Modern India

Terms: 1 (not offered every term)
Grades: 11, 12, PG

They say that India lives in many centuries at once. Keeping this long civilizational history in mind, this course will focus on South Asia from the mid 20th century to the present day. Diverse and anomalous, the region is home to almost 2.5 billion people and is characterized by its multiplicity of religious traditions, cultural beliefs, political and economic systems. Broadly focused on India after Independence, with case studies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, we will examine the interplay of authoritarian and democratic political systems, the rise of Hindu and Islamic fundamentalisms, the role of Cold War politics in destabilizing the region, questions of secularism and minority rights, and debates over caste and gender.