Surain Subramaniam, Ph.D.

Contact Information

• surain@unca.edu
• 232-2409
• 212 Zeis Hall

Surain Subramaniam earned his interdisciplinary BA in International Studies & Political Economy from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and his MA and PhD in International Studies from the University of South Carolina. He has taught at UNC Asheville since 2001.

Subramaniam teaches interdisciplinary courses in International Studies and Asian Studies.  He also teaches courses in the Arts & Ideas, Humanities, Honors, and Master of Liberal Arts programs, as well as in the Integrative Liberal Arts curriculum.

His research interests are in the areas of democratization in Southeast Asia, specifically in Malaysia and Singapore; challenges to liberal democratic governance from rising non-Western societies; and the effects of globalization on Asia.

Subramaniam received the Distinguished Teaching Award in the Social Sciences in 2005, and the University Distinguished Service Award in 2012.

He served on the Board of Directors of ASIANetwork (2014-2017), and currently serves on the Editorial Board of ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal of Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts.

Education

• Ph.D. International Studies, University of South Carolina
• M.A. International Studies, University of South Carolina
• B.A. Political Economy & International Studies, Muhlenberg College

Teaching

• ARTS: The Asian Imagination in the 21st Century
• INTS: Introduction to Global Studies
• INTS: Asia in the 21st Century
• INTS: Globalization: An Interdisciplinary Study
• INTS: Southeast Asia in the New Global Era
• INTS: Capstone in International Studies
• INTS: Senior Colloquium
• INTS: Senior Thesis in International Studies
• INTS: Undergraduate Research in International Studies
• HUM: The Individual in the Contemporary World
• LA:  Senior Capstone

Selected Research and Publications

• China's Peaceful Rise: Perceptions, Policy and Misperceptions by Christopher Herrick, Zheya Gai, Surain Subramaniam (Manchester University Press, September 2016). Excerpts: "China and the developmental state"; "China and global democracy"
• "When does 'politics' get in the way of development?: the developmental state, good governance, and liberal democratic change in Malaysia and Singapore," in Law and Development of Middle-Income Countries: Avoiding the Middle-Income Trap, edited by Randall Peerenboom and Tom Ginsburg (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
• Book Review, Student Activism in Malaysia, Berita (newsletter of the Malaysia/ Singapore/Brunei Studies Group, Association for Asian Studies), Autumn 2012, pages 12-15.
• "Assessing Political Dynamics in Contemporary Malaysia: Implications for Democratic Change," ASIANetwork Exchange, Volume 19, Number 1 (January 2012) pp. 42–52. Published by ASIANetwork.
• "The Dual Narrative of "Good Governance: Lessons for Understanding Political and Cultural Change in Malaysia and Singapore" Contemporary Southeast Asia. Volume. 23, Number 1 (April 2001), pp. 65-80. Published By: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
• Review of "Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context" Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs, March 2006, Volume. 28 Issue: Number 3 p. 531-534. Published By: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
• "The Asian Values Debate: Implications for the Spread of Liberal Democracy" Asian Affairs: An American Review. Volume. 27, Number 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 19-35. Published By: Taylor & Francis.