THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Postgraduate Course: Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia (IMES11101)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummarySoutheast Asia is home to almost a quarter of the global Muslim population. This course will explore the diverse manifestations of Islam among Southeast Asian people who speak myriad languages and who belong to distinct national, ethnic, and racial groups.
We will learn how Islam plays a crucial role in the development of Southeast Asian history, religion, politics, arts, and societies. We will critically analyse the impact of Islamic beliefs and values on social and cultural practices, and the formation of nations, communities, and identities. Alongside academic publications, we will examine a variety of sources including legal documents, poetry, novels, and films.
Course description In this course students investigate the relations between Islam, culture, and politics in Southeast Asia as well as the connections with the broader Muslim world. By exploring a range of texts, case studies, and televisual sources we will analyse how Islam influences and is influenced by local cultures and politics.

The course will explore both theoretical and practical studies on Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia. We will discuss case studies from countries such as: Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Myanmar.

A wide range of topics related to Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia will be covered including:
Arrival & Expansion of Islam in Southeast Asia
Islam and Colonial Power
Islam and Nationalism
Women and Gender
Law: Adat, Sharia and State Law
Islam and Inclusive Citizenship
Muslim Minorities in Southeast Asia
Piety, Arts, and Popular Culture.
Muslim Political Activism and Populism in Southeast Asia.

This course will comprise a two-hour weekly seminar to include interactive lectures, student presentations, and small group discussions. There are assigned readings and sometimes video viewings to prepare students for class discussion.

Students will demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes through posting weekly discussion questions online, delivering class presentations, participating in discussions, as well as through completing quizzes, research projects, and written work.

If case the course is delivered in hybrid format, it will be taught through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous activities conducted online.¿ The synchronous activities include a 50 minute weekly online seminar. These seminars will facilitate discussion about the course materials: readings, lecture videos, slides presentation, short podcasts, or films. Students are expected to attend online after having watched the recordings/asynchronous materials, and after having addressed the questions or mini-exercise proposed for that week.¿

The asynchronous activities include 15-20 minutes weekly lecture videos and a series of associated slides on the topic of the week, as well as other audio-visual materials, such as short podcasts and films. There is also a series of weekly exercises or short writing in response to the readings and the asynchronous materials that should be answered weekly in approximately 40 minutes. These short writing assignments (up to 100 words) should be emailed to the course convenor or posted on Blackboard a day before the synchronous online seminar discussion.¿ This is in addition to the usual personal research and reading time.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  20
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Weekly responding question to the readings 20%;
Reading Summary (500 words) and Presentation (10 min) 20%;
Midterm Essay (750 words) 20%;
Final Project Research paper (2500 words) 40%.
Feedback - Comments provided orally on class presentations and exercises.
- Individual written feedback on mid-course essay provided by marker.
- Individual written feedback on final research project provided by marker.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand the historical scope, proper terminology, conceptual approaches, and critical debates pertinent to the study of Islam and Muslim communities in Southeast Asia.
  2. Identify and evaluate different perspectives both within academia and within Southeast Asian Muslim communities themselves on select religious and political issues.
  3. Use critical thinking, academic research, and communication skills to critically engage with contemporary events and issues related to Islam in Southeast Asia and global socio-political dynamics.
Reading List
Essential Readings:
Attas, Syed M. Naguib al-. 1976. A General Theory of the Islamization of the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago. In Profiles of Malay Culture: Historiography, Religion, and Politics. Jakarta: Ministry of Education and Culture, Directorate General of Culture. pp.73-84.
Burhani, Ahmad. 2017. Geertzs Trichotomy of Abangan, Santri, and Priyayi Controversy and Continuity. Journal of Indonesian Islam 11 (2): 329-349.
Chalk, P. 2001. Separatism in Southeast Asia: The Islamic Factor in Southern Thailand, Mindanao and Aceh. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 24: 241-269.
Daniels, Timothy P. 2013. Introduction: Performance, Popular Culture, and Piety in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Performance, Popular Culture, and Piety in Muslim Southeast Asia, edited by Timothy P. Daniels, 1-12. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US.
Fadhlullah Jamil & Atiku Garba Yahaya, Muslims in non-Muslim Societies and Their Response to Major Issues Affecting Them: The Case of Singapore, Islamic Quarterly, 44, 4, 2000: pp. 575-600.
Formichi, Chiara. 2016. Islamic Studies or Asian Studies? Islam in Southeast Asia. The Muslim World 106 (4): 696-718.
Hirschman, Charles. 1986. The Making of Race in Colonial Malaya: Political Economy and Racial Ideology. Sociological Forum: Official Journal of the Eastern Sociological Society 1 (2): 330-61.
Hussain, Jamila. 2011. More Than One Law for All: Legal Pluralism in Southeast Asia. Democracy and Security 7 (4): 374-89.
Iza Hussin, "Revelation and Redemption: Colonial Precedents for the Politics of Islam in India and Malaysia," in The Everyday Life of the State: A State-in-Society Approach, ed. Adam White (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012), 142-159.
Kajla, Meghna, and Nasreen Chowdhory. 2020. The Unmaking of Citizenship of Rohingyas in Myanmar. In Citizenship, Nationalism and Refugeehood of Rohingyas in Southern Asia, edited by Nasreen Chowdhory and Biswajit Mohanty, 51-70. Singapore: Springer.
Laffan, Michael F. 2013. A Religion That Is Extremely Easy and Unusually Light to Take on: Dutch and English Knowledge of Islam in Southeast Asia, ca. 1595-1811. Empire and Science in the Making: Dutch Colonial Scholarship in Comparative Global Perspective, 165-84.
Liow, Joseph Chinyong. 2015. The Arab Spring and Islamist Activism in Southeast Asia: Much Ado About Nothing? Working Paper. Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, Rethinking Political Islam Series, August, 20.
Milligan, Jeffrey Ayala. 2020. Islamic Identity, Postcoloniality, and Educational Policy: Schooling and Ethno-Religious Conflict in the Southern Philippines. 2nd ed. Islam in Southeast Asia. Palgrave Macmillan.

