SAST 0034. Dharma: A History of Classical Indian Civilization.

Dharma—a Sanskrit word encompassing duty, ethics, law, and religion—is a common thread running through the cultures of premodern India. This course offers a history of Indian civilization from its origins up through the end of the classical period. Drawing on a rich array of textual, material, and expressive cultures, we trace the arc of human history on the subcontinent, paying special attention to the intersections of religion and politics. The sources at hand reveal the dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation, and attest to human efforts to redefine what it means to live a life according to dharma.

SAST 0037. Sensing the Sacred: Sensory Culture in South Asian Religions.

This course explores South Asian religions through the body, the senses, and aesthetics. Drawing on Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions, and concentrating on embodied practices such meditation, chanting, eating, sex, asceticism, ritual, possession, and performance, we will examine experiences of the sacred in India, past and present. How has sensory culture shaped lives, practices, and doctrines? What place do the senses have in South Asian traditions? Drawing on premodern law codes, erotic handbooks, and medical treatises; and integrating new media from ethnographic films to graphic novels, we will plunge into to the rich sense-worlds of religions in South Asia.

SAST 0067. Divine Drugs: Psychedelics, Religion, and Spirituality.

From LSD to magic mushrooms, mescaline to ayahuasca, psychedelics are drugs that alter consciousness and perceptions of reality. This course investigates the central role that religion and spirituality have played in the long, tangled history of psychedelics, from colonial eradication of psychedelics as indigenous sacraments, to psychedelic modes of expanding consciousness in 1960s counterculture; from the moral panic around these substances as a tool of mind control, to their present scientific investigation as a panacea for mental health, addiction, and self-realization. Interweaving primary sources and scholarly accounts on psychedelics, our inquiry will use an interdisciplinary approach, blending religious studies, philology, anthropology, the history of science, and art history. To explore this varied terrain, we survey the history of divine drugs around the world, even as we ruminate on the wisdom and philosophy they have inspired over the ages.

SAST 0140. Food, Religion and Politics in South Asia.

Why study food? What can food tell us about religion, politics, and culture? Food in South Asia often shapes identity, social status, ritual purity, religious belonging, and political activism—the notion that you are what you eat has wide currency. Whatever form it takes, food embodies histories of migration, trade, empire, colonialism, and ethics. Through reading primary texts and ethnographic articles, watching films, and (of course) eating delicious food, we will explore the rich foodways of South Asia and their social, religious, and political ramifications.

SAST 0145. Karma, Rebirth and Liberation: Life and Death in South Asian Religions.

Karma, Sanskrit for the "action" that makes up a human life, has been a central concern for the religious traditions of South Asia throughout their history. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism share the belief that after death people are reborn, taking on lives according to their actions in lives previous. In these traditions, liberation from the cycle of rebirth becomes the ultimate goal of human existence. This course examines the ideas of karma, rebirth and liberation in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism from historical, cosmological, ritual, narrative, iconographic and theological points of view. We also look at these ideas in Western culture.

SAST 0525. The History and Practice of Yoga in India and Beyond.

From its roots in premodern India to its current popularity worldwide, yoga has a rich a complex history. As a practice of the mind, body, and spirit, yoga has taken many forms—meditation, chanting, breath control, postures—in order to achieve a range of goals: liberation from rebirth, supernatural powers, strength, pleasure, peace, wellness. As its reputation and commodification have increased, yoga has attracted deep interest, debate, and even controversy. In this course we will study yoga from its earliest texts to its status in the modern world, addressing its historical, religious, social, and political ramifications in many different contexts.

SAST 0526. This Whole World is OM: Mantras in Indian Religions.

A mantra is a syllable or formula used in ritual and meditation. Mantras are central to Indian religions—not only Hinduism, but also Jainism, Buddhism, Sufism, and Sikhism. Some mantras are made up of words and language—usually in Sanskrit—while others are sound fragments with no semantic meaning. The sacred syllable OM, now a global symbol of Eastern spirituality, exemplifies the power and authority of mantra. What are mantras? What do they accomplish? How do they shape identities, beliefs, and practices? Engaging with sacred utterance in various media, this course explores the world of mantras in India and beyond.

