Winter

This course introduces students to the history of the Indian Ocean as a connected space in the centuries preceding widespread colonialism (ca. 1200-1600). In recent years, scholars have highlighted the Indian Ocean as a critical economic region in the 19th and 20th centuries. But before the industrial revolution and the invention of the steam engine, people from a variety of social backgrounds established contact with each other across Indian Ocean spaces. They formed religious communities, introduced new commodities and goods across space, or were forcibly enslaved and brought across the ocean against their will. By focusing on primary sources and first-person accounts—travelogues, letters, memoirs, and histories—we will explore the question of what we can learn about Indian Ocean worlds before globalization through consideration of individual lives. What picture do we get of a world on the brink of major social, political, and technological changes from reading about individuals’ experiences? How can they decenter modern conceptions of space and periodization? In the course, we will pay special attention to the formation of religious networks, religious interactions, and histories of enslavement across the Indian Ocean.

In this course, we will gain a deeper understanding of how certain key moments in postcolonial India–from student protests to an economic transition to globalization, from rise of Bollywood to the omnipresence of social media–have shaped the youth of the country and how young people in turn have been at the forefront of some of the major events and have created history on their own terms. We will ask-if youth is a construct like gender and caste then how was it constructed over the last seventy years? We will keep two guiding questions in mind–who all are considered to be the youth in postcolonial India? And–what are the lived experiences of young people during this time? The ever changing, seemingly arbitrary, and conflicting definitions of youth in government reports, commercial advertisements, or popular culture demands a thorough analysis of this category inside out.

We will take an inter-disciplinary approach and examine how the identity of being young intersects with other identities such as class, ethnicity, linguistic abilities and so on. By identifying the constitutive elements of being part of the young generation in a young nation such as India, we will challenge any homogeneous perception of “the youth” and read young people’s experiences in their own contexts. Focusing on youth culture in South Asia will help us think critically about youth culture studies where the Global South remains underrepresented.

The first quarter focuses on Islam in South Asia, Hindu-Muslim interaction, Mughal political and literary traditions, and South Asia’s early encounters with Europe.

This course is for students who have successfully completed third- and fourth-year Urdu. It is typically tailored to student needs in terms of the selection of texts to be addressed and discussed. Depending on their interest, students may choose to read Urdu texts from any time period, country or genre. Prior consent of instructor is required.

TBD

TBD

First year Urdu or comparable level of language skills. This sequence is a continuation of URDU 10100-10200-10300. There is increased emphasis on vocabulary building and reading progressively complex texts. Depending on ability levels and interests of the students, readings can include selections from various original sources.

Spoken by over thirty-five million people in South Asia, Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and one of the official languages of India. It is written in the Perso-Arabic script, which facilitates learning to read and write several other South Asian languages. This three-quarter sequence covers basic grammar and vocabulary. Our text is C. M. Naim's Introductory Urdu, Volumes I and II. Students learn to read and write the Urdu script, as well as to compose/write in Urdu. By the end of three quarters students have covered all the major grammatical structures of the language. We also emphasize aural and oral skills (i.e., listening, pronunciation, speaking). These courses must be taken in sequence, since the script is introduced in the Autumn quarter. Students should also be aware that they need to contact the instructor ahead of time to discuss scheduling if they are planning to take this course. Not offered Win 23

TBD

TBD