South Asia Studies
Academic Program Introduction
Our program focuses on the histories, cultures, and people of South Asia and its diaspora. Students explore both European and South Asian theories of knowledge. Majors concentrate on a single method, such as literary analysis, or a single theme, such as international development, and become proficient in a South Asian language such as Hindi or Urdu.
Learning goals
- Think in a multicontextual way and at the intersection of disciplines.
Engage in rigorous encounters with a crucial but underrepresented area of the world.
Gain broad understanding of the cultures, histories, religions, societies, politics, and people of the region and in the diaspora.
Learn to speak and comprehend, and to write and read, in Hindi or in Urdu, or in another South Asian language.
Programs of Study
South Asia studies major and minor
Students acquire skills and sentiments needed to understand South Asian arts, cultures, histories, politics, and religions.
Course highlights
Intermediate Hindi/Urdu II
HNUR202
Intermediate Hindi/Urdu will build on the reading, writing, and speaking skills acquired earlier.The readings, drawn from simple literary texts as well as from social and journalistic writings, will reinforce the grammar learned in the introductory course and introduce new grammar topics. The writing exercises-mainly in essay formats-will stress usage of idioms and sentence constructions by students. The class will be conducted in Hindi/Urdu with a part of every class dedicated to conversation on the theme of the day in the language.
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This course covers the visual culture of India from ancient Indus Valley civilization through Independence. It follows the stylistic, technological, and iconographical developments of painting, sculpture, architecture, and textiles as they were created for the subcontinent's major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. We will examine the relationship between works of art and the political, economic, and social conditions that shaped their production. It will emphasize such themes as religious and cultural diversity, mythology and tradition, and royal and popular art forms. Attention will also be paid to colonialism and the close relationship between collecting, patronage, and empire. (ARTH 239 and SAS 239 are cross-listed courses.)
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In 1947, India was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Since then, these countries have wrestled with issues of governance and development, but colonial rule casts a long shadow over their efforts. This course introduces students to the complex politico-economic landscape of the subcontinent by examining how the idea of development changes in modern South Asian history. How are developmental efforts embedded in contexts of politics, society, and culture? How do political systems affect decisions? This course considers these questions by examining themes such as the colonial state's construction of railway and irrigation networks; Gandhi's critique of industrialization; Nehru's vision of an industrial economy; the challenges posed by Partition and militarization of Pakistan; the Green Revolution; and the onset of economic deregulation.
Research highlights
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Professor Neelima Shukla-Bhatt’s book Hinduism: The Basics (Routledge, 2023) digs into the variety of philosophical schools, priestly rituals, and popular practices common in the Hindu faith, looking in particular at the diversity of Hinduism’s traditions and how they function in everyday life.
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The Islamic Welfare State: Muslim Charity, Human Security, and Government Legitimacy in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2023), by Professor Christopher Candland, explores the relationship between government legitimacy, everyday security, and lived Islam in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country.
Opportunities
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Student organizations
Students run three organizations centered on South Asian communities: Al-Muslimat, Wellesley’s Muslim Student Association; Darshana, for Wellesley’s Hindu community; and the Wellesley Association for South Asian Cultures, which hosts a cultural show, Shruti Laya, each fall.
Beyond Wellesley
Beyond Wellesley
Our graduates pursue a wide range of careers in health care, consulting, government, and advocacy. Recent employers include ATASK (Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence), Druk Holding and Investments, the National Institutes of Health, Publicis Sapient, the National Cancer Institute, Singapore’s Ministry of National Development, and the World Bank.
Recent Employers
South Asia Studies Program
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481