Asia and the Pacific: Power, diversity and change

This course investigates the dynamic transformations unfolding in contemporary Asia and the Pacific. It introduces Area Studies as a field of scholarship and asks what it means to study this diverse and rapidly changing region. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students will explore three key themes: - Organising lives: How people in Asia and the Pacific live, work, and connect in fast-changing societies, and how culture, religion, technology, and gender shape daily life and drive social change. - Poverty and riches: Social and economic inequalities, highlighting urban–rural divides and patterns of wealth, poverty, and inequality. - Race, ethnicity, and creativity: Diverse forms of creativity and cultural production, and how race and ethnicity shape social identity and cohesion. These themes highlight shifting power dynamics, regional interconnections, and the impact of digital and technological transformations. Students will gain diverse perspectives on the region’s complexities, drawing from disciplines such as anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, politics, history, economics, international relations, and related fields. The course emphasises inter-referencing within the region to demonstrate how concepts and theories from Asian and Pacific contexts are relevant across local and translocal scales. Lectures will feature leading experts from ANU presenting comparative case studies and posing critical questions, while tutorials will build students’ critical thinking, communication, and research skills. This course is one of two required foundational courses for the Bachelor of Asian Studies. It is also highly suitable for students in other programs who recognise the importance of engaging with Asia and the Pacific for their studies and future careers. The course enhances students’ capacity to engage with twenty-first-century challenges related to Asia and the Pacific, including the future of Australia’s place in the region, from transdisciplinary and comparative perspectives.