SOUTH ASIA STUDIES
(AS) {SAST}  

Foundational Courses  

L/R 001. (HIST089) The Idea of India. (C) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Rawat.

This course broadly surveys various ideas about what constitutes "India" from the earliest period of record to the contemporary period.  A straightforward chronology walks us through significant articulations of "India" throughout history as we seek to understand India in terms of geography, culture, religion, society, nationalism and globalization.  This survey is situated amid debates about the Indus Valley civilization: the "Golden" ages of the Guptas and Ashoka; Mughal India; devotionalism and region; the legacy of Shivaji; colonial formulations of India as part of the "Orient" and a "Jewel in the Crown"; the "Two-Nations" theory; the competing visions of Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah; Hindu Right nationalism; the Cold War and non-alliance; and the embrace of India as part of a global economic and cultural community. This is an entry-level survey course in Indian culture and hence there are no prerequisites.

002. (ANTH107, URBS122) The City in South Asia. (C) Society Sector. All classes. Mitchell.

This course surveys important themes and methods in the study of South Asia by focusing on one or more South Asian cities, such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Lahore, Lucknow, Banaras, Kathmandu, Lhasa, Dhaka, etc.  Topics to becovered include urban planning, globalization, trade, labor, development, artistic production, politics, cultural exchange, and so on.  Students draw literary and scholarly studies, investigating films, memoirs, ethnographies, histories, and other sources to understand the life of one or more major metropolitan centers.

003. (HIST086) India and South Asia. (C) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Ludden.

This introductory survey course traces the major contours of cultural and political history in South Asia from ancient times to the present, focusing particularly on the formation of regional systems and on the transformation of human environments across the ancient, medieval, early-modern, and modern epochs.  The goal of the course is to enable students to appreciate very long-term history and to locate within it particular places and times.

005. (MUSC165) Performing Arts in South Asia. (C) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Miner.

This course is a survey of selected traditions of theater, music, and dance in India and surrounding regions.  Topics include ritual practices, theater, classical dance, classical music, devotional music, regional genres, and contemporary popular musics.  Readings and lectures are supplemented by audio and visual materials and live performances.  The aim of the course is to expose students to a variety of performance practices from this part of the world and to situate the performing arts in their social and cultural contexts.  The course has no prerequisites.

SM 006. Hindu Mythology. (C) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Staff.

Premodern India produced some of the world's greatest myths and stories: tales of gods, goddesses, heroes, princesses, kings and lovers that continue to capture the imaginations of millions of readers and hearers.  In this course, we will look closely at some of these stories especially as found in Purana-s, great compendia composed in Sanskrit, including the chief stories of the central gods of Hinduism: Visnu, Siva, and the Goddess.  We will also consider the relationship between these texts and the earlier myths of the Vedas and the Indian Epics, the diversity of the narrative and mythic materials within and across different texts, and the re-imagining of these stories in India's vernacular languages as well as in the modern world.

        and fears.  The settlers of the Indus Valley civilization believed in divine powers and the Aryans in the Vedic times believed in presiding deities of natural phenomena.As a result, thousands of stories have been generated to convey the supernatural powers and the Aryans in the Vedic times believed in presiding deities of natural phenomena.  As a result, thousands of stories have been generatedto convey the supernatural powers and/or divinity of these entities.Different gods and goddess in various forms have dominated different regions of India and different eras.  For ages, these traditional legends,which were later codified in the Puranas have beenhanded down to successive generations.The evidence also exists that new legendary accounts are added to the stockpile every now and then.These mythological accounts range from local to pan-community levels and despite the regional variation within them an underlying unity of thought exists.  On one hand, Hindu faith contributes to the creation of these stories and on the the narration or the reading of these stories reinforces religious beliefs people at the popular level in all ages.  Interestingly, these stories travel with Hindus during their migration to distant lands and get simplified through successive generations of the diaspora.

        and have formed the basis of many recent Indian movies.  Summer Program: Interestingly, these stories travel with Hindus during their migration distant lands and get simplified through successive generations of the diasporaMost of the Hindu myths are living legends and have formed the basis of many recent Indian movies.  The course will present a critical discussion of these stories and their sources.  Students will see digital illustrations of these divinities.l watch relevant Hindi movies with subtitles in English, and visit Hindu temples and social events to see these divinities and their devotees in real life.

Freshman Seminars  

SM 051. (RELS012) India In The Traveller's Eye. (C) Behl. Freshman Seminar.

Historically, India has held a prominent yet paradoxical place in the Western imagination - as a land of ancient glories, a land of spiritual profundity, a land of poverty, social injustice and unreason.  In this course, we examine these and other images of India as presented in European and American fiction, travel literature, news reportage, and film.  We will consider the power and resonance of these images, how they have served Western interests, and how they may have affected Indian self-understanding.

SM 052. (ASAM012) Indians Overseas: A Global View. (C) Gambhir, S.

