Course Nomenclature:
- H indicates a half credit course
- F indicates a half year course in the first term (Sept – Dec)
- S indicates a half year course in the second term (Jan – Apr)
- Y indicates a full year course (Sept – Apr)
- M, T, W, R, F = days of the week
2025-26 Course Offerings
Core course
ASI1000Y-Y: Issues in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies
Tuesdays, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Rachel Silvey (F) and Yiching Wu (S)
The core seminar examines the dynamics of transformation in the Asia-Pacific in relation to a number of theoretical debates in history and the social sciences. The seminar is required of graduate students in the Collaborate Master’s Specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies.
MRP/Research courses
Please check if your home department offers an independent research course in which you can work on your major research paper. For example, POL2810Y/POL2811Y (MA Research Seminar I/II), GLA2095H (MGA Reading Course)/GLA2228H (MGA Research Paper), PLA1107Y (Current Issues Paper).
Note: these departmental courses may by taken by students and count (a maximum of 0.5 FCE) towards the CESEAS course requirements provided they are used to work on the CESEAS Major Research Paper. The topic should include a significant East or Southeast Asia focus and the final MRP should be 50-60 pages in length, with analysis beyond a regular seminar paper. Important: the length requirements of the CESEAS MRP may be different than that of the course offered in your home department. Please contact ai.asianstudies@utoronto.ca prior to enrolment to confirm that the course is eligible for CESEAS credit and to have your MRP topic preapproved.
If such a course is not offered in your home department, you may enrol in the Independent Research course offered by the CESEAS program, ASI1001H:
ASI1001H: Independent Research in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies
Students wishing to take this independent research credit in order to work on their major research paper must find an appropriate faculty member willing to supervise them, and fill out the Research/Reading Course Form and submit it to our Program Advisor, Rebecca (Jiaying) Bi, at ai.asianstudies@utoronto.ca. You can also contact Rebecca if you have questions.
Elective courses offered by the Asian Institute
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ASI4600H-F: Global China and Its Growing Footprints in Asia and Around the World
Wednesday, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Lynette Ong
This course traces the domestic roots of China’s global expansion. The end of “bide your time, hide your strength” era signals a more confident China and an expansionist stance. Intense domestic competition and excess supply have pushed state-owned and private enterprises alike to seek cheaper manufacturing base and consumer markets overseas. However, increased presence of Chinese capital and people have been met with open arms, but also cynicism, and even resistance. This course will examine the rise of Global China, traces the domestic roots of its rise, the implications for its relations with host countries as well as state-society relations in host countries from Asia to elsewhere.
- ASI4140H-S: The Public Event in Asia
Tuesday, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Christoph Emmrich
This upper-level seminar will introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of popular culture in Asia through a focus on public events. Readings about all kinds of performances, including ritual, popular protest, festivals, sports, cinema, television, digital media events, and the performing arts will help students learn methodological tools to interpret the politics and meanings of public culture as it articulates with class, ethnicity, religious community, gender and caste. The course will furthermore familiarize students with a range of theoretical lenses for conceptualizing the different meanings of the “event” and the “public” from a perspective grounded in the histories of South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and their diasporas.
- ASI4900H-S: Digital Futures of Asia
Wednesday, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Irene Poetranto
This course is designed for senior undergraduate students who wish to enhance their knowledge of Asia’s adoption of the Internet and digital tools, and how these tools and systems are reshaping Asian societies, including their politics, culture, and social movements. We will study how governments in the region regulate information flows online and experiment on new technologies that have the potential to either curtail or encourage public participation. This course will also examine the private sector’s outsized role in our digital economy and its consequences for human rights and good governance. Finally, we will shed light on the role of the Internet as a site of contestation, where representation, dissent, and resistance are developed and negotiated. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify and distinguish the range of actors, institutions, and policies that constitute our global network society, and understand Asia’s impact on the future of technology. There are no exams in this course. Coursework includes a quiz, a presentation, discussion board posts, essays, and class participation. Assignments in the course are designed to help students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills, and learn how to write to different audiences.
2024-25 Elective courses offered by other departments
In addition to ASI courses, CESEAS students may enrol in courses relevant to the East and Southeast region offered by other departments at the University of Toronto, some of which are listed below. Please check with individual departments for eligibility and enrolment procedures in August for the upcoming academic year. CESEAS cannot guarantee students a space in courses offered by other departments.
Other courses not listed below might also meet the requirements, provided that they have strong Asia content. If you have another course in mind, please contact ai.asianstudies@utoronto.ca for pre-approval.
East Asian Studies
Please visit the East Asian Studies website for course descriptions and details on how to enrol as a non-departmental student.
- EAS1430H-F: Hong Kong Cinema and Adaptation (C. Song)
- EAS1475H-F: Contemporary Cultural Theories (M. Cho)
- EAS2020H-F: Critical Approaches to East Asia (Y. Meng)
- COL5101H-F: Diasporic Cities: Itinerant Narratives Of Metropoles By Travellers And Expatriates (A. Sakaki)
- COL5132H-F: One Philosopher, One Artist (E.Cazdyn)
- EAS1336H-S: Memory, Trauma, History (L.Yoneyama)
- EAS1531H-S: Ocean Media: Islanding, Space, Modernity (E.Huang)
Global Affairs
Please visit the Master of Global Affairs courses page for course descriptions and details on how to enrol as a non-departmental student.
- GLA2097H-S: Topics in Global Policy II: Chinese Politics beyond the Headlines (D.Fu)
- GLA2092H-S: Topics in Global Affairs III: Navigating a "New Middle East"( Intensive Course) (A. Lalani)
History
Please visit the History Department website for course descriptions and details on how to enrol as a non-departmental student.
- HIS1673H-S: Critical Historiography of Late Imperial and Modern China (L.Chen)