Spring semester subjects on Asia and Middle East

This semester several exciting subjects related to Asia and the Middle East will be taught in both Estonian and English. The list of subjects in English is following:

New subject! HVUS.06.012 The Unsolved Issues in MENA countries
Lecturer: Elo Süld
Guest lecturers: employees of Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The subject aims to introduce students to MENA countries through problems and practical issues. Regionally, North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula are considered. The focus of the subject is on current and recent history, and especially on the politics and humanitarian crises of different countries. The lectures are given by various foreign policy specialists and the topics are discussed from the perspective of practitioners, including diplomats. The subject is held in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, University of Tartu Asia Centre and the Department of Contemporary History

New subject! HVKU.04.022 Communities at the margins: folk religion and supernatural beliefs in contemporary Mongolia, Sikkim and China
Lecturers: Alevtina Solovyeva, Kikee Doma Bhutia, Valentina Punzi
The course introduces historiographical, theoretical and comparative approaches to lived religious traditions in three regions, focusing on case studies from China, Mongolia, and Sikkim. The course uses analytical categories and toolkit of folkloristics to discuss folk religion and supernatural as both subjective experiences and culturally endorsed categories that emerge through a variety of complicit relations and processes. The aim is to engage the negotiation of ethnicity and belonging in marginal communities, i.e. social, political, economical, ideological, religious, in different national contexts in Asia.

New subject! SVJS.00.027 China and the world
Lecturer: Robert Weatherley
A student who has successfully passed this course will have demonstrated an understanding of: 1) the rationale behind China's foreign policy making in both the traditional and modern era; 2) the factors influencing the content of Chinese foreign policy from an strategic, domestic and regime legitimation perspective; 3) the key sticking points in China's key bilateral relations

HVUS.06.006 Society, Religion and Politics in the Contemporary Middle East
Lecturer: Elo Süld, Maili Vilson, Anu Põldsam, Helen Haas, Vladimir Sazonov
The main objectives of the course are to:

give a review of different political models in Middle East and North Africa,
describe the dynamics of Middle Eastern and North African political regimes and movements and their peculiarities,
assess current changes in political and social settings of Islamic societies and the role of religion in them,
substantiate the correspondence of political and social outcomes and cultural and religious reasons.

HVLC.08.020 Arabic for Beginners II, Level A1.1 > A1.2
Lecturer: Imar Yacine Koutchoukali
Students who successfully complete the course are able to express themselves in Arabic using language tools appropriate to A1.2 level

HVLC.08.012 Chinese for Beginners I (on the Basis of English), Level 0 > A1.1
Lecturer: Mart Tšjernuk
After passing the course, students (1) know and are able to practice the principles of the Chinese pronunciation on the basis of pinyin phonetic alphabet; (2) know the rules of writing of Chinese characters and are able to write them in the correct way; (3) are able to communicate in Chinese to establish contact and exchange polite expressions in different situations.

HVLC.08.013 Chinese for Beginners I (on the Basis of English), Level A1.1 > A1.2
Lecturer: Mart Tšjernuk
After passing the course, the students can:
communicate in Chinese at the elementary level, read adapted texts, write ca 500 characters of everyday use.

SVJS.00.002 Political Development in East and Southeast Asia
Lecturers: Chueiling Shin
This course will approach the political development in East and Southeast Asia since the 20th Century from comparative politics perspective. It will serve as a core course for understanding the politics in the region, putting it into the context of democratic development alongside cultural and historical specificities, ethnic and social cleavages, and economic development. The course explores whether there exists an alternative to democratization.

FLLC.08.008 Korean History (on the Basis of English)
Lecturers: Jung Ran Park
This course will seek to provide students a broad understanding of Korean history, By doing so, it is hoped that students will gain an appreciation of the diversity of Korean history and the various people who lived it.

HVLC.08.016 Korean for Beginners I (on the Basis of English), Level 0 > A1.1
Lecturers: Jung Ran Park
This course aims to develop basic linguistic skills in Korean. Students will learn and practice fundamental vocabulary and grammar in order to talk about their daily life. They will understand and use Korean better by carrying out simple communicative activities and tasks.

HVLC.08.017 Korean for Beginners II (on the Basis of English), Level A1.1 > A1.2
Lecturers: Jung Ran Park
This course aims to develop basic linguistic skills in Korean. Students will learn and practice fundamental vocabulary and grammar in order to talk about their daily life. They will understand and use Korean better by carrying out simple communicative activities and tasks.

HVLC.08.018 Korean for Beginners II (on the Basis of English), Level A1.2 > A2.1
Lecturers: Jung Ran Park
This course aims to develop speaking skills in Korean language by focusing on general topics of daily life.

HVLC.08.020 Arabic for Beginners II, Level A1.1 > A1.2
Lecturers: Imar Yacine Koutchoukali
This course will develop basic linguistic skills in Arabic from level A1.1> A1.2

VMJ.07.004 Asia and Pacific Business
Lecturers: Peter J. Hwang, Gaygysyz Ashyrov
The general aim of the course is to provide knowledge about the changing role of Asian economies in the world economy and create skills needed to operate in the globalised economy. The objective is to develop for students a basic knowledge about the international business, with the clear focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Course gives understanding about the business environment, business models and practices applied by Asian firms.

Further information is found in SIS.