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 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 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 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 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.