Program Overview

University Programs

The university offers a range of programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education options.

Academic Programs

• Undergraduate programs
• Graduate programs
• Continuing education (SUTD Academy)
• 42 Singapore

Pillars, Clusters, and Programmes

The university is organized into several pillars, clusters, and programs, including:

• ASD: Architecture and Sustainable Design
• DAI: Design and Artificial Intelligence
• EPD: Engineering Product Development
• ESD: Engineering Systems and Design
• HASS: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
• ISTD: Information Systems Technology and Design
• SMT: Science, Mathematics and Technology

Course Details

One of the courses offered is "Kings, monks, and merchants: A history of Asia before 1750". This course is a connected and comparative history of Asia before 1750 that introduces students to the region's major political, economic, and intellectual contours prior to British colonisation.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will identify and describe some of Asia's major empires, trading zones, and religious formations before British colonisation.
2. Students will analyse the changing nature of Asian regionality based on Asia's connected political, economic and religious history in premodernity.
3. Students will be able to compare different transregional formations across premodern Asia and formulate general, comparative theories about their historical development.

Measureable Outcomes

1. Students will be able to recollect key historical facts about Asian history during weekly quizzes.
2. Students will create digital, annotated maps of the transregional political, economic, and religious formations learned about in the course.
3. Students will write a final essay comparing two different empires, trading zones or religious formations covered in the course.

Course Requirement

Assessment | Percentage --- | --- WEC – Class Participation | 19 WEC – Weekly Quizzes | 19 WEC – Mid-term GIC Assignment | 31 WEC – Final Written Exam | 31

Weekly Schedule

The course is divided into three modules:

Module 1: Universal Ambitions (~300 BCE – 600)

• Week 1: Introduction – Course Overview
• Week 2: Early Empires in India and China – The Mauryas and Guptas
• Week 3: Early Religious Formations – Asia's Axial Age
• Week 4: The Silk Road – Establishing the Silk Road

Module 2: Waves, Hordes, and Monks (~600 – 1450)

• Week 5: The Maritime Silk Road – The Tang, Shrivijaya and Chola triangle
• Week 6: Introduction to GIS; Mid-Term Assignment Consultations
• Week 7: Recess Week
• Week 8: The Mongol Exchange – The emergence of the Mongols
• Week 9: Sanskrit Cosmopolis and Theravada Ecumene

Module 3: Converging Worlds (~ 1450 – 1750)

• Week 10: Post-Mongol Empires – The Mughals
• Week 11: Early European Colonialism – Portuguese in Asia
• Week 12: The Expansion of Islam and Christianity
• Week 13: Final Assignment Consultations

Instructor

The course is taught by Alastair Gornall.

Tags

The course is tagged as an Elective / Technical Elective and is part of the HASS program.