This course surveys central issues in the ethnographic study of contemporary South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Students will engage with classical and recent ethnographies to critically examine key thematic fault lines within national imaginations, especially along the lines of religion, caste, gender, ethnicity, and language. Not only does the course demonstrate how these fault lines continually shape the nature of nationalism, state institutions, development, social movements, violence, and militarism across the colonial and post-colonial periods but also, demonstrates how anthropological knowledge and ethnography provide us with a critical lens for exploring the most pressing issues facing South Asia in the world today.

Same as GASB42H3