The course content covers social and cultural studies, providing students with an appreciation of current social, political and cultural dynamics in the region, and the relevant historical background. Students will develop the skills required to analyse and interpret the unfolding of current events. 

Basic principles are taught in the foundation module. This starts in the winter semester with the introductory lecture course and is followed in the summer semester by the foundation course on theory and methods. Students must also successfully complete two seminars, selected from range of seminars on specific regions and historical topics that are presented on a regular basis. Students are advised to attend the seminars in parallel to their other studies.

In the assessment module, which follows successful completion of the foundation module, students are required to attend one lecture course and one seminar. Seminar topics focus on current research areas of academic staff. 

As further requirements for the submission of a graduate thesis, students are required to successfully complete one introductory or advanced seminar in the field of Southeast Asian Studies and to demonstrate proficiency (Level A2) in least one Southeast Asia language. 

Theses may be presented in German or English under the supervision of Professor Padmanabhan or Dr. Trotier. Each student has three meetings with their supervisor and these should be arranged well in advance. As part of the process, students are required to present an abstract and outline structure of the thesis to the supervisor for approval. For help in choosing a topic, please review our current research and talk to members of academic staff.  Possible thesis topics include:

• Comparative studies of development policy and process
• Institutional analysis
• Trans- and interdisciplinarity
• Gender studies
• Social ecology, rural development
• Social movements, civil society organizations, activism
• Religion
• Human–nature relations
• Popular culture
• Nationalism and memory

Examples of thesis topics

Bachelor theses

• Reforestation in Vietnam: contesting perceptions and approaches in forest policy since Doi Moi
• China’s role and influence on hydroelectric investment in the Greater Mekong Subregion 
• The short and long-term effect of the 2004 tsunami on tourism in Phuket, Thailand 
• Fair trade as an opportunity for entry into international markets: a potential analysis of selected microenterprises in Yogyakarta, Indonesia 
• Pancasila under strain under Joko Widodo – between electoral strategy and counter-ideology to Islamic extremism  
• Sustainable development through sustainable tourism? An analysis of the Tubbatah Reef National Parks, Philippines 

Master’s theses

• Does the REDD+ Program have transformative potential for reducing deforestation and improving forest governance in Indonesia? A discourse analytical perspective 
• Facing the 14th general election in Malaysia. Which forms of raising awareness do exist and how is the process influenced by the civil society in Malaysia? 
• Civic ecology practice in Cambodia. Impacts and challenges of the Koh Rong Ecological Alliance