South Asian Studies
Faculty of the Committee on South Asian Studies
Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs (Chair)
Asad A. Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Ali S. Asani, Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Cultures
Homi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities (on leave fall term)
Diana L. Eck, Fredric Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society
Smita Lahiri, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Sendhil Mullainathan, Professor of Economics
Parimal G. Patil, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities (on leave 2008-09)
Amartya Sen, Lamont University Professor (on leave spring term)
Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp, Professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies
Michael Witzel, Wales Professor of Sanskrit (on leave fall term)
Richard K. Wolf, Professor of Music (on leave fall term)
The Committee on South Asian Studies is a multi-disciplinary group of scholars appointed to coordinate teaching and research on South Asia (the nation-states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and their neighboring areas) among Harvard’s departments and schools and is concerned with the planned development of South Asian studies in the University as a whole. It works in close collaboration with the Asia Center, especially its South Asia Initiative, to promote the study of South Asia in a comparative and global context. In association with the South Asian Initiative, it sponsors lectures, seminars, conferences, films and exhibitions on South Asia. There are currently two FAS seminar series wholly focused on South Asia: South Asia without Borders, and the South Asia Seminar.
The Committee is working to expand the range of curricular options open to undergraduates. An undergraduate concentration is currently offered in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. Graduate degrees with a South Asian focus can be sought in the Departments of History, Religion, Sanskrit and Indian Studies and other departments. A PhD degree can be pursued in the Department of History in South Asian and Indian Ocean history. South Asian religions can be studied towards a PhD degree under the Committee on the Study of Religion. The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations offers a PhD track in Indo-Islamic culture. The South Asian Initiative awards several South Asia-related undergraduate and graduate research and travel grants and fellowships.
At present, Harvard offers more than 100 non-language courses in South Asian Studies in various departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Professional Schools on a regular basis, with many offered every year and all offered at least once every three years. Of these, over 60 consist of 100 percent South Asian content. Courses with at least 25 percent South Asian content number nearly 40. More than 30 language courses are offered with at least three-year sequences in Hindi-Urdu and Sanskrit. Reciprocal cross-registration agreements are in place with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and for graduate students at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Core Courses of Interest
Foreign Cultures 70. Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies
Historical Study A-16. Modern South Asia in Global History
[Literature and Arts C-18. Hindu Myth, Image, and Pilgrimage]
Freshman Seminars of Interest
*Freshman Seminar 44p. Contemporary India: Fact and Fiction
Courses of Interest
*Anthropology 1020. Archaeology, Politics and Society in South Asia: Seminar
[Anthropology 1120. Comparative Analysis of Ancient Civilizations]
Anthropology 1630. Other People’s Beliefs: The Anthropology of Religion
[Anthropology 1690. Consuming Passions: Cultures of Materialism in Asia]
[Anthropology 2780. Culture and Citizenship]
*Anthropology 3100. Old World Archaeology (Europe, Asia, and Africa)
*Anthropology 3111. Asiatic Archaeology and Ethnography
Economics 2390b. Development Economics I: Microeconomic Issues
Economics 2390d. The Economic Growth and Development Workshop
*Government 98gs (formerly *Government 90gs). Civil Society in Asia
*History 72a (formerly *History 1425). The Rise of the British Empire, 1757-1857
[*History 86d (formerly *History 1895). The Indian Ocean in Comparative Perspective]
*History 86e (formerly *History 1897). Nation, Reason and Religion in South Asia
[*History 89c (formerly *History 1958). Islam and Ethnicity]
History 2692 (formerly History 2892). Colonial and Post-Colonial Histories of South Asia: Seminar
[*History of Art and Architecture 123y. Monuments of Medieval Islamic Architecture (7th–13th Century)]
[Indian Studies 118. Indian Philosophy: Advanced Introduction]
[Indian Studies 207a. Understanding Indian Ritual]
[Indian Studies 207b. Understanding Indian Ritual]
*Islamic Civilizations 241r. Approaches to Studying Indo-Muslim Culture and South Asian Islam
Linguistics 122. Introduction to Indo-European
Linguistics 220ar. Advanced Indo-European
Linguistics 221r. Workshop in Indo-European
[Music 190r. Topics in World Music: Proseminar]
Music 201b. Current Methods in Ethnomusicology
[Music 207r. Ethnomusicology: Seminar]
Nepali 101a. Introductory Nepali
Nepali 101b. Introductory Nepali
[Pali 101a. Introductory Pali]
[Pali 101b. Introductory Pali]
[Pali 102a. Intermediate Pali]
[*Pali 102b. Intermediate Pali]
[Pali 103r. Readings in Pali]
Persian A. Elementary Persian
[Religion 1063. South Asian Religious Aesthetics: Seminar]
[Religion 1600. Introduction to Hinduism]
[Religion 1627. Hindu Ethics: Seminar]
Religion 1631. Hindu Traditions of Devotion
[*Religion 1820 (formerly *Religion 1585). Islam in South Asia: Religion, Culture, and Identity in South Asian Muslim Societies]
Sanskrit 101a. Elementary Sanskrit
Sanskrit 101b. Elementary Sanskrit
Sanskrit 102a. Intermediate Sanskrit I
Sanskrit 102b. Intermediate Sanskrit II
Sanskrit 200ar. Advanced Poetic Sanskrit
Sanskrit 200br (formerly Sanskrit 212br). Advanced Literary Sanskrit
[Sanskrit 201ar. Advanced Philosophical Sanskrit]
[Sanskrit 201br. Advanced Philosophical Sanskrit]
Sanskrit 204ar. Introduction to Vedic Sanskrit and Literature
[Sanskrit 214. Ritual Sutras]
*Sanskrit 301. Reading and Research
Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality 1210ft. Feminist Theory: Feminism and Psychoanalysis
Urdu 101. Introductory Urdu-Hindi
Urdu 102. Intermediate Urdu-Hindi
Urdu 103a. Advanced Urdu-Hindi
Urdu 103b. Advanced Urdu-Hindi
Urdu 104. The Classical Urdu Ghazal and Its Symbolism
Urdu 105r. Topics in Urdu-Hindi Literature