Research on South-East Asia in Austria: Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna

Abstract

Asia has witnessed dynamic economic, demographic, and social transformations during the last few decades. Especially India and several countries in East and SouthEast Asia have already become important global players, while only a few decades ago most of them were considered to be backward and dominated by agriculture. Increasingly complex economic interrelationships between the more developed countries and the so-called Asian newly industrialised countries (NICs), as well as the soaring attractiveness of developing (mass) tourism destinations, have led to a growing demand for regional experts, for example as consultants on economic matters, politics, international development co-operation, tourism, or mass media. For these reasons, at the Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, we offer the possibility of specialising in ‘development studies/development co-operation’ within the ‘Master of Geography/Regional Research’ curriculum. We provide a regional focus on Asia, especially South-East Asia. Geographical research on Asia at the University of Vienna started about one hundred years ago. Until the 1970s, however, geographical studies mainly focused on the Middle and the Near East. Starting at the beginning of the 1980s, the Department