Anthropology has a fraught and complex history within South Asia. Many of its techniques of knowledge production were honed within the colonial context. In the postcolonial period, these techniques have been taken up by scholars within the region and beyond to update and challenge long-standing understandings of the region. Much historical and recent scholarship grapples with how one ought to understand the unique nature of the region's forms of culture and social organization, and to place them in relation to modernity and the West. South Asia proves an insistently fruitful case for assessing the universality or provincial nature of Western social theory and to consider the connections between knowledge and power. In this course, students will come to comprehend and assess the history of ethnography and anthropology in India, Pakistan, and other parts of South Asia. Through contemporary ethnographic texts, they will also gain insight into the major social and cultural categories and phenomena that have come to define South Asia today such as caste, kinship and gender, class, nationalism, and popular culture. Throughout, we will consider the politics of representation and knowledge production that are particularly fraught in this postcolonial context.

This course covers the visual culture of India from ancient Indus Valley civilization through Independence. It follows the stylistic, technological, and iconographical developments of painting, sculpture, architecture, and textiles as they were created for the subcontinent's major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. We will examine the relationship between works of art and the political, economic, and social conditions that shaped their production. It will emphasize such themes as religious and cultural diversity, mythology and tradition, and royal and popular art forms. Attention will also be paid to colonialism and the close relationship between collecting, patronage, and empire.

This course explores the treatment of various types of love – for the beloved, the family, the community, the motherland, or the divine – in Indian cinema, the largest film industry in the world. We examine Indian cinema's early phase in the colonial milieu, its flourishing in popular and art films since the 1950s, and the contributions of diaspora Indians. We will watch films by prominent directors of the postcolonial era who articulated India’s national identity as well as the socio-religious and political aspirations of its common people, integrating indigenous sacred symbolism. We will consider how several films reflect a religious sensitivity in portraying the motherland almost as a divine entity worthy of worship. Paying particular attention to the distinctive grammar of song, dance, and intense drama, we will analyze the ways in which the film-makers reworked long-prevailing South Asian conventions of narration and performance in a medium imported from Europe. 

This course examines the history of interaction of Africans, Arabs, Persians, and South Asians in the coastal regions of East Africa, the Arabian/Persian Gulf, and India, which together enclose the western Indian Ocean. In the period under study (1500 to the present), European imperial expansion and a globalizing economy played an increasingly transformative role. We will read about the port cities connecting these shores; the movements and networks of people; the objects and patterns of trade; the intensifying slave trade; shared environmental and health hazards, and the exchange of legal and commercial practices, and religious and political ideas.

This course examines the history of interaction of Africans, Arabs, Persians, and South Asians in the coastal regions of East Africa, the Arabian/Persian Gulf, and India, which together enclose the western Indian Ocean. In the period under study (1500 to the present), European imperial expansion and a globalizing economy played an increasingly transformative role. We will read about the port cities connecting these shores; the movements and networks of people; the objects and patterns of trade; the intensifying slave trade; shared environmental and health hazards, and the exchange of legal and commercial practices, and religious and political ideas.

An introduction to the most widely spoken language in the South Asian subcontinent, which is also used extensively for interregional and international communications. Learning this language provides a linguistic passport to things South Asian. The language, often referred to as "Hindustani", is written in two different scripts: the Perso-Arabic-based Urdu, and the Sanskrit-based Devanagari (Hindi). Students will learn to converse in the language and to read and write in both scripts. Conventional teaching materials will be supplemented by popular songs and clips from contemporary Indian cinema and television, the two internationally popular media that use this language.

Continuation of the introduction to the most widely spoken language in the South Asian subcontinent, which is also used extensively for interregional and international communications. Learning this language provides a linguistic passport to things South Asian. The language, often referred to as "Hindustani", is written in two different scripts: the Perso-Arabic-based Urdu, and the Sanskrit-based Devanagari (Hindi). Students will learn to converse in the language and to read and write in both scripts. Conventional teaching materials will be supplemented by popular songs and clips from contemporary Indian cinema and television, the two internationally popular media that use this language.

