SOSANT2140 – Regional ethnography: East and Southeast Asia

Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

This course gives an introduction into the ethnography of East and Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on current research interests related to that region. The course approaches East and Southeast Asia from a transnational perspective, addressing the historical legacies (colonialism, Cold War rivalries, trade) and current trends (migration, displacement, environmental crisis) that have shaped and continue to impact social and cultural lives in the region beyond the framework of the nation-state. By focusing on mobility, ethnicity and nationalism, sexuality and gender, environmental problems, Indigeneity, capitalism and urban change, we will explore, amongst other things, the following set of questions:

  • How is relatedness produced in this part of the world?
  • How does the gift economy and private life underpin the "formal" economy and state-society relations in China today?
  • How is wealth being made in East Asian nightclubs, where men come to network amongst themselves, while women engage in the sexual and emotional labor that allows these connections to arise?
  • How does the state come to be formed in the everyday in Southeast Asia, and what can we learn about state power and resistance by studying small-scale highland communities?
  • How does being indigenous become tied into contemporary resource struggles in Southeast Asia?
  • How are fluid gender identities made sense of, and how does sexuality become tied into both nationalist and postcolonial projects across the two regions?
  • And finally, what can we learn about Asia’s changing position in an increasingly globalized world when we look at cases of capital, labour, and urban development in this dynamic region?

The course conveys knowledge about regional ethnography and provides thereby a basis for comparative ethnography.

As the course proceeds, the students will first obtain an overview of anthropological research traditions related to the region, and of main questions and themes that have been developed from regional ethnography. Subsequently, the main part of the course will focus on recent and current subject matters that shape contemporary anthropological research on the region.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

  • Overview of the East and Southeast Asia’s contribution to anthropology
  • Familiarity with central themes in regional anthropology
  • Thorough understanding of recent and current research themes in regional anthropology

Skills

  • Competence in regional ethnography and familiarity with main themes in the region’s contemporary anthropology

General competence

  • Ability to engage with and communicate contemporary social anthropological insights
  • Understanding and respect for social and cultural, as well as historical variation, as well as for theoretical and methodological differences between regional anthropological approaches

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Basic knowledge of Social Anthropology.

Overlapping courses

Teaching

Lectures take place throughout the semester.

Examination

Take home examination.

Examination support material

All exam support materials are allowed during this exam. Generating all or parts of the exam answer using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English and Norwegian. You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Also see?Grading guidelines in social anthropology.

More about examinations at UiO

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.

Last updated from FS (Felles studentsystem) Apr. 8, 2026 9:28:47 AM

Facts about this course

Level
Bachelor
Credits
10
Examination
Spring and autumn
Teaching language
English

Contact

SV-info