Islam in Southeast Asia

Subject ISLM30012 (2013)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2013.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2013.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 2 x 45 min lectures (online) and 1 hour tutorial per week
Total Time Commitment:

2.5 contact hours/week , 6 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.

Prerequisites:

None.

Corequisites:

None.

Recommended Background Knowledge:

None.

Non Allowed Subjects:

None.

Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Contact

Prof Abdullah Saeed

a.saeed@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

Islam is a significant feature of Southeast Asia's past and present. Employing methodologies and insights drawn primarily from history, political science, and anthropology, this subject explores Islam's place in and contribution to contemporary Southeast Asian societies and politics, as well as its history in the region. Major themes to be explored include: the debates about Islam's spread to Southeast Asia and its interaction with the region\'s established socio-religious features. the colonial experience. Islam\'s often contested place in the national life of Southeast Asian nations. its past and ongoing links with the rest of the Muslim world. and contemporary issues associated with the "War on Terror" and conflicts in Muslim societies.

Objectives:
  • Understand the role of Islam as a political factor in many Asian countries and contexts.
  • Understand the growing significance of Islam as a political factor in global politics and contemporary international relations.
  • Understand the diversity of political forces and perspectives based on Islam
  • Appreciate and understand the contrast between the multidimensional reality of politics conducted within an Islamic framework and the often simplistic manner in which this reality is portrayed.
  • Understand the major philosophical and practical problems confronted by Muslim political thinkers and practitioners.
  • Critically assess the popular historiographical paradigm in which Islam and the West are considered to be in perpetual conflict.
Assessment:

A 500 word take home test 20% (due week 6), a 1,500 word journal 30% (due week 8) and a 2,000 word essay 50% (due week 13).

Class attendance is required for this subject; if you do not attend a minimum of 75% of classes without an approved exemption you will not be eligible for a pass in this subject. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Prescribed Texts:
  • Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A contemporary sourcebook (Greg Fealy and Virginia Hooker (eds.)) Institute of Southeast Studies, Singapore, 2006
  • Islam and South East Asia, Greg Fealy
Recommended Texts:
  • Greg Fealy and Virginia Hooker (eds.), Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A contemporary sourcebook, Institute of South east Studies, Singapore, 2006.
  • Azyumardi Azra, The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, Sydney, 2004.
  • Michael Francis Laffan, Islamic Nationhood and Colonial Indonesia: the umma below the winds, RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2003.
  • Arskal Salim and Azyumardi Azra (eds.), Shari\\"a and Politics in Modern Indonesia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2003.
  • Zachary Abuza, Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of terror, Lynne Rienner publishers, Boulder, Colorado, 2003.
  • M.B. Hooker, Indonesian Islam: Social change through contemporary Fatawa, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, Sydney, 2003.
  • K.S. Nathan and Mohammad Hashim Kamali (eds.), Islam in Southeast Asia: Political, social and strategic challenges for the 21st century, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2005.
  • Nakamuro Mitsuo, et al (eds.), Islam and Civil Society in Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2001.
  • Virginia Hooker, et al (eds.) Malaysia: Islam Society and Politics, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2003.
  • Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1960
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • acquire written communication skills through essay writing and seminar discussion.
  • show attention to detail through essay preparation and writing
  • acquire time management and planning skills through managing and organising workloads for recommended reading, essay and assignment completion.
  • acquire public speaking skills through tutorial and seminar discussion and class presentations.
  • acquire research skills through competent use of the library, and other information sources and the definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research.
  • acquire critical thinking and analysis skills through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion, and by determining strength of an argument.
  • be able to think in theoretical terms through lectures, tutorial discussions, essay writing and engagement in the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences.
Notes:

This subject will be taught online by the University of Western Sydney (UWS). It is offered to students of UWS, University of Melbourne and Griffith University. Local tutorial support will be available at all three universities. Available as a breadth subject

Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Islamic Studies
Islamic Studies
Islamic Studies

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