This course is about the history of Indian immigration into different parts of the world.  The course will consist of readings, discussions, observations, data collection and analysis.  The topics will include cultural preservation and cultural change through generations of East Indian immigrats, especially in North America, the Caribbean area, the United Kingdom, the African continent, and some other countries in the Pacific Ocean.  The course will encourage organized thinking, observations and analysis of components of the culture that immigrantcommunities are able to preserve and cultural components that either change or get reinterpreted.  In this context, we will look at entities such as religion, food, language, and family.  The course will discuss immigrants' success stories, sad stories, their contributions, their relationship with other groups in the host society and the nature and extent of their links with their homeland.  The course will include discussion about victimization of and discrimination against immigrants in their new homelands. Other issues will include social and cultural needs of immigrants giving rise to new community organizations such astemples, NGOs and other cultural centers.  The course will benefit from the study of other immigrant communities for a comparative view.

SM 053. (ENGL016) Literature and National Trauma: Partition and Independence in South Asia. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kaul.

This course will examine the way in which imaginative literature and film have addressed the difficult socio-political issues leading up to, and following from, the independence and partition of British India.  Pakistan and India came into being as nation-states in moments of great national trauma: historians have long argued over the process that led up to Partition, and we will study some of these debates, but for the most part we will examine novels, short stories, poetry, and some films to think about the impact of Partition and Independence on communities and individuals in South Asia.  In doing so, we will recognize the continuing role played by these events and experiences in shaping the cultural, social, and political realities of contemporary South Asia.  We will also learn about the crucial role played by literary and creative texts in making available to us the full dimensions of human tragedy, especially those precipitated when the imperatives of nation-formation redefine the lives of individuals or of sub-national communities.

SM 054. Material Culture of South Asia. (C) Gangulee.

India has been described as a palimpsest of cultures as well as a land of million mutinies.  Material bases of any culture rest on its ideas of itself, its innovations, what it produces and consumes, its ideas of social org.  and political governance.  In this course we shall examine the material bases of South Asian culture, its mode of production, consumption and distribution of surplus product and how over the last five thousand years, the ideas behind these modes have been put forward, contested and negotiated for acceptance. Some of these ideas have come from emigration and immigration, some from invasion and some have simply sprung up.  We will begin by looking at the Indian materiality in language, rituals, spatial analyses of towns, weights and measures.  We will go on to the rituals and materiality of the Indo-Aryans, the political thought that evolved, to the scientific thinking andtechnological innovations, the Grand Mughals, the European colonial period, Nehru's independent India, the liberalized economy of India in 1991 and end with the present.

055. (ANTH137) Development Debate in India. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ghosh.

There has been a great deal of discussion, of late, about civilization and and attacks upon it.  This course examines the meaning of "civilization" and "progress" by way of 1) classical sources in social thought, 2) pivotal issues contemporary cultural anthropology and 3) materials related to India.  The course demands close readings of (at times) dense texts, class presentationand papers.  The class format combines discussion with lectures.

056. (ANTH024) India: Ancient & Modern. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in History & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

This course is intended to be an introduction to the anthropological study of South Asia.  It will cover archaeology, physical anthropology, cultural anthropology and linguistics, along with excursions into geography, the Indian Census and gazetteers.  A second focus of the class will be an investigation of the origins of the caste system.  Each student will be expected to complete a significant research paper related to the class, along with one class presentation.  This is a WATU course and one of the class meetings each week will be devoted to writing.  The grade for the course will be based upon the instructor's evaluation of each of these exercises.

SM 057. Planning to be Off-shore?. (C) Gangulee.

In this course we will trace the economic development of India from 1947 to the present.  Independent India started out as a centrally planned economy in 1949 but in 1991 decided to reduce its public sector and allow, indeed encourage, foreign investors to come in.  The Planning Commission of India still exists but has lost much of its power.  Many in the U.S. complain of American jobs draining off to India, call centers in India India taking care of American customer complaints, American patient histories being documented in India, etc.  At the same time, the u.s. government encouragehighly trained Indians to be in the u.s.  We will try to find out how 1991 essentially follows 1949.  Students are expected to write four one-page response papers and one final paper.  Twenty percent of the final grade will be based on class participation, 20 percent on the four response papers and 60 percent on the final paper.

Writing Courses  

SM 009. Critical Writing Seminar In South Asia Studies. (C) Staff.

This is a critical writing seminar.  It fulfills the writing requirement for all undergraduates.  As a discipline-based writing seminar, the course introduces students to a topic within its discipline but throughout emphasizes the development of critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills.  For current listings and descriptions, visit the Critical Writing Program's website at www.writing.upenn.edu/critical.

The Arts, Media, and Performance  

104. (MUSC060) Beginning Tabla I. (A) Bhatti.

An introduction to the tabla, the premier drum of north Indian and Pakistani classical music traditions.

105. (MUSC062) Beginning Tabla II. (B) Bhatti.

A continuation of Tabla I, also open to beginning students.  Speak to the instructor for permission to enroll.

106. (MUSC061) Beginning Sitar I. (A) Miner.

