One of the specializations in the Masters' programme is Southeast Asian Studies. The teaching focuses on the analysis of post-colonial transformation processes in Southeast Asia. Specific topics include the emergence of new institutions and stakeholder groups, competition over access to resources, and the interactions between local and global-scale processes that give rise to these phenomena.

Sustainability is an analytical concept, but also the vision of a better and fairer world. What this will look like, for whom and what exactly sustainability will consist of are open questions, calling for political debate and creative endeavour. Sustainable development is the concrete, but no less contested implementation of visions of sustainability in places with specific problems, inhabited by people embedded in specific cultures. In our Chair we address sustainability from a social-ecological perspective, implemented through approaches developed by Feminist Political Ecology. These guide our empirical studies in Asia.  

The Research Seminar prepares students for their master's thesisand guides them through the preparation process. Students learn to elaborate a research question, to embed their question in an appropriate theoretical framework, to identify data sources and data analysis techniques. Supervision is discussed in this class and decided upon afterwards.

If Prof Padmanabhan or Dr Trotier is your supervisor you should arrange appointments with them to meet and discuss your thesis. There is the possibility to have group discussions with other master's degree students working on their theses as part of the supervision.

Possible topics: 

• The Development of a Web Application to Encourage Recycling in La Paz, RECICLAPP
• Impact of Oil Pollution on Gender Roles in the Niger Delta of Nigeria
• Mining and Men in Maruwei – An Empirical Case Study on Mining and the Impact on Masculanities and Gender Relations in Indonesia
• Targeted Sustainable Fishery: Implementation of Marine and Fishery Policies and the Local Practices in Gesing Beach, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
• Aspirations of Young Women: Engaging in Agribusiness in Vietnam – A Case Study in the Central Highlands
• Smallholder Farmers Perceptions on Climate Smart Agriculture Practices in Nawalparasi Disctrict, Nepal

Two classes focus entirely on qualitative research methods. The introductory class introduces methodologies and the different steps and methods to do qualitative research in the context of Development Studies. The advanced class provides students the opportunity to design their own small research project and to present and discuss it in class. Part of this class is a workshop on the data analysis software MAXQDA. Besides the classes, there is a high encouragement for students to conduct fieldwork for their master thesis using qualitative methods.

Bibliography of Asian Studies
Cambridge Journals Digital Archive
OECD.Stat
Rural development abstracts
Social Science Open Access Repository (SSOAR)
Sociological Abstracts
United Nations Terminology Database
World agricultural economics and rural sociology abstracts
World Bank E-Library Archive
World DataBank
World Development Indicators
World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
World Urbanization Prospects
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

1. The research colloquium „Southeast Asian Studies” is offered during the semester every Thursday. Students have to show up at seven sessions every term. Students sign an attendance form at the end of each session. They receive in total 5 credits for a regular attendance, i.e. 3 credits in the first year and 2 credits in the second year for in total 28 attended sessions. The list of sessions attended is established and monitored by Mrs. Susanne Brandl. 

2. Students can alternatively also attend the Research Seminar in Economics (RS ECON). A session of this seminar can substitute for one session of the RQ SOAS. 

3. Students who study abroad are supposed to attend a research seminar at their guest University and hence this term is counted automatically as seven sessions of attendance in Passau. Students need to inform Mrs. Susanne Brandl about their studies abroad including the exact date of departure and return. 

4. Students who are on leave or for any other reason not in Passau (e.g. internship) do not get any credits for the seminar during that time and hence need to earn the necessary credits earlier or later. 

5. Students can accumulate extra sessions during a term by attending more than seven sessions if they know they will be away for an internship later. Likewise they can compensate missing sessions from a previous semester by attending more sessions in a later semester.