Sub sections:

Asian Studies

Why Study Asian Studies at UNE?
Staff
Research
Courses
Units in Asian Studies
Careers
Partnerships, Networks and Industry Links
Contacts

On these web pages you will find information about Asian Studies at UNE, the units we teach, the undergraduate and postgraduate courses which include Asian Studies, our staff and research interests, and the career opportunities Asian Studies provides. Use the links on the right "contents" to navigate your way through our web page.

The University of New England is one of the most experienced providers of Asian Studies in Australia, and has been engaged in the teaching of, and research on, Asia since the 1970s.

Over 60% of the world's population lives in Asia. Of the ten countries with the largest populations in the world, six are in Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan). India is the world's largest democracy, and Indonesia the 3^rd largest. China, India and Malaysia are amongst the fastest-growing economies in the world. Japan and China are the 2^nd and 4^th largest economies in the world, with China predicted to overtake Germany as the 3^rd largest by 2010. Asia has been described as an 'economic powerhouse', and is certainly important to Australia's prosperity now and in the future. It is also important in terms of our security and our international relationships. Asia's role in Australia's trade, culture and security is growing, and Australia will interact increasingly with the countries of Asia as a result of globalisation and our geographic location.

Asian Studies at UNE will introduce you to the societies, cultures, economies, polities and histories of Asia. A range of units are available allowing you to explore the diverse cultures of the region, important religious and philosophic traditions, major historical changes and economic developments. Our focus is on the social forces at work shaping contemporary East, Southeast and South Asia. It is a unique area of study in that it crosses disciplines, drawing upon politics, economics, sociology, cultural studies, history, philosophy, international relations, geography and linguistics. It is also flexible, providing a stimulating overview of the dynamic Asian region and Australia-Asia relations, with opportunities for in depth study of particular areas of interest.

Asian Studies can be combined with other majors such as Indonesian, Japanese or Chinese, Political and International Studies, History or Economics. For further information about these follow the 'Similar Subject Areas' links on the right of this page.

Why Study Asian Studies at UNE?

Students have found Asian Studies at UNE a stimulating and rewarding experience. Our small class sizes, and use of the latest online teaching tools, means that both on-campus and off-campus students can work closely with academic staff in ways that simply do not exist at most Australian universities. Many of our graduates have continued on to Honours and postgraduate degrees with us, while others have gained employment in both the government and private sectors.

We equip students with a sound knowledge of Asian cultures, societies, economies and polities, combined with general skills in research, analysis and communication – knowledge and skills which they need to succeed in the contemporary world. Our expert and enthusiastic academic staff employ innovative and student-centred learning approaches, whether on-campus, by distance education or online.

Our graduates are in high demand by a wide range of employers. This reflects the growing desire for an increased understanding of the societies of the Asian region, and their international roles, increased links between Australia and Asia, and the increased employment opportunities available for Asia-literate graduates.

In short, Asian Studies at UNE is not only politically and economically relevant, it also gives our students excellent opportunities to participate in Australia's growing links with the Asian region.

Staff

	Email	Telephone
Professor Howard Brasted	hbrasted@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2081
Prof Amarjit Kaur	akaur@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2874
Prof Cliff Goddard	cgoddard@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 3309
Prof Peter Forrest	pforrest@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2765
A/Prof Hugh de Ferranti	hdeferra@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 3518
A/Prof Habib Zafarullah	hzafarul@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2250
Dr Andrew Brown	abrown2@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2557
Dr Paul Healy	phealy@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 3514
Dr Graham Young	gyoung@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2554
Dr Mun-Keat Choong	mchoong@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2087
Ms Isabel Tasker	itasker@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 3504
Mr Stephen Miller	smiller6@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 3932
Dr Barbara Rugendyke	brugendy@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2923
Dr Alfons van der Kraan	avanderk@une.edu.au	+61 2 6773 2524

Research

Staff involved in Asian Studies are experienced researchers with good records of scholarly publication, successful research grants and consultancies. Academic staff have played a leading role in the research and writing of South Asian history in Australia, including responsibility for the scholarly journal South Asia from 1984 to 2001, and management of the South Asian Studies Association from 1984 to 2004. Staff have served on the editorial boards of internationally recognised journals, and are active members of various professional associations. Value adding to the research strengths in the field of Asian Studies generally is the UNE Asia Centre, an inter-Faculty research centre established in 1992. As a vehicle for bringing together Asian experts within the university, the Asia Centre has successfully sponsored a range of projects that have attracted significant amounts of funding from, for example, AusAid, the World Bank, the Wellcome Trust, DEST, the Crawford Fund and ACIAR. Total grants involving the UNE Asia Centre between 1994 and 2007 amount to approximately two million dollars.

The areas of research excellence and productivity cover a wide range including Asian history and economic history, the contemporary Asia-Pacific, Asian religions, child and female labour in Asia, and Asian politics.

