Taken AY2014/2015 Semester 1
HY1101E: Asia and the Modern World
This is a compulsory module for anyone interested in majoring in History. However, I took this module with the intention of fulfilling my FASS requirements. Those who have taken H2 History in JC will have an advantage, but only in the sense that they are more accustomed to the demands of history essays, but as long as you have a strong command of language + argumentative skills, you should be fine. Looking back, I really regret my decision to choose this module, and you’ll soon come to know why. Generally, I found this module to be very taxing (for an introduction module at least), in terms of workload and content. If you are truly interested in History, you’ll have a great time I suppose, but my warning to those who are merely looking to fulfil FASS requirements: do not choose this.
The module consists of 2 lectures per week (2h each), with no tutorials. However, do not rejoice just yet. There are “online tutorials”, aka internet forum discussions hosted on IVLE. These online discussions actually took up way more of my time than a normal real-life tutorial session would, which really sucked. As for the lectures, there are no webcasts, so try not to skip any. Solely relying on the lecture notes would be insufficient, as a significant amount of what the lecturer says is not included in the slides. The lectures are split into East Asia + South Asia and South East Asia. Personally, I preferred the lecturer for East Asia, as despite her accent, she was able to deliver her lectures in a clear and concise manner. The other lecturer for South Asia and South East Asia was more long winded, and a lot more less concise.
Assessment
Internet discussion: 20%
Exam type: 1 essay + 4 identification qns
2 tri-term tests: 25% each
Finals: 30%
As stated above, the internet discussions require a SIGNIFICANT amount of effort. Depending on your group, people might take it very seriously. Unfortunately, my group was full of those kind of people. The term “discussion” might bring to mind a collection of short responses, but that is not the case at all. At least for my group, people posted essay-length responses, which was very frightening and stressful. In order to prepare for the discussion, I had to spend at least 2-3h to craft my “response” (read: essay), especially when others have written infinitely long essays that appeared to have covered all grounds already. As such, I suggest that you start preparing immediately when the discussion questions are released, before the forum has opened. This way, you can be the first to post, which would reduce a lot of the headache. Also, try to post at least TWICE for each discussion. Be prepared to spend way more than the usual 1h for this “tutorial”.
There are two tri-term tests instead of midterms (tr-iterm in the sense that 2 “midterms” + 1 finals). Study hard for these as they are 25% each so that you will be less stressed for finals, and make proper study notes so that you can simply refer to your notes for finals preparation. I suggest spending 1h on the essay and 1h on the identification questions (for the identification qn: explain the given historical event/term/person, a brief explanation of who what when where why, plus historical significance of that event/term/person).
For the finals, do try to at least make study notes in advance, as the content is consistently heavy for the entire module i.e. last day cramming will not work. That being said, you don’t have to worry too much for finals if you’ve done consistently ok for the previous two trii-terms.
Workload
The workload for this module is VERY HEAVY. Ridiculously burdensome online discussions, two “midterms” instead of one, and two lectures a week. The content, although interesting, is super heavy. Take this module only if you’re looking to major in history, or if you enjoy a serious challenge.
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