This course is an introduction to the repertoire and performance practices of the North Indian sitar.  Fundamentals of sitar technique, composition, and improvisation are presented and practiced in class.  Class lectures and discussions, audio and video material, and reading and listening assignments on selected topics supplement practice, to provide an overview of the social and historical context and the formal structures of North Indian music in general.  There are no prerequisites for the course, but some experience with instrumental or vocal music is suggested.  Each student is expected to put in two hours of individual practice per week, and complete reading, audio, and written assignments.  The class gives a group performance at the end of the semester.

107. (MUSC063) Beginning Sitar II. (B) Miner.

This is the second semester of a performance course in the North Indian sitar Students who have not taken the first semester but play any musical instrument are permitted to join.  Principles of composition and improvisation will be explored in practice and supplemented by readings and listening.  The class gives a group performance at the end of the semester.

108. (MUSC161) Intermediate Sitar I. (C) Miner.

This is a performance course open to students who have completed both semestersof Beginning Sitar, or to others by permission from the instructor. Students will work with right and left-hand techniques, study three ragas in depth, learn the contours of several other ragas, and work with concepts of tala, composition, and improvisation.  Assigned readings and listenings will complement the performed material.  A group performance will be given at the end of the semester.

109. (MUSC162) Intermediate Sitar II. (C) Miner.

This is a continuation of an intermediate performance course in the North Indian sitar.It is open to students by permission of the instructor.  Students who play other instruments and have had at least a beginning level of training in Hindustani music may also join, with the permission of the instructor.

110. Media and Society in South Asia. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Novetzke.

This course selectively surveys modern media in South Asia, with an emphasis on India and the interactions between India and other South Asian countries. The media we'll examine include novels, non-fiction monographs, films, cartoons, clothing, and cricket.  We'll explore the effects of colonialism, globalism, capitalism, "Orientalism", and modernity on portrayals of various facets of South Asian life, including nationalism, religion, diasporic life, and gender.  The course assumes no previous knowledge of South Asian history or culture, and all are welcome.

115. (MUSC164) India's Classical Musics. (C) Miner.

Hindustani and Karnatak music are among the great classical music systems of the world.  Developed in temple, shrine, court, and concert stage environments in North and South India,they have a strong contemporary following in urban South Asia and a significant international presence.  This course is an introduction to theory, structures, instruments, and aesthetics.  We will work with primary and secondary texts, recordings, videos, and live performances. Topics will cover selected aspects of raga, tala, composition, improvisation and social contexts.  The course aims to give students analytical and listening skills with which to approach and appreciate India's classical music.  No prior music training is required.

116. (MUSC466) Music Cultures of North India and Pakistan. (C) Miner.

A great variety of song and instrumental genres have thrived in the Hindu and Muslim milieus of North India and Pakistan.  In this course we examine a selection of urban and rural musics, such as instrumental music of Baluchistan, qawwali in Delhi, the garba of Gujarat, ballad singing of Rajasthan and the urban music of Calcutta.  We will explore the sounds, poetry, historical, and social contexts of chosen genres and trace aspects of continuity and adaptation in the changing environment of contemporary South Asia.  Readings are supplemented by audio-visual material and live performances.

200. (ARTH104, SAST500) Introduction to Art in South Asia. (C) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Meister/Staff.

This course is a survey of sculpture, painting and architecture in the Indian sub-continent from 2300 B.C., touching on the present.  It attempts to explore the role of tradition in the broader history of art in India, but not to see India as 'traditional' or unchanging.  The Indian sub-continent is the source for multi-cultural civilizations that have lasted and evolved for several thousand years.  Its art is as rich and complex as that of Europe, as diverse. This course attempts to introduce the full range of artistic production in India in relation to the multiple strands that have made the cultural fabric of the sub-continent so rich and long lasting.

210. (SAST510) Bollywood Dreams. (C) Novetzke.

We will explore the world's largest film industry, India's `Bollywood' centerinBombay(Mumbai), to see how the shared dreams, and nightmares,of Indian public culture light up the silver screen.  Through a combination of weekly screenings and readings from fiction, biography, journalism, criticism, and scholarship, will carried out a dialogue on the utopias and dystopias that Bollywood has created since Indian independence in 1947.

211. (RELS268, RELS568, SAST511) Media and Religion in India. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Novetzke.

In this course we will explore how religious life and ideals are expressed through various media, and how these media have affected cultural life in India.  Our aim is two-fold: to acquire a familiarity with a variety of intriguing media forms-including traditional architecture, devotional poetry-music, visual-sensorial worship, modern film, recorded music, and television-and to situate these media within important cultural fields-religion, primarily, but also politics, popular culture, and global culture.  Though much of our study will immerse us in India's past, our aim is to understand contemporary India and its religious culture through media.

213. (CINE215, GSOC213, SAST513) Indian Cinema and Society. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Majithia.

This course will meet for three hours to view and discuss a variety of films/videos in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Urdu (with English subtitles), and English, which bring up issues of social, political, and cultural significance.  Readings for the course will include articles in various fields ranging from film studies and communication to sociolinguistics and women's studies.  Discussions will focus on cinema as a means of expression and as an instrument for social change, examining the various ways in which films both reflect and influence contemporary culture.

215. (MUSC462, SAST515) History of Music in India. (C) Miner.

