STV4343 – Asia III, 15 SP
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
Contemporary politics in developing countries is characterised by three major crises: one of superficial democratisation, another of disintegrating states and corrupt governance, a third of decentralised despotism and uncivil societies. This course discusses those trends in the context of the Asian giants of Indonesia, India and China - and with a special emphasis on three related research priorities at Oslo University: “Assessing Democratisation in Indonesia”, “Politics of Sustainable Development in India”, and “Local Governance under Chinese Autocratic Rule”.
Learning outcome
You will get an understanding of the three major crises of politics in developing countries unfold in the contexts of Indonesia, India and China - plus how one can go about studying that, in theory and in practice.
Admission
The course is open to both Norwegian and international students. For international applicants: The courses offered in English are normally reserved for students on exchange programmes or bilateral agreements. For further information about admission requirements and admission procedures for international applicants, please see our website admission to the University of Oslo.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Bachelor program in political science or equivalent.
Recommended previous knowledge
Bachelor program in political science or equivalent, preferably combined with some insights in Asian history, politics and problems of development.
Teaching
There will be given both lectures and seminars. The course will start with an introduction of the themes. This is immediately followed by a concentrated series of lectures on how the themes may be articulated and studied in the different contexts. The students will present their essay-plans during three specialised seminars. After a break, draft versions of the essays will be discussed at three additional seminars. A last the final lecture will be the lecturers’ review and a general discussion of the final versions of the student essays.
Examination
Course examination will be in the form of (a) compulsory attendance at the first and final lectures plus the seminars, (b) the presentation of a plan for your course essay, and, once this is approved of, (c) the writing of the 20-30 pages essay, comparing aspects of the main themes in the different contexts. The final essay is graded on the standard scale from A - F.