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Key Challenges for Asia (UNIB10021)
Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5Not available in 2021
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
Overview
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This first-year breadth subject provides an interdisciplinary approach to key challenges facing Asia and how these are being addressed in India, China and Indonesia: the issue of how to educate the population, the question of how to provide good healthcare, and the challenge of ensuring effective governance. Through close analysis of these issues, the subject offers students a grounding in social and political change in China, India, and Indonesia.
The current challenges facing Asian countries regarding health care, education, and governance are complex, and so too are the varied ways in which India, China and Indonesia are addressing major issues. As a result, it is important to understand key challenges from multiple angles: political, social, economic, cultural and scientific. The subject offers students an opportunity to think about ‘key challenges’ from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, drawing from Geography, Politics, Asian Studies, and Public Health. Students will be introduced to different methodological approaches and research undertaken at different scales: from large data sets to in-depth anthropological case studies.
The subject encourages comparison across India, China and Indonesia. It also promotes analysis of how these countries are increasingly interconnected via flows of people, ideas, and goods - what has been termed ‘relational comparison’.
In addition, the subject considers what it means to be thinking about major social and political issues in Asia from the vantage point of Australia – for example, how could Australia learn from the manner in which major Asian countries are addressing key issues? The subject is designed to encourage students to share their own understanding of Asia and work effectively in a diverse student body.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of the subject students should have:
- The ability to collate, summarise, and evaluate scholarly work relating to health, education, and governance/law in China, India, and Indonesia.
- The capacity to identify different disciplinary approaches to health, education and legal/governance issues, including work that uses large data sets and in-depth case studies.
- The capacity to illustrate why it is important to be studying Asia in Australia.
- The ability to apply a comparative perspective to the study of health, education, and governance/legal challenges across the three countries, which highlights similarities and differences across China, India, and Indonesia as well as how these countries are connected via flows of people, ideas, and goods.
- The ability to work with students from diverse backgrounds.
Generic skills
Upon successful completion of this subject, students will have skills in:
- Reading, presenting, and synthesising scholarly research
- Conducting library searches for relevant literatures
- Analysing conceptual ideas
- Thinking across different contexts to identify comparative opportunities
- Reflecting on different disciplinary approaches
- Appreciation of the value of different students' perspectives
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Assessment
Semester 2
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Reflective journal A minimum of 5 weekly entries max 360 words per entry. (5 x 5% total 25%)
| Week 6 (covering first five weeks – 2 entries) Week 12 (covering second seven weeks – 3 entries) | 25% |
Tutorial oral presentation and participation Tutorial participation will be assessed by noting productive participation in tutorials, including a 10 minute oral presentation based on one of the key tutorial readings for that week.
| From Week 3 to Week 11 | 25% |
Essay This needs to be on a different topic to the oral presentation – i.e. on a different country or different sector (education/health/governance).
| During the examination period | 50% |
Attendance Hurdle requirement: Tutorial attendance is required for this subject; if a student does not attend a minimum of 75% of tutorials without an approved exemption then they will not be eligible for a pass in this subject. Note: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject. | N/A |
Additional details
Note: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Dates & times
Not available in 2021
Time commitment details
134
Additional delivery details
The subject will include a two-hour lecture each week designed to encourage active participation. The lectures will involve interactive activities, occasional small-group work (such as discussion in pairs), video, short multimedia presentations, and the use of vivid research case studies to exemplify key points.
The subject will also involve a one-hour tutorial per week throughout semester. Tutors will promote group-based learning through the discussion of carefully selected articles and other activities. Tutors will maximise student engagement and opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange through encouraging students to reflect on how their own backgrounds and experience shapes their interpretation of the subject material.
Last updated: 19 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 19 April 2024