This course works with selected primary and secondary sources to explore the place of music, musicians, and others associated with music in the temple, shrine, court and salon environments of Hindu and Muslim South Asia.  The periods covered extend from the early centuries A.D.to the modern period. Specific topics will be chosen each semester.

Literature and Linguistics  

120. Contemporary South Asian Literatures. (C) Behl.

The aim of this course is to explore the complex engagement of Indian lit. with modernity and postmodernity, focusing on novels, short stories, and poems,as well as more general critical readings.  The emphasis will be on linking modeof narrative with issues of history and politics, authorship, gender, and postcolonial theory.  We will begin by examining works written within the context, both in English and in Indian languages (in translation).The segments of the course focus on nationalism, in particular the contrasted trope of modernity vs. tradition, as well as partition, gender, and diaspora.  We will examine issues of migrancy, cultural authenticity and hybridity, as well as the politics of identity-formation in today's transnational cultures.

122. (RELS008) Indian Epics. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

In this course we will explore the two Indian epic masterpieces, the Ramayaoa and the Mahabharata, poems that are among the most important pieces of imaginative writing in world history.  By examining these, both through translation of their Sanskrit originals as well as reworkings in test and performance (including film and other media), we'll try to understand the fundamental claims made by the epics about family and political life, the ethics of violence, and the status of gender.  The epics present startling and contrasting understandings of the social world in its ideal state as well as in its destruction, and these visions of order and chaos will be our recurrent themes throughout.  This course is introductory and assumes no previous knowledge.

123. Wives, Courtesans, Nuns. (C) Staff.

Draupadi, Sita, Vasantasena, Kannaki: The literature of ancient India presents unforgettable portraits of many powerful women.  In this course we will read their stories and reflect on the culture that imagined them.  While focusing on literary representation, we will also be concerned with the roles played by women in historical South Asia, drawing widely on the evidence of art history, ethnography, and archaeological data.  Though the majority of ancient Indian texts (in Sanskrit and other languages) were undoubtedly written by and for men, there do exist texts written by female authors, and we will also examine these traces of authentic women's voices.

124. (COML077, ENGL077) Literature and Empire. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Loomba.

Since the sixteenth century English has been, among other things, an imperial language, and ideas about empire and imperialism have shaped not only many of English literature's central texts but also the development of English literary study as a discipline.  This course is an introduction to the way imperial contact and changing ideas about empire and decolonization have shaped literature in English from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. We will consider historical and cultural materials to offer contexts for literary production of texts from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. The course also will serve as a comprehensive introduction to the way literary and cultural representations of Europe have been influenced by changing ideas about empire and imperialism.  Different versions of the course will vary in the historical and cultural material they cover as they offer a context for literary production.

220. (SAST520) The Lyric in South Asia. (C) Staff.

We will read South Asian lyrical poetry in translation, ranging over a span of time of some three thousand years, from the Vedas via classical Sanskrit and Prakrit to medieval and modern vernacular literature, and exploring also the range of emotions from delicate descriptions of the seasons and nature to passionate outpourings of love and both erotic and religious ecstacy.

221. (SAST521) Indian Romances. (C) Behl.

This course will address the literary tradition of the romance in South Asia, focusing on Indian narratives of love, their articulation in different poetic and social contexts, and the fantasy structures attached to the ideal of romantic love.  We will also consider current critical approaches to the romance: psychoanalytic, folkloric, feminist, and Marxist.  Readings include Kalidasa'a Sakuntala, the love-story of UrvasiandPururavas, Niami's Laya Majnun, Sufi love-stories from Islamic India, colonial romances, postcolonial and diasporic fictions, and modern Hindi films.

223. (SAST523) Topics in Modern South Asian Literature. (C) Bhattacharya.

A previous topic was entitled, "From Kipling to Shyam."

225. (SAST525) History of Urdu Literature. (C) Staff.

This class will deal with the main periods of Urdu writing: (1) early beginnings 1200-1500; (2) Dekkani Urdu; (3) the "Golden Tradition" (18th century); (4) 19th century; (5) 20th century.  In all these periods important trends and the foremost authors will be presented in biographical and poetical examples.  The changes of literary genres will be discussed and due importance will be given to the social and historical developments of the times.

SM 230. (SAST530) Language and Society in South Asia. (C) Gambhir, V.

This course focuses each year on one of several topics which include the genesis of the South Asian linguistic area, the social implications of multilingualism, language development, language policy and education, and language in the political process.

322. (SAST622) History of Sanskrit Literature. (C) Staff.

This lecture series aims to provide a broad overview of the major genres and currents of classical (post-Vedic) Sanskrit literature.  Topics will include: the development of the drama, the place of the court epic or mahakavya, devotional poetry, and prose poetry (the Sanskrit "novel").  Some attention will also be given to literature in Middle Indic languages (Prakrit and Apabhramsa), as illuminating developments within Sanskrit.

332. (SAST632) Hindi Dialects. (C) Gambhir, S. Prerequisite(s): A knowledge of standard Hindi.

