Introduction

What does this course offer you? Overview, reading requirements, class
organization. What is happening in contemporary Southeast Asian countries? Music, dance, art and identity.
+R-Jugyo

[Lecture] ASEAN Integration: Assessing the Feasibility of 'One Vision, One Identity, One Community'

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has long aspired towards the vision of "One Vision, One Identity, One Community." This ambitious goal encapsulates the collective aspirations of ASEAN member states to forge a cohesive and integrated regional community. However, achieving this vision poses numerous challenges and complexities. This lecture critically examines the feasibility of ASEAN integration, exploring the political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions that shape the region's journey towards greater unity and cooperation.

[Reading]
Fabrian (2016) "Could the ASEAN Community bring about a Southeast Asian Identity? "

Gandjar Hartha Widodo "ASEAN LOVE LAND" IN AJAR and SEA Junction (2024) "Comic Book: Cartooning the ASEAN way of non-interference and consensus". Catalog issued for exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centere (BACC) 2024.

[Assignment-Based Learning]

we explored the challenges of building a shared political community in Southeast Asia. While strong relationships among all 10 ASEAN member countries could expand business opportunities, achieving such connectivity requires overcoming economic disparities, differences in national identity and sovereignty, religious and language barriers. It is also important to consider to what extent a shared ASEAN identity can be developed among member countries.

For this assignment, please clearly state whether you support or are skeptical about ASEAN integration. Explain your position with evidence-based reasons, relating your argument to at least one of the following points:

-Economic and political challenges
-Cultural, social, religious, and linguistic differences
-Possibilities and limits of a shared ASEAN identity

-Self-guided study. Attendance not required.

 [Lecture] RapThai, Tamil Rap and Voices Represented through Pop Culture in Southeast Asia

-Documentary watching "RAPTHAI" (2018, 28 min).
-Music Video Clip of Tamil Rapper Yung Raja and Cambodian Rapper VannDa, among others.

[Reading]
Ushiroshoji (1999) . "A Difficult Journey of Contemporary ASEAN Art"

 [Student Presentations] RapThai, Tamil Rap and Voices Represented through Pop Culture in Southeast Asia 2

-Divide into groups, find one song from Southeast Asia, and give a presentation on what message or meaning the song conveys.

[Lecture] Undoing Your Gaze toward Southeast Asia - Theoretical Framework

-Why is Southeast Asia a popular touristic destination? (Western gaze history, colonialism, orientalism, ethnocentrism, religion, development, and poverty).
-Video watching and discussion on East-West encounters in “Dark Tourist in Cambodia -would you like to shoot this cow with a rocket launcher or a belt-fed machine gun, sir?”

[Lecture] Undoing Your Gaze toward Southeast Asia - Methodology

How do you approach to Southeast Asia?
-Methodology (ethnography, field work, surveys and language learning)
-Video watching and discussion on “Dark Tourist in Myanmar -Heads to Naypyidaw, is it freshly opened up to tourists?”

[Reading]
Hoefinger. (2011). "‘Professional Girlfriends’ An ethnography of sexuality, solidarity and subculture in Cambodia".

[Lecture] From King's ritual to LGBTQ expressions-Khmer Classical Dance

Lecture and discussion on Khmer classical dance from its origin to modern evolution. Apprenticeship, colonial art performance, national identity reconstruction, and LGBTQ expression.

[Readings]
Tuchman-Rosta, C. (2014). From ritual form to tourist attraction: Negotiating the transformation of classical Cambodian dance in a changing world. Asian Theatre Journal, 31(2), 524-544.
Hagai, S. (2019). Carving out a Space for Alternative Voices through Performing Arts in Contemporary Cambodian Tourism: Transformation, Transgression and Cambodia’s first gay classical dance company. Journal of Institute of Humanities, Human and Social Sciences, 77-102.

[Websites]
https://www.ted.com/talks/prumsodun_ok_the_magic_of_khmer_classical_dance

[Guest Lecture] Khmer classical dancer Prumsodun Ok : Gender, diaspora and Cambodia’s first gay dance company- Who are the stewards of tradition ? (TBA)

Prumsodun Ok is a contemporary Cambodian-American artist who works primarily in dance, theater, and film. He was born in Long Beach, California to parents who were refugees from Cambodia. In 2015, he moved to Cambodia to continue his dance career and to create the first Cambodian gay dance company.

[Websites]
https://www.prumsodun.com/

[Assignment-Based Learning]

TBA
-Self-guided study. Attendance not required.

Midterm Exam

-Midterm Exam: Worth 20% of the total grade.

[Assignment-Based Learning] Planning: Independent Research Project

Planning for Independent Research Project
In the Independent Research Project (IRP), each student independently conducts research and produces a research paper on a self-selected topic related to Southeast Asia. The chosen themes and subjects need not be confined to the content covered in lectures, allowing for exploration of novel areas. Creative outputs such as video creation, art book creation or literary works are deemed acceptable as valid IRP outcomes.
-Self-guided study. Attendance not required.

[Assignment-Based Learning] Proposal Submission: Independent Research Project

In the Independent Research Project (IRP), each student independently conducts research and produces a research paper on a self-selected topic related to Southeast Asia. The chosen themes and subjects need not be confined to the content covered in lectures, allowing for exploration of novel areas. Creative outputs such as video creation, art book creation or literary works are deemed acceptable as valid IRP outcomes.
-Self-guided study. Attendance not required.
-Proposal Submission Deadline (Dec 26 2025, no later than 17:00).

[Lecture] War, Displacement and Dark Tourism / Course Summary & Submission: Independent Research Project

The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre features the photographic work of Myanmar artist Shwe Wutt Hmon. This exhibition was created in solidarity with the people of Myanmar, who have been fighting for democracy since the 2021 coup d'état.
-Explore a new academic discourse on dark tourism, the narrative of tragedy and historical remembrance.

[Readings]
Shwe Wutt Hmon (2025). "A Myanmar Odyssey". Catalog issued for exhibition at curved wall 4th floor BACC.

-Course Summary
-IRP Final Submission Deadline (Jan 15, 2026, no later than 17:00).

Participation 15%
Contribution (In-class comments & Manaba reflection comments) 25%
Midterm Exam 20%
Proposal for Independent Research Project 10%
Submission of Independent Research Project 30%