Southeast Asia is an 11-country region of 600 million people that includes 250 million Muslims, 170 million Buddhists, and 120 million Christians. It is at the forefront and center of a host of global social, political, environmental and public health problems and issues including the following: ethnic and religious diversity and conflict; economic and social transition; democratization and terrorism; human, women's and children's rights; labor standards and international migration; avian flu, SARS and AIDS; environmental degradation from rapid urban-industrial and agrarian development; and technological growth and globalization and their associated cultural and artistic transformations, particularly among youth who are growing up in a drastically different world than their parents and grandparents did. This course comprises a coordinated set of guest lectures by U-M faculty from a variety of LSA departments (Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology) and professional schools (Business, Law, Natural Resources, Public Health, Urban Planning), with presentations, readings and class assignments designed to form a cohesive whole. The lectures will be interactive, with sufficient time for discussion and in-class projects.

Course work will include a specially developed set of materials focused on the lives of 12 university-age men and women in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. These young people will be available at times during the course to communicate with enrolled students via some form of internet connection (email, bulletin boards, chat or video conference) to allow for a direct exchange of ideas between U-M students and our partners in Southeast Asia.

Intended audience: Lower-level undergraduates from across the University: LSA, School of Business, Ford School, School of Natural Resources, etc.

Course Requirements: Three 5-page papers, in-class projects, participation in discussion, attendance in class, short reading assignments with reflections and questions.