Tina Harris

The Master programme in Contemporary Asian Studies (CAS) is particularly unique in that it is a one-year interdisciplinary Social Science programme, where the thesis is based on three months of intensive field research. Students from a wide range of subfields - media studies, history, cultural studies, business, sociology, human geography, economics, anthropology, journalism, etc. – join together in the first semester in courses on Social Science theory, Asian regions, and research methods, and then work independently during a fieldwork period centered on some aspect of contemporary Asia. From a lecturer's point of view, it is an extremely intense but rewarding year.

Many of the positive responses that we hear from former CAS students refer to the close supervisions, the detailed feedback on assignments and theses and general feeling of camaraderie within the programme itself. I might be biased, but the CAS staff members are indeed a dedicated bunch, committed to guiding students through research projects that they can be proud of. In addition to coursework and regular meetings, the programme also offers a number of opportunities for students and staff to discuss Asia-related issues beyond the classroom. Our "Asian Updates" series, for instance, highlights a different visiting lecturer every two weeks to bring CAS both staff and students up-to-date on contemporary and current events in parts of Asia. Last year, for example, we had lectures on Central Asian politics, recent Chinese cinema, and Papuan land grab issues. 

We also encourage fresh directions in research that reflect the current realities of international mobility and migration in relation to Asia. For example, some of our students have worked on research topics such as Filipina workers who migrate to Thailand, or Chinese oil executives in Zambia. Over the years, my own work has fit in very nicely with the agenda of the CAS programme, allowing for valuable conversations with students on the development of their own ideas for their theses. Recently, I have investigated transformations in cross-border trade and new border openings between Tibet and India, embodiment and material culture in the changing social milieu of urban Nepal, and am developing a project on the effects of airport infrastructure growth on labour mobility in northeast India and southwest China. Much of my research in the Himalayas - as well as growing up in Asia - has led me to ground my work in Anthropology and Human Geography, always with an eye to contemporary transformations in the political economy of Asia. I find that every year, the CAS programme provides me with fresh and inspiring ideas.