Students read specimens of major rural Hindi dialects which are not comprehensible to one trained solely in standard Hindi.  Dialectal vocabulary and structure are emphasized.  Discussions focus on historical development and on the relations between dialects and standard Hindi in the total network of communication.  The course seeks to enable social scientists, among others, to conduct fieldwork in rural Hindi areas.

333. (LING319, LING519, SAST633) Topics in Dravidian Linguistics. (C) Staff. This course is for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

After an overview of the Dravidian family as a whole (languages, speakers, history of research), followed by a general structural description of a particular modern Dravidian language (such as Tamil or Kannada), the course will focus on grammaticalization.  After a review of the literature on how grammatical change takes place, the topic will narrow in on recent kinds of grammaticalization in Tamil.  Students will write a paper on a topic of their own theoretical interest, using data from a selected Dravidian language. Non-South-Asia Majors may write about grammaticalization in another language oftheir choice.

Religion and Philosophy  

140. (RELS163) Introduction to Hinduism. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Fleming.

Hindu religious beliefs and practices from the earliest period to the present, stressing contemporary religious thought, performances, and institutions and their historical backgrounds.  Basic human issues such as the origin and nature of the world and society, the meaning of personal existence, sex, birth, death, human responsibility, the family, destiny, and the variety of Hindu understandings of them as revealed in myth, story, philosophy, and ritual will be the focus of this course.  Readings will mostly be original sources in English translation.

141. (ANTH142, RELS142) Islam in South Asian Culture. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Spooner.

Islam reached South Asia in the eighth century and Muslim rulers held sway over large parts of the Subcontinent for much of the period from the late 12th century until the colonial period.  However, the majority of the population never converted to Islam, and since independence in 1947 Islam--its interpretation, realization, and influence--has been a major factor underlying many difficult political issues.  This has been true not only in the largest country, India, where Muslims form 12% (unevenly distributed) of the population, but in Bangladesh and Pakistan where non-Muslims are relatively insignificant minorities.  This course explores the realities and the perceptions related to Muslim identities and the Islamic heritage in the Subcontinent, and sets it in global context by comparison with other parts of the world which share various aspects of the South Asian experience.  The course will conclude with an assessment of the larger significance--social, economic and political, as well as cultural--of Islam in South Asia today.

142. (RELS173) Introduction to Buddhism. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

An examination of the fundamentals of Buddhist thought and practice.  In addition to reading and discussing selected primary Buddhist sources (in English Translation), we shall review the history and development of Buddhism from its Indian origins through its spread to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan.  Primary sources and historical materials will be supplemented by some ethnographic readings dealing with the actualities of Buddhist life in contemporary Southeast and East Asia.  This course provides basic background for more advanced courses on Buddhism.

SM 240. (RELS362, SAST540) Religions of India in Practice. (C) Staff.

This course uses ethnography and documentary film to examine religious practice in India, looking at daily rituals and habits associated with religionand special moments in collective religious life, such as festivals, pilgrimageand "rites of passage." We'll also investigate ways that religious life intersects with secular life, the state, the nation, and media.

241. (SAST541) Devotion and Ecstasy: Bhaktas and Sufis. (C) Behl/Staff.

This course is designed to introduce students to the wide array of devotional and mystical literatures of pre-modern South Asia.  We will focus on the texts, practices, and discourses of the religious and literary communities which create these forms of literature, placing them within social and historical contexts.  Topics covered include the formation of Sufi silsilahs in India, Krishna bhakti and the Vais_ava sects, Kabir, Guru Nanak and the Sikhs, Tulsidas's Ramcaritmanas, and other texts in translation.

242. (SAST542) Islamic Mysticism in South Asia. (C) Behl.

The aim of this course is to cover the history, sources, techniques, and exemplary biographies of Sufis in the Indian subcontinent.  Attention will be paid to particular chains of instruction as well as principles of piety and and spiritual improvement.  We will also read poetic works by members of the different silsilahs or orders which pioneered the regional literary traditions of South Asia.  Also included are performance traditions (qawwali) attached to shrines.

243. (SAST543) Religions of Southern India. (C) Staff.

A critical examination of selected problem areas in the interpretation of religious texts, traditions, and practices in South India and Southeast Asia.

244. (SAST544) A Buddhist India. (C) Staff.

This course will offer an unusual perspective on pre-modern India.  Over a period of nearly two millennia from its origins in the fourth or fifth century BC Buddhism played an important role in Indian religious practice and philosophical thought, as well as in politics and in the court, and it is often not realized that Buddhists made important contributions to the arts, literature, and the sciences as well.  In addition to studying key works writtenby Indian Buddhists, we will read accounts of Chinese and Tibetan pilgrims to what they saw as the holy land of the founder of their faith.

245. (SAST545) Religious Biography. (C) Staff.

From the Buddha and Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, to Ramakrishna and even modern times: India's religions are full of holy men and women, and their biographies, often colorful and full of supernatural incident, have inspired devotees and played a key part in communicating moral and philosophical values.  In this course we will read a wide range of these tales of saints and sainthood, some of high literary sophistication and some moving in their simplicity, and consider the roles that religious biography andhagiography has played in the complex traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

246. (SAST546) Paths of Passion: Hindu & Buddhist Tantra. (C) Staff.

