India and the West: South Asia's World History
HIST 285
Fall 2009
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01
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Certificates: International Relations |
Europeans were imagining India well before 1498, when Vasco da Gama's ship, piloted by a Gujarati from East Africa, arrived at Calicut on the Malabar Coast. India was at that time, and until about the mid-18th century, the destination of choice for European traders, missionaries, and military entrepreneurs. In 1757 the economic and political tables began to turn, with the military ascendancy of the English East India Company in Bengal. Soon the entire Indian subcontinent was subject to European power and capital; and partly as a consequence of this, more and more Indians began not only imagining the West, but traveling to it--at first mostly to Europe, but increasingly, as the 18th century gave way to the 19th, to the Americas as well. This course will trace the history of India's long engagement with Europe and the Americas and will draw on a rich and diverse--and global--literary outpouring across centuries, as well as popular and "parallel" (or "art") cinematic representation from the past six decades created in both South Asia and the West. Contemporary literary accounts, including much period fiction, will be paired with scholarly investigations of the social, military, economic, political, and religious themes that marked the five centuries of India's world history. |
Essential Capabilities:
None |
Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (GSAS-MN)(GSAS)(HIST-MN)(HIST)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Amitav Ghosh, IN AN ANTIQUE LAND Rudyard Kipling, KIM Rabindranath Tagore, GORA Flora Annie Steel, ON THE FACE OF THE WATER Salman Rushdie, SATANIC VERSES Pandita Ramabai, THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED STATES Katherine Mayo, MOTHER INDIA Suketu Mehta, MAXIMUM CITY: BOMBAY LOST AND FOUND William Dalrymple, THE LAST MUGHAL Nirad Chaudhuri, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN E. M. Forster, PASSAGE TO INDIA ...and other readings TBA
Films will include: Shatranj ke Khilari, Lagge Raho Munna Bhai, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding, East is East, Bride and Prejudice, Bend it Like Beckham, Gandhi, Ghare Bhaire [Home and the World], Lagaan, The Rising, Junoon, Passage to India, The Man Who Would be King, 1942 a Love Story
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Examinations and Assignments: 2 papers, weekly blackboard film comments, midterm, and final examinations. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments: Students should reserve Wednesday evenings, 7-10 p.m., for film viewings every week. This is mandatory. Class will NOT meet on Wednesday morning, 10:00-10:50. |
Instructor(s): Pinch,William R. Times: .M...F. 10:00AM-10:50AM; ...W... 07:00PM-10:00PM; Location: PAC004; PAC004; |
Total Enrollment Limit: 40 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
Seats Available: 24 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 10 | FR: 10 |
Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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