SAST 0700. Introduction to Modern South Asia.

This course will explore the making of modern South Asia through a dynamic conception of its peoples as historical actors who contributed to and engaged with the varied facets of the empire, resistance, and modernity. We will ask: How did resisting colonial rule include, exclude, or form creative attempts to adapt, appropriate, question, and reject elements of European modernity? What were the various complementary and competing visions of anti-colonial nationalism? How were these represented and turned into history writing? In other words, what is the relationship between power, culture, and knowledge? Finally, what are the contemporary political stakes in different narratives of the past? This course thus grapples with history as well as post-colonial theory, and provides students with comparative tools to engage with imperial forms, nationalism, and struggles that remade much of the global south by the mid-twentieth century.

SAST 0700A. Introduction to Modern South Asia: The Politics of States, Society, and Development in South Asia.

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are collectively home to over 1.5 billion people, with rapidly growing economies. Yet, all three states continue to grapple with high levels of poverty, ethnic, religious, gender, and caste-based discrimination, and threats to deepening democracy. Despite a shared history of colonial rule and similar bureaucratic structures, these states have developed important differences in political regimes, systems of governance, and state-citizen linkages. This seminar is an introduction to States, Society, and Development in South Asia, drawing on academic literature primarily from political science, as well as sociology, and history. Over the semester, we will comparatively address themes such as the origins and consolidation of political regimes, the role of the state in economic growth and poverty alleviation, and the evolution of political parties, civil society, and social movements in organizing and making demands for rights.

SAST 0700B. Introduction to Modern South Asia: Public Health From Theory to Practice.

This course introduces students to public health in South Asia (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka) through a health equity approach. We will examine the history, theories, and interventions that shape health care systems in South Asia in three ways. First, students will learn about fundamental historical shifts in public health from the British Raj before 1947, Nation-building between 1947 and 1971, and the present time in health care and policy in South Asia. Second, students will be introduced to structural and social determinants of health (e.g., race and ethnicity, caste, gender, socioeconomic position, sexual orientation) using an interdisciplinary approach rooted in global health theories. Finally, through case studies, we will examine health policies and initiatives across the South Asian region and critically delve into ethical dimensions, behavioral health, and sustainability.

SAST 0700C. Current Debates in Modern South Asia.

Abbreviated Course Description: This course provides a survey of the debates currently occupying scholarship on South Asia. Topics will include – the impacts of colonial modernity; the divergences as well as traffic between class, caste, and religion; the politics of representation in a democracy; forms of relatedness across intimate and geological scales; the distance or proximity between law and violence; the psychic and social consequences of economic liberalization. Throughout the course, we will examine debates over the pertinence of concepts considered to be from elsewhere to understanding South Asian life. Readings are drawn from the disciplines of anthropology, history, sociology, literary studies, political science, and media studies.

SAST 0725. Political Ecology in South Asia.

This course focuses on the complex issues of intra-(human)-species and interspecies inequality, the history of uneven development as well as ecological vulnerability of diverse South Asian societies, and the resulting environmental movements that intersect concerns for environment with that of social justice. First we explore the underlying theoretical premise of how environments can be understood as both 'natural' and ‘social’, and variations over time and space. Is there one Nature or multiple natures? Is Nature even natural? Is there something distinct about the ecology, political ecology, or the history of environmental movements in South Asia? Are the environmental justice movements emerging from the global south able to capture the intricate relationship that many indigenous people in South Asia have with their environment? And how do such movements respond to ecological challenges that are a result of activities of global magnitude?

SAST 0730. Economic and Human Development in South Asia.