Muhamad Ali (2014), Islam in Modern Southeast Asian History In Routledge Handbook of Southeast Asian History. Editors: Norman Owen. Routledge. London. pp., 213-223
Nair, Shelia. 2007. Challenging the Mullahs: Islam, Politics and Womens Activism, Interview with Zainah Anwar. International Feminist Journal of Politics 9 (2): 240-48
Peletz, Michael G. 2012. Gender, Sexuality, and the State in Southeast Asia. The Journal of Asian Studies 71 (4): 895-917.
Quimpo, Nathan Gilbert. 2016. Mindanao: Nationalism, Jihadism and Frustrated Peace. Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs.
Rasmussen, Anne. 2010. Women, the Recited Quran, and Islamic Music in Indonesia. University of California Press. Ch 5. Performing Piety through Islamic Musical Arts.
Reid, Anthony. 2010. Imperial Alchemy: Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press. Ch. 2. Understanding Southeast Asian Nationalisms. pp., 25-48.
Roff, William R. 2009. Studies on Islam and Society in Southeast Asia. Singapore: NUS Press. Part I, p1-52. Especially, Islam Obscured? Some Reflections on Studies of Islam and Society in Southeast Asia.
Wade, Geoff. 2019. Islam Across the Indian Ocean to 1500 CE. In Early Global Interconnectivity Across the Indian Ocean World, Volume II: Exchange of Ideas, Religions, and Technologies, edited by Angela Schottenhammer. Cham: Springer International Publishing, Imprint Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 85-138.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research and Inquiry: the ability to identify and analyse problems.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy: the ability to critically evaluate ideas, evidence, and experiences from an open-minded and reasoned perspective.
Communication: the ability to participate in constructive discussion and debate in respectful manner and the ability to develop and deliver an academic presentation.
KeywordsIslam,Muslim,Southeast Asia
Contacts
Course organiserDr Sarah Muwahidah
Tel:
Email: sarah.muwahidah@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Anne Budo
Tel: (0131 6)50 4161
Email: a.budo@ed.ac.uk
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