DLSU promotes ASEAN awareness via online syllabi

ASEAN University Network (AUN) Executive Director Supachai Yavaprabhas called on AUN members, among them De La Salle University-Manila, to introduce the ASEAN Studies Program in their course curriculum.

Yavaprabhas invited university presidents to refer to the syllabi on ASEAN Studies now available online, via the special website http://aunvirtualu.dlsu.edu.ph hosted by DLSU, the Philippines’ representative school to AUN. The syllabi were developed to provide a common curriculum to facilitate the exchange of students and faculty.

Designed by content specialists from several ASEAN member countries, the syllabi cover six core courses that promote awareness and understanding of the history, as well as the economic, functional, and cultural activities and external relations of the ASEAN as an organization.

The course on ASEAN Economic Cooperation will chronicle the evolution of the ASEAN as an economic organization and describe and analyze its major programs of both intra and extra-ASEAN economic cooperation. It will study and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the ASEAN as an economic entity, including the prospects for its development.

Another course, the ASEAN Functional Cooperation, will discuss the implications, possibilities, and limitations of functional cooperation among ASEAN members. The thematic content each week will look at a range of related issues and concerns on cooperation, such as international and regional discourses, science and technology, environment, culture and information, social development, drugs and narcotics control, civil service matters, and a united ASEAN.

Regionalism and Regional Organizations in Southeast Asia will offer a comparative study of the process of regionalism and regional organizations in Southeast Asia and Europe. A comparative approach is required to capture different perspectives on regionalism to equip students with an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of regional development against an international backdrop.

At the same time, the course on ASEAN: Institutional Structure and Decision-Making will give a comprehensive view of how the ASEAN works as an international-regional organization. The course seeks to deepen understanding of the problems and dilemma facing the ASEAN, especially those related to its institutional structure and decision-making process. It also seeks to examine the possibility of improving the ASEAN’s performance by reforming its organizational structure.

The course on Political and Security Cooperation in ASEAN will emphasize the importance of politics and elite cooperation as an important ingredient for a successful region of stability and harmony that will in turn support economic development. Common policies adopted to enhance multilateral cooperation for peace and stability will be studied. Bilateral and multilateral security cooperation will also be considered, taking into account the broader definitions of security rather than mere military threats to governing regimes.

ASEAN External Relations will cover the external linkages of ASEAN. An in-depth study of ASEAN’s external relations will provide insights on the efforts of ASEAN countries to strengthen their collective international influence.