Modern Southeast Asia: Colonialism, Capitalism, and Cultural Exchange

Catalog description

When you hear the term "Southeast Asia," what comes to mind? The US War in Vietnam? The ruins of the Angkor civilization? Rich culinary traditions? Or perhaps your own heritage? However you imagine it, Southeast Asia is an incredibly diverse and dynamic region that has long been integral to world affairs and whose importance continues to grow. This course offers a wide-ranging survey of Southeast Asia's peoples, their histories, and some of the issues they face today. Together we will explore the region as a "global crossroads," where the world's religions, economies, cultures, and politics come together in generative, sometimes traumatic, and often surprising ways. This course meets the Dietrich Gen Ed "Contextual Thinking" requirement.