Despite increasing popular interest in them, the Indian religious traditions (Shaiva, Vaishnava, and Buddhist) that are commonly called Tantra or Tantric, and that are often associated with antinomian transgressive practices such as the ritual consumption of alcohol and ritual sexual intercourse, have until recently received relatively little attention from Indologists and historians of religion.  This course will examine the rise of these traditions, their development, and their interactions with each other.  Reactions to and criticism of Tantra from the side of non-tantric Indian religious will also be considered.

247. (SAST547) The Awakening of a Prince: Indian Lives of the Buddha. (C) Staff.

Buddhism may well be termed India's most successful export.  Arising in India inabout the 4th century B.C.E., this religion of world-transcendence quickly spread both towards the West and the East.  From its earliest period, and in all its diverse incarnations, the figure of the founder of the religion, Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, has been a central one to all Buddhists.  We will be reading a number of the most famous retellings of the Buddha's life, spanning well over a millennium, and considering how they reflect changing concerns and needs both of popular devotion and of learned theories (often competing ones) about the nature of enlightenment.  We will look also at images from India, Nepal and Tibet that bring to life the Buddha's biography in stunning art.

350. (SAST650) Themes in Indian Philosophy. (C) Staff.

This course is intended for students who have taken SAST 160 (Introduction to Indian Philosophy) and wish to deepen their understanding of the major issues in Indian philosophical thought.  Underlying the themes that we will consider --of arguments for and against the existence of God, of the ontological status of external objects, and of the means of valid knowledge and the standards of proof--is a millennia-long conflict between Buddhist and Hindu thinkers, which stimulated remarkable intellectual achievements on both sides.

History, Anthropology, and Archaeology  

163. Empire in South Asia/ Indian Polities. (C) Staff.

A survey of the theories and realities of polities in South Asia, , from the first emergence of states, via the empires of Asoka and of dynastiessuch as the Guptas, up to the late medieval kingdoms of both North and South India. Inscriptional records will be read and juxtaposed with the prescriptionsof texts such as the famously Machiavellian Arthasastra, and we will also consider the mechanics of taxation, the maintenance of armies, and the realities of armed conflict in pre-modern South Asia.

164. (HIST188) History and Film in South Asia. (C) Staff.

An introductory course that shows a film each week and includes reading, discussion, and writing to explore film as a medium for representing history. It includes popular films, documentaries, educational films, and art films; and we will also when possible read books that generated the films, particularly novels.  I think this class will have a nice clientele in itself but I also want it to serve as a resource for other courses, for example, my own introduction to South Asian history, in which I can ask students to see some of the films as part of the course.  Various South Asian Studies courses might also use this resource, and I will gather some ideas from faculty about films that suit various purposes, toward that end.

SM 260. (HIST384, SAST560) Modern History of Afghanistan and Pakistan. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

An overview of the shared and conflicting legacy of history between the two countries; their role in shaping the contours of global politics in that region.  Social, ethnic, religious, and sectarian discourses with power politics, the rise of religious militancy, Taliban, their predecessors and potential successors will also be discussed.

261. (SAST561) The Partition: Literature and Historiography. (C) Ghosh.

This course will operate concurrently at three levels.  First we will critically consider theories of social change, drawing on anthropology, history and sociology.  Second we will examine the complex interrelationships between nation-states/nationalism on the one hand and migration/population flows on the other.  The third and final level will be an intensive investigation of the 1947 Partition of British India, which led to the creationof the Republics of India and Pakistan (and later Bangladesh).The goal, here, will be to situate the partition within the literatures on social change, nationalism and migration.  Requirements include multiple class presentations and two major papers - the second of which will entail original research.

SM 360. (ANTH233, SAST660) South Asia: Anthropologies and Histories. (C) Ghosh.

This course offers a survey of readings in the historical anthropology of South Asia, India in particular.  Readings touch on an array of topics, including(post)colonialism, nationalism, violence, village life, family life, media and diaspora.  The common theme will be a focus on how social agents are constructed and represented, and how social change is effected.  Class sessions will combine lecture and discussion, with an emphasis on the latter. Requirements: three papers, one in-class examination, one in-class oral presentation.

SM 361. (RELS465, SAST661) Memory, History & Religion in South Asia. (C) Staff.

This course explores academic and social debates about memory and history, highlighting the role of religion, trauma, and narrative in dividing these two modes of recollection.  We will examine how the various nations of South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, primarily) remember their ownpast and their relationship with their neighbor-nations.  Important historical moments such as colonialism, independence, partition, wars, subnational and secessionist movements, riots and insurgencies, will be explored through the the lenses of memory, history, and religion.  Materials for the course include films, television serials, plays, novels, academic scholarship, poetry, visual culture, architecture, and the Internet.