Intermediate Hindi/Urdu will build on the reading, writing, and speaking skills acquired in Elementary Hindi/Urdu (HNUR 101-HNUR 102). The readings, drawn from simple literary texts as well as from social and journalistic writings, will reinforce the grammar learned in the introductory course and introduce new grammar topics. The writing exercises, mainly in essay formats, will stress usage of idioms and sentence constructions by students. The class will be conducted in Hindi/Urdu with a part of every class dedicated to conversation on the theme of the day in the language.

Intermediate Hindi/Urdu will build on the reading, writing, and speaking skills acquired earlier.The readings, drawn from simple literary texts as well as from social and journalistic writings, will reinforce the grammar learned in the introductory course and introduce new grammar topics. The writing exercises, mainly in essay formats, will stress usage of idioms and sentence constructions by students. The class will be conducted in Hindi/Urdu with a part of every class dedicated to conversation on the theme of the day in the language.

Hindu thinkers in all historical periods have interpreted the classics of Hindu spirituality and ethics within the tradition for their own times. Do these texts have contemporary relevance? Do they offer spiritual inspiration for individuals and ethical norms for a healthy society for our times? How have these been interpreted by modern thinkers? We will examine a few major Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita from ancient times, and the lives and lyrics of saintly poets from pre-modern times, as primary texts as well as their modern interpretations. We will also look at uses and abuses of the texts in social and political arenas. Most of these texts are structured in a question-answer format, reflecting the spirit of questioning and dialogue prevalent in the contexts of their composition. Our examination will follow suit.

Mystifying and complex, the figure of the courtesan has appeared as the foil to the virtuous and docile wife in Sanskrit and Tamil classics of ancient India, early Urdu novels, and literary works of several South Asian languages. Since the mid-twentieth century, the courtesan has appeared in films produced in South Asia as a self-sacrificing character with a strong will. In this course, we will examine literary works in South Asian languages since antiquity with courtesans as central characters and films based on them. For each work, we will first consider the figure of the courtesan in view of the cultural context of the time of its composition and various theories of literary criticism. We will then analyze the film based on the work in terms of how the interpretation of the character here compares with the literary work.

South Asia is one of the most religiously diverse regions of the world where Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Christian, Jewish, and native traditions have co-existed for centuries. The vibrancy of its cultural life derives greatly from artistic expressions of devotion in its multiple traditions. Yet, the sacred artistic expressions are not limited to the sphere of religion. This course explores visual as well as performative sacred art forms of South Asia including architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and dance from a historical perspective. The exploration focuses on symbolic vocabulary of various art forms, their significance as media of religious/spiritual knowledge, and their role as sites of social encounters.

As a world region, South Asia provides an important locus to understand the dynamics of religion and modernity because of its long religious history and immense diversity. In many parts of South Asia, encounter with modernity (as broadly defined) occurred in the context of colonial rule. The nature of the early processes of modernization continues to impact the social and religious fabric of the region even today, often with deeply divisive implications. This seminar will examine processes related to religion in South Asia since the late 19th century to the present day. Along with the historical survey of events within South Asia, the implications of current world affairs and the processes of globalization for South Asia's religious landscape will also be examined.

Narratives have long provided channels for shaping and reshaping of cultures around the world. South Asia has one of the largest collections of folktales, mythology, epics, and romances in the world. This course will explore traditional narratives from South Asia that have had significant cultural impact in the region. We will examine them in translations not only as channels for transmission of cultural values, but also as sites of debate through contested interpretations. Along with texts, performative traditions based on them and their use in identity politics will be discussed.

If any mention of South Asian culture conjures for you Bollywood films, Bharatanatyam dancers, and Google engineers, then this course will prompt you to reconsider. Adopting a sociological perspective that examines culture from the specific context of migration, we will study the histories of Punjabi-Mexican families in California, Gujarati motel owners across the United States, South African Indians at the end of apartheid, and Bangladeshi garment workers in London’s East End, among others. Through our study, we develop a nuanced understanding of race, culture, migration, and upward mobility in the United States and beyond, while also considering the power of mobile South Asian cultures, including movies, music, dance, and religion.

Independent (half-credit) research project supervised by a faculty member.