This seminar introduces contemporary Southeast from a transregional perspective. It looks a t cultural, social, and political phenomena in insular Southeast Asia - particularly Indonesia and Malaysia - but also shifts the view to mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand). It adresses the question of how to translate „transregional” Southeast Asia studies into particular research methods. We start out by reflecting a common understanding of “Southeast Asia”, then turn towards theoretical and practical methods of “doing” transregional Southeast Asian studies, and, in the final third of the seminar, applies these theoretical and practical approaches to selected empirical examples / cases.
The learning objective of this seminar is to provide students with knowledge on contemporary Southeast Asia, and to train students' methodological skills and expertise in transregional Area Studies. These skills and expertise will enable them to apply particular methods to their own research projects, e.g. in a master thesis or a complex term paper.