363. (HIST436, SAST663) Capitalism in Asia since 1500. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

This course considers the evolution of capitalism in Asia from 1500 to the present.  Its conception of Asia includes the Middle East and African regions touching the Indian Ocean.  It considers (1) the early-modern vitality of Asian commercial economies and their interactions with Europe, (2) the rise of modern industrial capitalism and its imperial expansion in Asia, (3) the emergence of national economies and their engagement with globalization.  Its concentrates on interactions between social and economic change in geographical frames defined by Asian localities, regions, empires, nations, and networks of mobility.  It combines lecture, discussion, short weekly writing assignments, and student research on topics of student interest.

Politics, Economics, Health and Society  

281. (SAST581) Issues of Economic Development in South Asia. (C) Staff.

The purpose of this introductory course is to familiarize the students with the historical and conceptual framework in which the problems of development of South Asia are to be situated to develop a proper sense of perspective.The courseshould also enable them to understand the theoretical underpinnings of the experiences of the development processes and critically appreciate the problems and policy issues facing the regional economies.We will discuss the basic concepts and indicators of the development process and look at post-colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as case studies.

282. (ECON028, SAST582) Globalization, Regional Blocks and Sustainable Development. (C) Staff.

This course examines the twin phenomena of liberalization and globalization in the context of developing economies and the complex economic issues thrown up by them.  The course will explore the resulting interlinkages and their implications regarding the interrelationship between the North and the South and policies for the economies of the South Asia Region.  The study of the course will involve understanding and analysis of both the empirical evidence and the underlying theoretical principles concering the issues outlined.  We will address issues such as the role of the state and market, globalization and regional trading blocks, foreign direct investment and the problems of multinationals, growth, poverty and sustainable development etc.

283. Community, Development and Environment in South Asia. (L) Staff. Penn-in-India course.

This course introduces students to Indian society through the history, theory, and practice of community development.  The course will examine local and other initiatives in the fields of social and economic development, health care, and environment in rural and urban India with special emphasis on the role of non-government organizations, the third sector.  The readings will focus on a spectrum of theoretical perspectives and practices.  Students will read about and discuss development models in the classroom and participate through the assistance of local non-governmental organizations in the community programs devised for disadvantaged sectors of Indian society. Grading will be based on classroom participation, field work, journal writing, a classroom presentation, and a final paper.

284. (PSCI256, SAST584) International Relations of the United States and Asia. (C) Frankel.

This course is one of the first arising out of scholarship on cold war international history.  It draws on declassified government documents and other archival records to provide a window into the world-view of decision-makers who need to make national security policy based on incomplete information about ambiguous threats.  The materials reveal a great deal about the importance of divergent historical perspectives and strategic cultures in the foreign policy-making process.  The main focus of the course is on the intersection of the cold war and the rise of Asian nationalism.  At the core of the analysis is the clash between America's global strategy of military containment against the Soviet Union and the assertion of Indian, and Chinese nationalism, concerned with preventing the United States from succeeding to Great Britain's imperial rule.  The course examines new patterns of US-India and US-China relations in the post-cold war period.  This is primarily a lecture course, but the course web is a critical element of class work.

SM 285. (HSOC305, SAST585) Health and Society in South Asia. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Sheehan.

The countries of South Asia have large and diverse populations in need of public, preventative, and curative health services relevant to the health and disease problems of the region.  This course will consider the historic origins of health services in South Asia, beginning with a focus on health needs and health services' development in the 19th century through the mid-20th century.  In a context influenced by politics, economics, and socio-cultural factors, biomedical health services and education emerged as the dominant health system.  Yet this system remains tied to foreign health models and contends with the socio-cultural competition of traditional medical systems.  Through lectures, discussion, and assignments, this course will explore the historic and contemporary complexity of the health care systems in South Asian countries as they attempt to deliver health care to populations with wide disparities in income, education, health problems and needs. Selected comparative experiences of Asian health care systems, such as Chinese, will be discussed.

SM 286. (HSOC109, SAST586, GSOC108) Women and Health in South Asia. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Sheehan.

Drawing upon theoretical and empirical evidence, the course uses a socio-medical approach for understanding the health status and health behaviors of women in South Asia.  Gender is a crucial explanatory variable of women's survival experience; burden of disease; nutritional status; and access to and utilization of health services.  Girls and women face health and disease problems over their life course related to nutrition needs, reproductive health, work conditions, as well as to infectionous disease. This course places the experience of women's health in South Asia in contemporary, historic, and comparative frameworks.  Lectures, discussion, and assignments provide entry to greater understanding of both the specialized nature of South Asian women's health problems, as well as those common to women worldwide.

287. (SAST587) Ayurvedic Medicine: Research and Practice. (L) Staff. Penn-in-India course.

A healthcare tradition of India and Southeast Asia which has roots over 3000 years old and continues as an alternative system of medicine today.  Ayurveda views a balance between body, mind, and environment as essential to health. It employs vegetal, mineral, and animal products to treat diseases.  This Penn-In-India course explores the ancient and modern practices of Ayurvedic medicine as described in texts and as applied in clinical methods and in the preparation of herbs for medical purposes.  Visits of clinics, herb gardens, and pharmaceutical facilities are a part of the course.

SM 290. (ASAM209, SAST590) South Asians in the United States. (C) Staff.

