South Asian Studies (SASIAN)

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020
This course offers a broad historical, political, ethnographical and and cultural survey of the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent from the earliest period known to archaeology to the advent of Islam as a major cultural and political force around the 13th century CE. Lectures, readings, and class discussions will center on seminal texts that have influenced South Asian civilizations from the earliest antiquity to the late medieval period. This course is open to all interested students and is required for those majoring or minoring in South Asian Studies.
Introduction to the Civilization of Early India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
This course offers a broad historical and cultural survey of the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent from the 12th century to Partition in 1947. Attention will be paid to the geography and ethnography of the region, its political history, and the religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic movements that have shaped it and contributed to its development as a unique, diverse, and fascinating world civilization. Lectures, readings, and class discussions will center on texts that have characterized major cultural, religious, and political formations from the medieval period to the 20th century. This course is open to all interested students and is required for those majoring or minoring in South Asian Studies.
Introduction to the Civilization of Medieval and Modern India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Reading and composition based on 10 classic works of Indian literature ranging from the ancient Sanskrit epics to modern novels by Indian and western authors. Weekly composition on texts and topics read and discussed in class. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Great Books of India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
Reading and composition in connection with eastern and western representations of India, and other Asian cultures, in great works of modern literature. Satisfies the second half of the reading and composition requirement.
India in the Writer's Eye: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023
This course is a survey of ancient South Asia, from around 2500 BCE to the 10th century CE. Close attention will be paid to the geography and ethnography of the region, its political and economic history, the religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic movements that have shaped it and contributed to its development as a unique, diverse, and fascinating civilization. We will cover broad patterns of historical change in ancient South Asia from the 10th century to the present, major cultural shifts and religious formations that have shaped South Asia over the past thousand-plus years, cultural texts that reflect the history of South Asia, and South Asia’s shifting relations with the world over the longue duree.
Introduction to the Civilizations of Early South Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024
This course is a survey of South Asia from the 10th century to the present. Close attention will be paid to the geography and ethnography of the region, its political and economic history, the religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic movements that have shaped it and contributed to its development as a unique, diverse, and fascinating civilization. Students will study the broad patterns of historical change in South Asia from the 10th century to the present, the major cultural shifts and religious formations that have shaped South Asia over the past thousand-plus years, discuss cultural texts that reflect the history of South Asia and explain South Asia’s shifting relations with the world over the longue duree.
Introduction to Medieval and Modern South Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2017
The course will provide through lecture, discussion and course readings a comprehensive introduction to the major texts, doctrines, beliefs and practices of classical Hinduism from antiquity to modernity. Special emphasis will be placed on Vedic and Āgamic traditions and on the rise and development of the major Hindu saṃpradāyas, including those of Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, Śaktism and Tantrism. Attention will be paid to Hinduism's relationships with non Hindu traditions of South Asia, the rise of political Hinduism and Hinduism in the Indian Diaspora.
Introduction to Hinduism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
This course is an advanced introduction to the major teachings of Indian Buddhism and their philosophical elaborations. We will cover the core tenets attributed to the Buddha, and the later doctrinal and scholastic developments that turned Buddhism into one of the principal philosophical traditions of India. For this we will read select primary sources—in principle, extracts of the scriptures and later treatises—and academic articles and book chapters. Rather than offering a broad introductory survey of Buddhist traditions across space and time, this class is geared towards students who are already familiar with the basics of Buddhism and want to deepen their understanding of the principal teachings of Buddhism originating in India.
Buddhist Thought in India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2020
This course is a broad introduction to the history, doctrine, and culture of the Buddhism of Tibet. We will begin with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century and move on to the evolution of the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist literature, ritual and monastic practice, the place of Buddhism in Tibetan political history, and the contemporary situation of Tibetan Buddhism both inside and outside of Tibet.
Tibetan Buddhism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
The purpose of this course is to examine how gender forms an important critical lens through which South Asia can be studied. Through a focus on literary and visual texts, this course will interrogate how gender forms an important component in the social and cultural construction of the self and community in South Asia through an exploration of perspectives on genders, bodies and sexualities and their historical, cultural and social and political dimensions.
Gender and Sexualities in South Asian Literature and Film: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Fall 2009
Literary works of ancient India are read in English translation and studied critically. The course aims at giving a comprehensive picture of many important areas of the Indian literary heritage.
