Second Year Seminar I
Course Title: Second Year Seminar I: Dealing with Difference
Course Code: SEM 200
Course Descriptors: DVID, LOGR, DVIC
Credit Hours: 4
Prerequisites:
Course Instructor: Various
Course Dates and Times: See timetable
Course Semester Fall 2025
Office Hours: TBD
Location: Virtual Classroom
Course Description: The four-sequenced seminar courses are part of a one mega-course (16
credits), that share the same objectives and learning outcomes.
In Sophomore Seminar 1, we will explore how difference is socially and
historically constructed, what it can mean to us, and how it can act on
us. We will also ask critical questions exploring what we already know
about differences among humans in today’s world.
The three topics are as follows:
1. Race
We will explore key texts exploring theoretical approaches to race and
racialization including Toni Morrison’s The Origin of Others, Stuart Hall’s
Race, the Floating Signier: What More Is There to Say about “Race”?
, and Edward Said’s Orientalism. We will then put these
theoretical perspectives to work through exploring how racial difference
is constructed and maintained in Myanmar and beyond.
2. Nations, Colonial Legacies, and Borders
In the contemporary world, one of the strongest markers of difference is
the passport we carry, or the nation to which we belong. But what is
national belonging? How is it constructed and maintained? Who gets to
belong to a nation and who is excluded? How do border regimes
reinforce national belonging? In part two of this course, we’ll read
Hannah Arendt and Benedict Anderson, and then ask about how their
work illuminates questions of nationhood and belonging in Myanmar,
and across the world.
3. Gender and Sexuality
Our final topic is gender and sexuality. How are we to understand the
complexities of gender and sexuality in a global context? In the third
part of this course, we will read the work of Judith Butler, and then we
will ask about how differences of gender and sexuality are understood
in our own contexts.
Course Objectives: 1. Introduce students to a range of perspectives and concepts
drawn from contrasting and diverse traditions
2. Promote thoughtful, ethical and mindful global citizenship
3. Allow students to analyze and investigate their own experiences
in the light of contrasting critical perspectives.
4. Challenge students’ own beliefs, identities, and worldviews.
Student learning By the end of the seminar courses, students will be able to:
Outcomes:
1. Analyze competing concepts from diverse traditions.
2. Develop thoughtful, ethical and mindful perspectives in response to
contemporary global challenges.
3. Analyze their beliefs, identities and worldviews critically in the light of
broader theoretical perspectives.
4. Participate in challenging debate and dialogue on the basis of their
own beliefs, identities, and worldviews.
5. Engage creatively with a wide variety of texts and cultural artifacts.
6. Articulate concepts and ideas in a persuasive, concise, and cohesive
manner.
Class Topics & Readings: Themes: gender, race, class, cultural difference, debate, identity,
minority perspectives, colonialism, indigeneity, and migration
Throughout the semester, we will explore the following three topics.
Topic 1 : Race
Core Texts:
Morrison, T., & Coates, T.-N. (2017). The origin of others. Harvard
university press. (PERLEGO)
Hall, S. (Eds.). (2021). Race, the Floating Signifier: What More Is There
to Say about “Race”? [1997]. In S. Hall, Selected Writings on Race and
Difference (pp. 359–373). Duke University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478021223-023 (PERLEGO)
Edward Said, Orientalism (Introduction) (PDF)
Additional Readings (Optional):
Ikeya, C. (2020). Belonging Across Religion, Race, and Nation in
Burma-Myanmar. In Z. L. Rocha & P. J. Aspinall (Eds.), The Palgrave
International Handbook of Mixed Racial and Ethnic Classification (pp.
757–778). Springer International Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22874-3_40 (PERLEGO)
Topic 2: Nations, Colonial Legacies, and Borders
Core Texts:
Hannah Arendt (2024). The Origins of Totalitarianism. Chapter 9.
Mariner Classics (PERLEGO).
Anderson, Benedict. (2016). Imagined communities: Reflections on the
origin and spread of nationalism (Revised edition). Verso. (PERLEGO)
Additional Readings (Optional):
Michael Dunford, "Indigeneity, ethnopolitics, and taingyinthar: Myanmar
and the global Indigenous Peoples’ movement." Journal of Southeast
Asian Studies* (2019), 50(1), 51-67. doi:10.1017/S0022463419000043
(PDF)
Micah F. Morton, The Rising Politics of Indigeneity in Southeast Asia
(ISEAS Publishing 2017) (PDF)
Topic 3: Gender & Sexuality
Core Texts:
Butler, J. (2007). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of
identity (Repr. [der Ausg. 1999]). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203824979 (PERLEGO)
Additional Readings (Optional):
1. Jessica Harriden, The Authority of Influence: Women and Power
in Burmese History (Nias Press 2012) (PDF)
2. Do Muslim Women Need Saving? (PERLEGO)
3. Hpyo's choice: activism or mediumship? a gay person's
dilemma in contemporary Myanmar / Bénédicte Brac de La
Perrière (PDF)
4. Andaya, L. Y. (2018). The Bissu: Study of a Third Gender in
Indonesia. In A. Zamfira, C. de Montlibert, & D. Radu (Eds.),
Gender in Focus (1st ed., pp. 64–87). Verlag Barbara Budrich.
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvddzn5f.5 (PDF)
Attendance Policy, Students are required to attend 90% of all class sessions. Absence can
Participation and only be excused if students request prior permission from the
Academic Integrity: instructor, who, if the absence is excused, will provide make-up
assignments.
Attendance and Participation account for 15% of the final grade (see
“Grading”).
Please see the Parami Attendance and participation policy and
Attendance and participation procedure.
Grading:
Criteria Percentage (out of 100%)
Attendance & Participation 15%
Comprehension Assignments 15%
Mid-term paper 20%
Individual Presentation(s) 20%
Final Paper 30%
● Comprehension Assignments (using Quizzes, Perusall etc.) - at
discretion of the instructor with a total of 15%
● Mid-term paper - Paper of approx 1200 to 1500 words in
response to essay prompt
● Individual Presentations — individual presentations on a topic
of the student’s choice, synthesizing and presenting an idea
from the course.
● Final Paper — Final paper of approx 1500 to 2000 words in
response to essay prompts.
