ATS2941 - Asia's underside: Violence, crime and protest - 2018

The unit explores the 'underside' of Asian societies, enabling a more complete understanding of the political and social tensions in the countries of northeast and Southeast Asia. It addresses such topics as corruption, environmental damage, gendered and ethnic violence, political resistance, religious extremist groups and organised crime. By focussing on a range of themes and topics in countries such as China, Indonesia, Japan and Korea, this unit allows students to explore in depth topics relevant to their broad area of study, and encourages them to reflect on the nature of authority, the definition of justice, the interpretation of what is 'permitted' in Asian societies and the way in which these topics can and should be discussed in an academic context.

1. Asia literacy and communicative competence: upon completion of this unit, students will be able to identify and comprehend key discourses relating to crime, violence and protest in the Asian region, and reflect critically on the ways in which complex issues are represented through different forms of media.
2. Knowledge about the Asian region: upon completion of this unit, students will have been able to build on their existing knowledge of the region to gain more insight into social and institutional issues in a variety of national settings.
3. Cross cultural and intercultural competence: upon completion of this unit, students will had the opportunity to reflect on how the issues studied are pertinent to their own society and culture, and have constructed their own critical frameworks for comparison.
4. English communication skills: upon completion of this unit, students will have developed further their skills in verbal and written communication to allow them to express ideas lucidly and with an appropriate level of nuance and sophistication.
5. World view and ethical values: through the exploration of social, environmental and political issues in lectures, tutorials and assignments, students will reflect on their own ethical values and their own role as national and global citizens.
6. Research skills: students will develop and demonstrate independent research skills and critical thinking through their preparation for class and their written assignments, and will develop a personal voice in their understanding of the research literature.

Within semester assessment: 70% + Exam: 30%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Chinese studies

Global cultural literacies

Indonesian studies

International studies

Japanese studies

Korean studies