Classical Indian Literature in Translation: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2022
Lecture and discussion on the novel as it arose on the Indian subcontinent during the 19th and 20th centuries, using English translations and original works in English. Critical discussion of the novel as a modern genre adapted to local conditions and coexisting with older traditions of writing. Examines the novel as a window on Indian modernities. Interpretation of Indian society, culture, and history through literature.
The Novel in India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2022
The period between 600 and 1600 C.E. witnessed the growth of a number of religious traditions that challenged prevailing orthodoxies and reshaped South Asian society and culture. This course will examine the major developments within Hindu traditions, focusing on popular traditions known as bhakti (devotion). Examines the growth and spread of Islam (particularly, Sufism) and the emergence of Sikhism. The focus of readings is on primary sources – poetry, extracts from theological literature, autobiographical narratives etc. These will be supplemented by secondary sources as appropriate.
Religion in Medieval India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021
Lectures and discussion of 19th and 20th century Indian literature through English translations and original works in English. Interpretation of Indian society and culture through literature.
Modern Indian Literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2023
This course provides an overview of one of the world's largest and most beloved
film industries, the popular Hindi cinema produced in Bombay (Mumbai) and consumed around
the world under the label "Bollywood." The films and readings range from the post-
Independence era to the present, with introduction to key films, directors, stars, genres, formal
techniques, and themes. Our readings and viewings allow us to question and discuss the ways
these films reflect and influence the cultures and society from which they emerge. We shall
reflect on our own practices of spectatorship and how we consume and label non-western
cultures and culture industries. Together we'll develop a critical vocabulary to help us analyze
and critique Hindi cinema.
Screening India: Bollywood Cinema: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2008 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2004 10 Week Session, Fall 1996
This course is an introduction to the religions that have their origin on the India subcontinent--Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and tribal religions--as well as those that originated in other regions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Organizing this material chronologically rather than teaching it by separate religious traditions facilitates comparisons and promotes an understanding not only of the differences among these religions but also some of their commonalities in philosophy, theology, and praxis.
Religion in Early India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 1997
This course considers the co-option, reinterpretation and dissemination of sacred texts and religious practices in various political and cultural projects in India during the colonial and post-colonial periods. Students will be introduced to religious “reform” movements, cross-cultural debates during the colonial period, and how the concept of a secular state in post-Independence India has shaped and continues to shape religious practice and public policy. Important themes include transformations in the role of women, debates around caste and “untouchability”, and religious conversions. Although the emphasis is on Hindu traditions, attention will also be given to other Indian traditions such as Islam, Christianity and Buddhism.
Religion in Modern India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2021, Spring 2021
This course will examine the role of film, visual media and spectatorship practices in the construction and narration of modern South Asia. In particular, this course will interrogate how modern South Asia has been produced and represented in different visual aesthetic forms such as popular film, arthouse cinema, documentaries, the graphic novel and contemporary digital media spaces such as YouTube. The course will introduce visual and media theories that frame the South Asian filmic and popular cultural forms, the intersections of South Asian visual media in the production of the ‘everyday’ in South Asia and the visual pleasures associated with these spectatorship practices.
Film, Visual Media and Spectatorship Practices in Modern South Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
This course aims to introduce modern literatures in the Tamil language written in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia and other Tamil diasporic spaces. During the course, students will encounter a wide variety of literary aesthetic practices that shape contemporary Tamil literary histories and their interactions with the larger national literary discourses that shape South and South East Asia. Through critical reading and analysis from mid-19th century to the present historical moment, students will discover how literature is closely linked to the creation and evolution of global Tamil history, culture and identity. There are no prerequisites in terms of a working knowledge of the Tamil language. All texts are in English translation.
Introduction to Contemporary Tamil literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020
Tamil is a Dravidian language that is spoken by approximately 77 million speakers around the world. Used as an official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore, Tamil’s classical status makes it an exciting language through which diverse modes of ethnic and linguistic belonging can be studied in South Asia. This course is meant to study global Tamil societies through the interdisciplinary lenses of literary and cultural studies; knowledge of the Tamil language is not required. This course will introduce students to the histories, growth and formation of Tamil societies within different national contexts such as India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and diasporic spaces.
Framing Tamil Worlds: Histories, Cultures and Identities: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2021, Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2020
Literary and religious aspects of Hindu myths. Reading of selected mythological texts in translation.
Hindu Mythology: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2021
The course entails substantial selected readings from the great Sanskirt epic poems--the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in translation, selected readings from the corpus of secondary literature on Indian epic studies as well as lectures on salient issues in both. Discussion will focus on a variety of historical and theoretical approaches to the study of the poems and their extraordinary influence on Indian culture. Readings will be supplemented with selected showings of popular cinematic and television versions of the epics.
