New course examines South Asia

By Kelly Lucas
Summer Reporter

A new history course will explore modern South Asia between the mid-19th century and present time.

"Beef, Biceps and Community: Violence and Nationalism in South Asia," HIST 492H, will be offered this fall.

Satadru Sen, professor of history and instructor for the course, said he intends to have students examine the role violence has played in shaping the societies of modern South Asia. Students will learn about the relationship between violence and identity, especially national identity and gender identity, said Sen.

"I want to have students examine just what nationalism is, what factors come together to create nationalist ideologies, whether nationalism is necessarily based on violence and whether it is possible to have a non-violent nationalism," said Sen.

"I also want them to look at the connections between nationalism, ideal masculinity and femininity and violence against women."

Sen, who has taught a course similar to this one at the University of Washington, said the course will focus on countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, parts of the world which Sen said are often neglected by U.S. media, yet are home to nearly one-fifth of the world's population.

Sen said the course will be more like a seminar and most of the class time will be spent discussing readings, films, media reports and assignments.

Course work will range from reading academic books, articles, novels and polemical essays to watching movies ranging from Hollywood classics like "Gunga Din" to the works of great Indian film-makers like Satyajit Ray, said Sen.

Although there will be no exams in the course, there will be a focus on analytical writing. Students will be required to write three papers, of about six pages each, based on the materials presented in the course.

"The idea is for the students to think critically about the sources they examine, so that they can challenge not only the assumptions of the authors, but their own assumptions about the relationships between violence and society," Sen said. "I intend to work closely with students as they develop their papers, so the experience would not be too intimidating for anyone, including people who are not history majors."

In addition to the papers, students will be required to write short synopses of the assigned readings and read South Asian newspapers and magazines on the Internet.

"What I enjoy most about teaching about nationalism and violence is that students become very involved in the debates," said Sen. "This is a subject that is far from exotic or alien, after all, we all live in a world that is structured by national identities and in political relationships that are founded on the threat of violence. Students are able to relate to the issues, even when the setting is India or Pakistan or Bangladesh."

The course is open to any student meeting the criteria of the Liberal Arts Honors program. There are no prerequisites.

• For more information on the course, contact the history department at 494-4122.

New course examines South Asia

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