibitions

ATS2089