The specific areas of research interest and expertise of Asian Studies staff are:

Prof Howard Brasted
India and Pakistan, Islam in the modern world

Dr Mun-Keat Choong
early Buddhism in India, contemporary Buddhism in Asian societies and the West, comparative studies of the Pali and Chinese versions of the early Buddhist canon

Dr Andrew Brown
neo-liberal globalisation and social and political change in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand; class formation and labour politics, democratisation

Dr Paul Healy
Chinese politics and society, Chinese Marxism and Mao Zedong's thought, class

Dr Barbara Rugendyke
non-government development assistance organisations and the impacts of their projects and programs, community development planning processes in remote indigenous Australian communities, the social and environmental impacts of nature-based tourism development in northern Vietnam, and the advocacy work of non-governmental development assistance organisations

Ms Isabel Tasker
effective uses of interactive multimedia for language learning

Mr Stephen Miller
Indonesian communism and culture, Indonesian exile literature, and the history of the Indonesian Left in general

A/Prof Hugh de Ferranti
the history, performance practice, notation systems, social and interpretive contexts for biwa narrative, Japanese popular music, Japanese traditional musical instruments

Dr Graham Young
the Chinese Communist Party, political thought and political reform in China, human rights

Prof Cliff Goddard
lexical and grammatical semantics, language description and typology, and cross-cultural pragmatics, cultural semantics of and pragmatic conventions of Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

Prof Peter Forrest
philosophy of physics, epistemology, the philosophy of religion, and other issues in metaphysics and epistemology

A/Prof Habib Zafarullah
Third world democratic governance, comparative bureaucracy, public policy and development management

Dr Alfons van der Kraa
Dutch East India Company (VOC), Indonesian economic history, Dutch colonialism in Southeast Asia

Prof Amarjit Kaur
globalisation processes and economic and social change (with particular reference to Southeast Asia/Asia), changing labour relations in Asia, border controls and migration in the Asia-Pacific region, trafficking in persons, refugee crises in Southeast Asia, human rights in Asia, work, the environment and illness

Information on postgraduate research is provided in the courses section below.

Further information on the research of individual staff is available on their staff web pages.

Courses

Asian Studies units are available in a wide variety of undergraduate degrees at UNE in Arts, International Studies, Commerce, Economics, Criminology, Urban and Regional Planning, Languages and so on. Most undergraduate students taking Asian Studies do so in the Bachelor of Arts, combined Bachelor of Arts degrees, the Bachelor of International Studies and the Bachelor of Languages.

400-level Asian Studies units may be included in a number of postgraduate coursework awards in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Students wishing to extend their undergraduate degree in Asian Studies, or wishing to undertake postgraduate research in Asian Studies in the future, would normally complete an Honours program.

Students wishing to undertake advanced research in Asian Studies may do so in postgraduate research degrees.

Undergraduate Degrees

Advanced Diploma in Arts
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting)
Bachelor of Communication Studies
Bachelor of Criminology
Bachelor of Economics
Bachelor of General Studies/Bachelor of Teaching
Bachelor of International Studies
Bachelor of International Studies (Advanced)
Bachelor of Languages
Bachelor of Languages and International Business
Bachelor of Social Science
Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning

Postgraduate Coursework

Graduate Certificate in Arts
Graduate Diploma in Humanities
Graduate Diploma in Social Science
Master of Arts

Honours Program

Honours programs available in Asian Studies include the Bachelor of Arts with Honours and the Bachelor of International Studies with Honours.

Honours in Asian Studies is designed to serve as an advanced level of study for students wishing to extend their degree or establish a pathway to postgraduate studies. The program, of one year's full-time or two year's part-time study, consists of 50 per cent course work and 50 per cent thesis. A wide choice of thesis topics is available across the many areas of Asian Studies, such as:

• Australia-Asia relations
• the history of Asia
• contemporary Asian societies and cultures
• Asian politics
• the political economy of Asia
• Asian economies
• issues of development in Asia
• labour movements in Asia
• Asian religions

For information on the Asian Studies Honours program contact Dr Paul Healy (phealy@une.edu.au) on +61 2 6773 3514.

Bachelor of Arts with Honours
Bachelor of International Studies with Honours

Postgraduate Research

The Master of Arts with Honours and Doctor of Philosophy are postgraduate research degrees in which students work under the supervision of one or more academic staff on a specific research topic. The academics chosen as supervisors will be members of the Asian Studies staff with the highest levels of competence and expertise in the field in which you intend to undertake research. Postgraduate research is stimulating, but challenging. Asian Studies staff aim is to make progress through these degrees as smooth and successful as possible, and have a proven track record in doing so.

For further information on postgraduate research in Asian Studies contact Dr Paul Healy (phealy@une.edu.au) on +61 2 6773 3514.

Master of Arts with Honours
Doctor of Philosophy

Units in Asian Studies

Asian Studies units are available at undergraduate and postgraduate coursework levels, and at Honours level.

Information on postgraduate research in Political and International Studies can be found on the Courses section of this page.

