ANTHR 2520 - [Ten Thousand Islands: Indonesia in Historical and Contemporary Perspective]

(crosslisted)
(also ASIAN 2253 ) (GB) (CA-AS)

Spring. 3 credits.

Next offered 2013-2014.

M. Welker.

Indonesia beckons travelers and scholars alike with its colorful history and rich cultural and biological diversity. Across the archipelago, Indonesians speak hundreds of languages and make their livelihoods in a complex geography that ranges from sandy beaches and mangrove swamps to glacier-topped mountains and crowded urban centers. The world’s fourth most populous country – with the world’s largest Muslim population – Indonesia also attracts the attention of international policymakers, development experts, and business elites. Drawing together faculty from Anthropology, History, Government, Linguistics, Ethnomusicology, and History of Art, this course will explore Indonesia’s internal dynamics as well as how its resources and location at a maritime crossroads enmesh the country in global processes of production, circulation, and exchange of material goods and ideas.