Module manager: Martin Seeger
Email: m.seeger@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is approved as a discovery module
This module explores the construction of Thai national identity and the transformation of the Kingdom of Siam into modern Thailand. It examines contemporary debates on historical interpretation, using Thai films and various texts to analyse the making and sustaining of national identity. The module highlights how history and tradition are shaped by selection and (re)creation. It also investigates the impact of Thai historiography on Thailand’s relations with Southeast Asian nations.
This module will enable students to:
- Gain an overview of Thai history, with a particular emphasis on the period after 1851.
- Develop skills to search for, identify, select, and evaluate relevant materials in the study of Thai and Burmese history and social phenomena in modern Thailand.
- Explore various narratives on the emergence of the Thai nation.
- Discuss and analyse in detail various debates about Thai historiography.
- Approach Thai history critically and empathetically.
- Develop skills in interpreting various sources on Thai history, such as films on the Thai-Burmese wars and Thai school textbooks.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1- Identify and discuss prominent academic debates on nationalism and the emergence of nation-states.
2- Identify and explain key features of the emergence of the modern Thai nation-state.
3- Draw informed conclusions about Thai historiography from a variety of media.
4- Recognise and discuss topics and issues in Thailand’s relations with other Southeast Asian nations, with an understanding of cultural contexts.
5- Search for, identify, select, and evaluate relevant materials for the study of Thai history and society.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
6- Communicate ideas concisely, effectively and coherently in writing.
7- Recognise and reflect upon cultural contexts.
The syllabus may include the following topics:
- Nation, nationalism and nation-state: four definitions of nationalism
- Introduction to Thai history writing.
- Overview of Thai history: pre-Sukhothai period, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya (the social morphology during the Ayutthaya period), Thonburi period, early Bangkok-era (Rama I, Rama II and Rama III).
- King Mongkut and the West; King Chulalongkorn 'The Great'
- Rama VI: 'nation-monarchy-religion'; What is ‘modernization'?
- Pre-modern Thai Society and State;
- How Siam became Thailand
- The Ramkhamhaeng Stone Inscription controversy.
- 'Siam Mapped': how a new technology of mapping influenced Thai conceptions of nationhood
- Language standardization and the nation.
- The Thai-Burma relationship;
- The creation of an 'enemy' ('satru'); new Nationalism as a reaction to the 1997 economic crisis: cinema and the construction of national identity (Thai films: 'Bangrajan', 'Suriyothai' and 'Anna and the King').
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Practical | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Seminar | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Private study hours | 174 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 26 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Engaging with students during the seminars will allow teaching staff to monitor students' progress and give feedback. Students will have the opportunity to receive individual formative feedback on their understanding and academic progress during module contact hours, especially during seminar sessions. Students will receive summative feedback on their reflective essay, which will help them to identify academic strengths and weaknesses before they need to submit their essay. Students will also be encouraged to attend the module leader’s office in order to receive additional feedback on their academic performance in class and progress. In addition, during the two workshop sessions (on academic writing and the reflective essay), students will be able to gain additional formative feedback. These sessions will also allow them to discuss feedback that students from previous years received on their essays and reflective essays.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Essay | 50 |
| Coursework | Reflective Essay | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 25/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team