This course aims to introduce students to understanding Asia in the contemporary world via five core themes that will be addressed through a combination of lectures and related films. Each theme will be handled across one two-week module, traversing both Northeast and Southeast Asia in terms of geographical focus. One of the two weeks of each module will involve the film screening and a question and answer session after the screening. The other week will be allocated to a lecture that presents key concepts, provides context, introduces the main debates, and links all of these to the respective film.. Tutorials will be reserved for close readings of assigned texts. The themes to be covered are as follows: 1)Nationalism & Militarism; 2) Culture and Relationships; 3) Ideology and Social Change; 4) Affluence and Inequality; and 5) Religion and Cultural Beliefs.