The Political Ascetic
HIST 314
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
GSAS 316 |
Ascetics have long played a decisive role in Indian politics. Gandhi is the best known exemplar of this fact. But the figure of the "political ascetic" long predates Gandhi. This seminar examines the philosophical, religious, and historical underpinnings of the political ascetic in the long sweep of Indian history, which thereby affords a revised understanding of the recent Indian past -- including agrarian (or kisan) asceticism, Gandhian post-modern asceticism, Ambedkar's Buddhist-dalit asceticism, and Savarkar's Hindu nationalist asceticism. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (History Minor)(History) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
:
Arthur Herman, Gandhi and Chruchill
Novetzke and Kale, Yoga of Power
Sahajanand Saraswati, My Life Struggle
Douglas Ober, Dust on the Throne
Additional texts will be made available by the instructor.
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Examinations and Assignments:
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Grade will be based on in class participation, text analysis, bibliographic exercise, and a research paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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| Instructor(s): Pinch,William Times: ...W... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
| 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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