University of Sydney / Faculty of Arts / Department of Indonesian Studies / Undergraduate / Honours

Honours

Honours is a challenging year that allows you to develop your independent research skills and your ability to communicate academically with your peers and the wider research community. Many Honours candidates in Indonesian Studies choose to incorporate a period of fieldwork in Indonesia as part of their Honours project.

The honours program in Indonesian Studies comprises 50 per cent coursework and 50 per cent research thesis. You can begin your Honours program in Semester 1 or 2.

Honours candidates will have fulfilled the faculty requirements for admission into the Honours year. Faculty information on applying for Honours and Honours ethics procedures and due dates can be found at www.arts.usyd.edu.au/current_students/courses/undergraduate/honours.shtml. Candidates in Indonesian studies will have normally also completed one of the following: ASNS2661 History of Modern Indonesia; ASNS2663 Social Activism in Southeast Asia; ASNS2664 Southeast Asia Transformed. They may also have chosen to take ASNS3690 Approaches to Research in Asian Studies as part of their undergraduate study.

Coursework

Honours coursework comprises advanced level Indonesian language studies on topics relevant to your thesis research and an advanced English language unit of study that complements your honours topic. The Indonesian language seminar will be timetabled in Semester 1. The timing of advanced unit of study will depend on the unit selected. Your major assessment piece in the latter will focus on Indonesia.

Thesis

The honours thesis in Indonesian Studies constitutes an original piece of research and writing in a field which is able to be supervised by a member of staff. It amounts to 18,000-20,000 words of writing which may be in English or Indonesian and must demonstrate both a command of a wide range of secondary source material in Indonesian as well as a command of a particular disciplinary or interdisciplinary approach to the topic of the research. Intending students must discuss options for their thesis research with the Chair of Indonesian Studies. well in advance of the commencement of the academic year.

You should download the Honours Handbook for Indonesian Studies. You may also find the A-Z Honours Survival Guide helpful.

Honours topics for 2009

  • Responses to Corruption in Post-Conflict Aceh
  • Indonesia’s Movement for Sustainable Agriculture
  • Being Chinese in Indonesia
  • Understanding Indonesia’s Left
  • Police Responses to Organised Crime in Indonesia
  • Police Responses to Trafficking in Kepulauan Riau

Recent honours theses on Indonesian topics

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