Below are five (5) Sessional Lecturer postings in Contemporary Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, in both the fall and spring semesters of 2016-2017 year. See the links below for more detailed information and application instructions.
CAS390H1F: Politics of Development in Asia: Imaginaries and Practices
This course seeks to study development as a powerful project of the human imagination rooted the promises of modernization—for example sanitation, health, urban infrastructure, economic efficiency and ‘structural adjustment,’ among others. At the same time, development is also addressed here as an array of concrete practices enacted in a range of spaces from households to government bureaucracies; practices that make those developmentalist imaginaries everyday realities. This course thus approaches development as a terrain for managing bodies and economies and as a politics of imagining community, self, and culture. In so doing, it attends to both the application of policy and its implications. Asia, a potent imaginary that fuels master narratives of the global future (innovation, financial prowess) and development’s failures (extreme poverty, lack of sanitation, income disparities), is addressed here through a range of on-the-ground studies as well as contributions to critical theories of development.
Estimated course enrolment:Â 50
Schedule: Mondays 2:00-4:00 pm
Sessional dates: September 1- December 31, 2016
CAS310H1: Comparative Colonialisms in Asia
Course description: This course analyzes the impact of colonialism in South, East, and Southeast Asia and the various ways in which pre-colonial traditions intersect with and reshape colonial and postcolonial process across the various regions of Asia. The course will examine the conjunctures of economy, politics, religion, education, ethnicity, gender, and caste, as these have played out over time in the making and re-making of Asia as both idea and place. Attention will be paid to postcolonial and indigenous theories, questions of ‘the colonial’ from the perspective of Asian Studies, and debates about the meaning of postcolonialism for the study of Asia now and in the future.
Estimated course enrolment:Â 60
Schedule: Thursdays 4-6 pm
Sessional dates: September 1- December 31, 2016
CAS370H1F: Asian Cities
Course description: This course offers students a multidisciplinary investigation of urban life in Asia. The thematic focus will be on how the urban intersects with Asian modernities and postcolonial formations. Drawing on recent scholarship in the social sciences, we will examine the realignment of cultural, political, and economic forces associated with Asia’s diverse processes of urbanization. A detailed course description is available upon request. The selected candidate will be asked to consult the course proposal and ensure, in discussion with the Program Director, that the course does not duplicate others offered in Geography, East Asian Studies, Innis College (Urban Studies), and Anthropology.
Estimated course enrolment:Â 50
Schedule: Tuesdays 12:00-2:00 pm
Sessional dates: September 1- December 31, 2016
CAS350H1: Asian Youth Cultures
In focusing on youth in Asia, this course brings together two disputed cultural formations of substantial contemporary importance. Both youth and Asia are increasingly invoked on the global stage in support of a wide range of interests. Examining practices of young people and the idea of youth in the context of Asia requires critical attention to the promises and fears that attach to the rise of Asian economies, international demographic transitions, the growth of a global middle-class, increasing consumption disparities, changing immigration patterns, expanding technological skills, global/local environmental concerns, and young people’s shifting political priorities and loyalties. The course may consider: youth subcultures, styles, music, and politics.
Estimated course enrolment:Â 50
Schedule: Tuesdays 1-3pm
Sessional dates: January 1- April 30, 2017
CAS320H1: Comparative Modernities in Asia
Course description: Since at least the late 1700s, the effects of capitalism across the globe have profoundly transformed the landscapes of human livelihood, consumption, production and governance in Asia. While colonial empires have declined, new empires have emerged, and a growing number of countries have witnessed the rise of nationalism and independent states, social, political and technological revolutions, and most recently neoliberal globalization. This course theorizes and explores these dramatic changes in a comparative framework. It is aimed at students wishing to better understand the great transformations of modern Asia in a global context.
Estimated course enrolment:Â 60
Schedule: Thursdays 4-6pm
Sessional dates: January 1- April 30, 2017