106-432 Cultural Studies in Asia

Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in English, cultural studies or women's studies.

This subject focuses on the emergence of cultural studies as a distinct disciplinary formation in Asia over the past ten years, and introduces students to this new field's key approaches to analysing contemporary cultures. It introduces recent work on intra-Asian cultural flows, colonial histories, post-coloniality, neo-colonialism and cultural globalization in the Asian region, and explores cultural studies' engagement with emergent Asian public cultures. Students will learn about current approaches to sites and practices including television drama, popular and new-wave cinemas, new social movements, popular music and urban space across locations that may include South Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and India. On completion of this subject students should have an understanding of the major directions in cultural studies scholarship in Asia today.

• social, ethical, and cultural understanding of self and others through detailed analysis of contemporary culture in its various local, national and transnational contexts; the reception of new ideas and the contextualisation of judgments; the adaptation of knowledge to new situations;

• critical analysis and synthesis through the study of competing theories of contemporary culture and their application to diverse examples; the engagement with and processing of different critical perspectives across the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies; the development of independent thought and arguments;

• effective written and oral communication through seminar discussions and debates; the preparation and execution of written assessment exercises; exposure to and emulation of competing genres and protocols of critical writing;

• information management and information literacy through the practice of library and archival research and engagement with electronic databases;

• teamwork, flexibility, and tolerance through group discussions in seminars; reception of new ideas and opinions; engaging and cooperating with other people from diverse backgrounds;

• time management and planning through managing and organizing workloads for recommended reading, seminar presentations, and assessment requirements.

A 25-minute seminar presentation 10% (due during semester), a 2000 word essay 35% (due mid-semester) and a 3000 word essay 55% (due at the end of semester). A hurdle requirement of a minimum 80% attendance (10 out of 12 seminars) required.

A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop.