Asia and the World

Undergraduate | 2026

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Area/Catalogue
LANG 1002
Course ID icon
Course ID
202589
Level of study
Level of study
Undergraduate
Unit value icon
Unit value
6
Course level icon
Course level
1
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Inbound study abroad and exchange
Inbound study abroad and exchange
The fee you pay will depend on the number and type of courses you study.
Yes
University-wide elective icon
University-wide elective course
Yes
Single course enrollment
Single course enrolment
Yes
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Note:
Course data is interim and subject to change

Course overview

Asia's immense impact on the world over the last 2-3,000 years has often been obscured and is rarely part of Australian common knowledge. Asia and the World provides all students, but especially those doing International Studies and Asian Studies, with a basic introduction to notions of Asia. Many things which are taken for granted as being Western, often have their origins in the East in some way. This influence extends to language, hamburgers, philosophical ideas and ways of illustrating what we see. This influence is not limited to the ancient past. Today Asian pop culture is reshaping Western pop culture and ideas and products from Asia are changing our lives in fundamental ways even if the origins are not obvious. Asia and the World highlights the irony of how reactions to Asia shaped Europe's destiny and how its inventions and ideas have been adapted by Western states and often used to then dominate Asia in the colonial period. The contemporary rise of independent Asian nation states is reviewed and contextualised and the processes which obscure Asian influence are explained. Your view of why Australian/Western history and culture are the way they are may well change the way you see the world.

Prerequisite(s)

N/A

Corequisite(s)

N/A

Antirequisite(s)

N/A