India's Great Epics: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2018, Spring 2015
The aim of this course on the culture and history of Muslim communities and institutions in South Asia is to introduce students to the broad historical currents of the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent, the nature of Muslim political authority, the interaction between religious communities, Islamic aesthetics and contributions to material culture, the varied engagements and reactions of Muslims to colonial rule, and the contemporary concerns of South Asia's Muslims. While this is a lecture course, ample time will be set aside for discussion and the active engagement of participants will be expected. Lectures will be supplemented with visual material, music, and movies where possible.
Islam in South Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2021
The aim of this course on the culture and history of Muslim communities and institutions in South Asia is to introduce students to the broad historical currents of the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent, the nature of Muslim political authority, the interaction between religious communities, Islamic aesthetics and contributions to material culture, the varied engagements and reactions of Muslims to colonial rule, and the contemporary concerns of South Asia's Muslims. While this is a lecture course, ample time will be set aside for discussion and the active engagement of participants will be expected. Lectures will be supplemented with visual material, music, and movies where possible.
Islam in South Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2019, Fall 2013
This course provides a dual chronological and thematic approach to the study of one of the greatest empires in human civilization: the Mughal Empire. Although the bulk of this course will focus on the political, social and economic aspects of Mughal Empire during its heyday between the 1550s and the early 1700s, careful attention will also be paid to the larger historical and geographical contexts that both enabled the emergence and, ultimately, decentralization of Mughal power.
Mughal India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2019, Fall 2014
Whenever Pakistan comes up as a subject of sustained conversation in the US it usually is for all the wrong reasons: the worst nuclear proliferator in recent history, the refuge of Osama bin Laden, a major source of regional instability in South and Central Asia. Although Pakistan may be viewed with deep mistrust by US policy planners and the American public alike, this course seeks to remind us that it is also a country of great political, economic, religious, and social complexity. This course will situate Pakistan in its historical, political, literary, religious, economic and social contexts with the hope that students will develop nuanced and deeply grounded perspectives on a country that in fact defies easy stereotypes.
Pakistan: An Introduction: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2014
Tibetan Buddhists view the moment of death as a rare opportunity for transformation. This course examines how Tibetans have used death and dying in the path to enlightenment. Readings will address how Tibetan funerary rituals work to assist the dying toward this end, and how Buddhist practitioners prepare for this crucial moment through tantric meditation, imaginative rehearsals, and explorations of the dream state.
Death, Dreams, and Visions in Tibetan Buddhism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Not yet offered
Four-unit limit per term.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2012
This course provides a place for graduate-level seminars in Tibetan Buddhism that rely primarily on secondary sources and Tibetan texts in translation. Content will vary between semesters but will typically focus on a particular theme. Themes will be chosen according to student interests, with an eye toward introducing students to the breadth of available western scholarship on Tibet, from classics in the field to the latest publications.
Seminar in Tibetan Buddhism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023
This graduate seminar focuses on reading a wide spectrum of Indian Buddhist texts in the Sanskrit (or Pali) original introducing the students to different genres, and different aspects of Indian Buddhism. The students taking the course for two units (rather than four) will be expected to prepare thoroughly every week for the reading of Buddhist texts in the original. They will also be expected to read all related secondary literature that is assigned to supplement the study of the primary source material. In contrast to the students taking the course for four units, they will not be expected to write a term paper or to prepare special presentations for class.
Readings in Indian Buddhist Texts: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023
This seminar provides an introduction to a broad range of Tibetan Buddhist texts, including chronicles and histories, biographical literature, doctrinal treatises, canonical texts, ritual manuals, pilgrimage guides, and liturgical texts. It is intended for graduate students interested in premodern Tibet from any perspective. Students are required to do all of the readings in the original classical Tibetan. It will also serve as a tools and methods for the study of Tibetan Buddhist literature, including standard lexical and bibliographic references, digital resources, and secondary literature in modern languages. The content of the course will vary from semester to semester to account for the needs and interests of particular students.
Readings in Tibetan Buddhist Texts: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2022
This course looks at the histories and the contexts of the realist novel through a comparative literary focus on South and South East Asia. By examining novels produced in both South and South East Asia from the 1900’s to the present, this course will look at how the writers in these regions deployed realism in complex and innovative ways to represent ideas of the individual and the collective.
The Realist Novel in South and South East Asia: Read More [+]