This course begins with a historical survey of South Asian immigration in the United States.  It continues with a broad look at cultural, social, and political issues which confront the South Asian American community today, issues such as citizenship and transnationality, minoritization, economic opportunity, cultural and religious maintenance and adaptation, changes in family structure and gender roles, and generational shifts.  It concludes with an examination of the emergence of a body of creative writings by South Asians in America as an expatriate Indian literature of exile and as American immigrant and ethnic literature.

SM 294. (ANTH281, ANTH581, HIST383, SAST594) Language, Race, and Ethnicity in South Asia: History and the Politics of Culture. (C) Mitchell.

How has India maintained itself as a nation containing 1/6 of the world's population by recognizing 22 official languages and scores of mother tongues? Why have other South Asian countries broken into conflict over linguistic differences?  This course examines the shaping of ethnic, racial, and linguistic categories of identity in modern South Asia, and explores the socio-political movements that have emerged in conjunction with these categories.  Topics include colonial administrative practices such as the decennial censuses and the Linguistic Survey of India; the rise of regional linguistic movements; the relationships between language, ethnicity, and the writing of history in the context of ethnic conflicts in Lanka; the Dravidian, Non-Brahmin, Adi-Dravida, and anti-Hindi movements in southern India; the creation of Pakistan and Bangladesh; and recent debates over the origins of the Aryans.

380. (PSCI511, SAST680) Society & Politics in India. (C) Frankel.

This course analyzes the changing relations between social dominance and state power from the time of colonial rule.  Special emphasis is placed on ways in which the historical-social context of India at Independence shaped the democratic institutions introduced, and reciprocally, how social hierarchy and preferences for group rights have been affected by egalitarian and liberal principles of governance.  Within this analytical framework, religion, caste, class and ethnicity are examined as process and as social formation leading to the emergence of new identities and conflicting ideas of political community associated with them.

381. (HIST388, SAST681) Hunger and Poverty in Market Economies. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ludden.

This course considers hunger and poverty as features of market economies.  It provides technical skills for measuring the extent, severity, and causation of nutritional deprivation amidst economic growth.  It analyzes institutions and policies that seek to overcome the tendency of markets to sustain inequalities including hunger and poverty.  We concentrate on empirical evidence, case studies, and quantitative analysis.  Coursework stresses practical skills in gathering and using empirical data, especially statistics, and it includes making web pages and using the worldwide web as a research tool.

382. (ANTH323, SAST682) South Asia Development Discourse. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ghosh.

The course examines various meanings of "development" in Modern South Asia (mostly India).  It will be guided by three questions: i) what is development? ii) what are the "pros" and "cons" of development?  iii) what are the mechanisms of development (i.e., who is empowered to "enact" it)?  We will consider the complex and changing interrelationships between "development," on the one hand, and "civilization," "nation," "(post)colonialism," "modernization" and "globalization" on the other.  An emphasis will be placed on Anthropological and theoretical approaches to these issues.  Preparation for and participation in class is essential.  The writing requirements will include an original research paper.

385. (HSOC410, SAST685) Health Policy in S.A. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Sheehan.

The course will examine the process of health care planning and policy in the major South Asian societies since the 1950s.  The role of central, state and local government and non-governmental agencies, as well as of international organizations in health care planning will be analyzed.  Topics will include medical services and facilities, preventative and public health, training of health care professionals, and public/private financing of health care. Specialized needs of women, children, disabled, and aged will be considered. The influence of political, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of South Asian societies on health services will be identified.

386. (HSOC411, SAST686) Contemporary Issues in South Asian Health. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Sheehan.

This course will focus on birth, aging, as well as selected chronic and infectious diseases in South Asia.  For each health condition/lifestyle a framework of analysis will develop incorporating the complex set of factors that come into play.  Sociocultural beliefs; status markers--gender, class, caste, occupation; availability and accessibility of public and private health services; state, national, and international plans and policies will be considered.  An overview of South Asian demography, health problems and services will introduce the course.

387. (HSOC412, SAST687) Traditional Medicine in South Asia: Historic Orgins and Contemporary Use. (C) Sheehan.

In South Asia, traditional medical systems (Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha) have deep affiliation with the scientific, philosophical, religious, and cultural systems.  This course will examine the historic origins and socio-cultural dimensions of these systems.  Topics will include the encounter between traditional and Western medicine in the nineteenth century; twentieth century revival and professionalizing activities in the traditional systems; state a central government support for education, services, and research in traditional medicine; their role in the overall health care system; and their use by patients in urban and rural areas.  The world-wide interest in complimentary and alternative medicine as it relates to the Indian medical systems will be considered.

SM 388. (HIST387, HSOC387, SAST688) Health Environments in Asia. (C) Ludden.

This course considers historical dynamics of health environments in Asia from the nineteenth century to the present.  Focusing on problems posed by infectious disease, malnutrition, pollution, natural disaster, violence, urbanism, industrialization, deforestation, and ecological disruption, it concentrates particularly on contexts of inequality defined by gender, class, and ethnicity under imperialism, capitalism, globalization, a