This course takes stock of Economic and Human Development achieved in modern South Asia and discusses pertinent public policy issues across countries in an interdisciplinary framework. Following cross-country comparisons of various development indices, we will question the contribution of neo-liberal reforms in agricultural and industrial sectors in improving people’s lives. We will draw upon the rich histories of struggles for economic rights and dignity, led by women, as well as caste and minority groups. We will also explore inequalities in income, wealth, access to health and education, as well as attempts to remedy these by way of social policy. Finally, we discuss the rapidly changing natural and political environments, as we shift our focus to communal tensions and climate change in this region.

SAST 0735. South Asia in the World and the World in South Asia.

This course gives a broad overview of South Asia’s inextricable role in the making of the world and vice versa from the 13th century to the present. To counter the dangerous nationalisms the region has experienced recently, this course underlines the worldliness and the planetarity of South Asia. Course materials also examine gender, sexuality, caste, race, religion, indigeneity, class, region, et cetera, not just because justice demands that we critically examine inequalities and injustices perpetuated against those who are “different” but because the enormous diversity of lives and experiences in South Asia is a matter of fact. This interdisciplinary course draw on multimedia material, journalistic works and archival pieces to think critically about how the region known today as South Asia has come to be shaped socially, politically, affectively, and materially and how it has contributed to shaping the world.

SAST 0740. Anticolonial Perspectives from South Asia.

This seminar examines anticolonial perspectives that not only influenced twentieth century movements for decolonization and independence in South Asia, but also profoundly shaped struggles for equality and justice globally. We will explore major South Asian political and intellectual figures such as Gandhi, Ambedkar, Savarkar; revolutionaries, poets, and writers such as Bhagat Singh, Amrita Pritam, Namdeo Dhasal, Muhammad Iqbal, and Saadat Hassan Manto. The course will also engage with thinkers such as Martin Luther King, DuBois, Frantz Fanon, and Ghassan Kanafani, among others, to think in conversation with the repertoire of global anticolonial thought. The seminar is chance to closely read canonical as well as lesser-known primary sources to think through the entanglements between individual and collective liberation, religion and secularism, and ethics and politics, across intersections of caste, gender, race, and religion.

SAST 0745. The Making of Modern South Asia.

This undergraduate seminar course offers a historical introduction to South Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. It focuses on the historical evolution of the cultures, polities, and societies in this region from the eighteenth century, through colonial and post-colonial period, to the twenty first century. Using seminal historical events as entry points, this course will not only provide a comprehensive historical survey of this region but also explore several major themes and debates in South Asian historiography such as colonialism, orientalism, and modernity. It will also offer a critical analysis of the several post-independence issues that dominate this region. By utilizing a diverse archive of sources such academic texts, primary documents, movies, literature, and maps this course aims to provide students with a comprehensive overview of and the critical tools to engage with scholarship on

SAST 0750. Understanding the Indian Economy.

With a view to help understanding the Indian economy, the course will discuss a number of topics. The aim will be to become conversant with a number of contemporary issues such as demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST), the GDP numbers controversy, fiscal federalism and the outlook for the Indian economy post-COVID. But understanding the economy today will also require becoming familiar with the past and how ideas, events, and developments of the past shaped the India of today in terms of the basic Indian development model, structural transformation, India’s economic and financial crises, the state of state capacity, and gender and other outcomes.

SAST 1050. Contemporary Bollywood: The Cultural Logic of Popular Indian Cinema.

Bollywood, like Hollywood, is not just a cinematic genre but a discursive field that dominates popular imagination in South Asia, permeating its culture, society, and politics. Although rooted in Euro-American sensibilities, Bollywood films have emerged as a distinct form of cinematic representation in the late twentieth century. These films, characterized by flamboyant music, extravagant dance routines, high melodrama, lavish production values, and a focus on stars and spectacle, are deeply embedded in contemporary South Asian ethos. Each week will focus on one film and several key texts to uncover the ideological, social, and cultural logic of Bollywood. The course will link the films’ formal structure and content to broader issues such as postcolonial national identity, pre-modern epic traditions, contemporary popular culture, history, globalization, and diaspora implications.

SAST 1970. Independent Study.

Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check CAB for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.

SAST XLIST. Courses of Interest to Concentrators.