'Asia' is a powerful idea in contemporary discourses on health, politics, economics, arts, environment, population, and many other issues. This is natural – fully half of humanity lives in an area that we routinely call 'Asia'. Yet common knowledge about the varied peoples and cultures of this 'continent' tends to be vague and dominated by stereotypes. Many of the ideas that we hold derive from images presented in popular culture, especially film and television. Our ideas are also strongly coloured by historical processes in which European thinking about 'Asia' has been part of a project intended to justify economic, political and cultural subjugation.

This course brings the concept of 'Asia' into focus by first deconstructing its history and development, then reassembling it by pursuing a critical discourse about the history and politics of East and Southeast Asia. At the same time, it seeks to provide a general introduction to human cultural, social, economic, and political life in the great expanse of earth between the Taklamakan desert of north-western China and the tropical islands of Indonesia. Lectures deal mostly with the areas that make up contemporary China, Korea, Japan and Indonesia.

The course is co-taught by members of the School of Asian Studies and emceed by Dr Tim Behrend, course co-ordinator. It is a core course that must be satisfactorily completed by all students who wish to complete a major in the School, including language-based programs in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, as well as the new major in Asian Studies. History majors wishing to proceed with other History courses that deal with Asia are also strongly encouraged to sit this course.