Undergraduate Units

The units offered in Asian Studies draw upon a range of disciplines including history, economics and political and international studies. Students are encouraged to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of Asia and its diversity.

PAIS 113 Power, Conflict and the Making of Modern Asia
HIST 141 Traditional China and Japan
HIST 142 Traditional South and Southeast Asia
CHIN211 Chinese Calligraphy
CHIN325 Contemporary Chinese Culture
CIJ 210 Cultural Expression in Modern Asia
ECON 345 Economy and Business in Modern Asia
ECON 348 The Economic Development of Modern Japan
ECON 350 Southeast Asia: Economic and Social Change Since 1850
GEPL314 The Road to Riches? Development and Change in Asia
HIST 343 Islam in the Modern World
HIST 386 Buddhism: A History
HIST 341 Life and Society in Kipling’s British India
HIST 342 Gandhi and Non-Violent Action in the 20th Century
INDN 315 Contemporary Indonesian Culture
JAPN 325 Japanese Culture through Anime, Manga and Music
LING 380 The Languages of Asia
PAIS 318 Australia’s Relations with Asia
PAIS 352 Human Rights in Asia
PAIS 361 Sex, Crime and Corruption in Asia
PAIS 362 Globalising Asia
PAIS 363 Family, Women and Work in Asia
PAIS 380 Chinese Politics
PHIL 318 Indian Metaphysics
SOCY 319 Globalisation, Development and Social Change

Postgraduate Coursework Units

The following Asian Studies units are available in postgraduate coursework awards.

CHIN 425 Contemporary Chinese Culture
ECON 454 Asian Business Management
ECON 456 Industrialisation and Development in Asia
HIST 486 Buddhism: A History
ISLM 467 Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia
ISLM 468 Islam in Indonesian Society
ISLM 471 Islam in Central Asia
JAPN 425 Japanese Culture through Anime, Manga and Music
LING 480 The Languages of Asia
PAIS 418 Australia's Relations with Asia
PAIS 452 Human Rights
PAIS 461 Sex, Crime and Corruption in Asia
PAIS 462 Globalising Asia
PAIS 463 Family, Women and Work in Asia
PAIS 480 Chinese Politics
PHIL 418 Indian Metaphysics
SOCY 419 Globalisation, Development and Social Change

Honours Units

Honours in Asian Studies consists of 50 per cent course work and 50 per cent thesis.

ASST401H Asian Studies Hons Coursework

The coursework component, ASST 401H, is based on a series of essays. These enable the student to explore and master key theoretical perspectives, specific concepts and important empirical trends pertaining to Asian Studies.

ASST402H Asian Studies Hons Dissertation

This unit is based on a dissertation. Students are required to research and write a dissertation on an Asian Studies topic relating to their own interests. The topic is to be developed in consultation with their supervisor. This unit allows the student to explore and analyse a significant theory, policy or trend in Asian societies in considerable depth.

For specific information on the Asian Studies Honours units contact Dr Paul Healy (phealy@une.edu.au) on +61 2 6773 3514.

Further information on the Honours program in Asian Studies can be found on the Courses section of this page.

Careers

Australia's physical proximity of Asia and growing ties to the region, both politically and economically, make this an interesting and exciting time, especially for those with cross-cultural communication skills. Knowledge of Asian politics, economies and societies is an essential skill in a number of career paths in the public service, business and teaching. Graduates who are 'Asia-literate' have good employment prospects. Opportunities exist both in Australian and internationally in a variety of fields including:

• teaching
• administration
• diplomacy
• policing
• business and trade
• journalism
• marketing
• management
• defence
• strategic analysis
• policy development
• immigration
• tourism
• aid agencies
• non-governmental organisations
• international agencies
• community and social work.

Recent graduates have been employed in all of these areas.

Associations
Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA)
Chinese Studies Association of Australia (CSAA)
Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA)
New Zealand Asian Studies Society (NZASIA)
Philippines Studies Association Australasia (PSAA)
South Asian Studies Association of Australia (SASA)
The Malaysia Society of Australia
Vietnam Studies Association of Australia (VSAA)

International Organisations
Asian Development Bank
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
International Labour Organisation
International Monetary Fund
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council
World Bank

Journals, Magazines and Bulletins
Asia Policy E-journal
Asian Affairs
Asian Currents E-bulletin
Asian Currents, The Asian Studies Association of Australia's e-bulletin
Asian Journal of Women's Studies
Asian Studies WWW Monitor
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
China Brief: A Journal of Information and Analysis
China Information
China Journal - online version
China Quarterly
Critical Asian Studies
Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies
Harvard Asia Pacific Review
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
HIMAL-South Asia
Inside Indonesia Magazine
Japan Focus
Journal of South Asia Women Studies
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (JESHO)
Little India
Manushi - A Journal about Women and Society
Modern Asian Studies
Pacific Affairs: An International Review of Asia and the Pacific
South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies
Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs
The Journal of Asian Studies
The Journal of Southeast Asian Studies