Courses for Spring 2020 | South Asia Studies

	Title	Instructor	Location	Time	Description	Fulfills	Registration Notes
BENG 404-680	BEGINNING BENGALI II	BANERJEE, HAIMANTI	WILLIAMS HALL 201	TR 0500PM-0700PM	This course introduces students to colloquial Bengali. It gives equal emphasis to each of the four skills, reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Language will be studied in the context of socio-cultural aspects of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Besides lessons from the text, a major portion of the syllabus will be based on topics drawn from films, cultural events, festivals, food, and religion.
BENG 434-680	AD BENGALI: POP CULTURE	BANERJEE, HAIMANTI		TBA TBA-	This course is for those already studying advanced Bengali. We will focus on the importance of pop culture in Benglai and the impact of Bengali on pop culture. We'll use examples from film, music, fashion, and all over the internet in the sub-continent and beyond.
GUJR 403-680	BEGINNING GUJARATI II	DESAI, RAKI	WILLIAMS HALL 320	MW 0500PM-0700PM	During the first year of Gujarati, major emphasis is placed on acquiring phonetics, grammatical patterns, and basic vocabulary. These goals are accomplished through guided drills and conversations accompanied by formal instruction on Gujarati grammar. From the outset, students are also taught the Gujarati writing system, which is used for all materials. By the end of the first year of instruction, student should be able to carry on coherent conversations on selected topics, read simple texts and compose short pieces in Gujarati.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
GUJR 423-680	INTERMEDIATE GUJARATI II	DESAI, RAKI	WILLIAMS HALL 741	MW 0700PM-0830PM	This course is designed as a continuation of intermediate Gujarati I. Course objectives are to expand the mastery of sentence patterns and augment vocabulary and its usage through intensive grammar and comprehension exercises. A special emphasis will be placed on greater cultural awareness. Upon completion of this course students should be able to interact socially with added confidence and greater expressiveness. Students should also experience a great improvement in their comprehension of spoken and written language. During the second year of Gujarati, students are introduced to progressively more difficult reading selections, along with additional instructions in the formal grammar of the language. To maintain and develop oral and aural command of the language, readings are discussed in Gujarati. To develop their writing abilities, students are also expected to compose short essays on their readings.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
HIND 401-401	BEGINNING HINDI-URDU II	RANADE, MILIND	LAB-STRUC OF MATTER 112B DAVID RITTENHOUSE LAB 3C8	TR 0300PM-0430PM F 0300PM-0400PM	This introductory course core proficiency in Hindi-Urdu up to the intermediate level. It is designed for students with little or no prior exposure to Hindi or Urdu. The course covers all four language skills (speaking, lsitening, reading, and writing) and all three models of communication (interpersonal, presentational, interpretive). Students will develop literacy skills in the primary script of their choice (Hindi or Urdu script). All written materials will be provided in both scripts. All meetings are interactive and students acquire the language by using it in realistic contexts. Culture is embedded in the activities and is also introduced through various authentic materials.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
HIND 421-301	INTERMEDIATE HINDI II: Intermediate Hindi Part II	RANADE, MILIND	WILLIAMS HALL 215	TR 1030AM-1200PM	In Intermediate Hindi the student continues to develop the four language skills, with an emphasis on real-life situations--through hearing and practicing conversation on everyday topics, reading a variety of authentic texts ranging from advertisements to short stories, watching segments of current films, and carrying out short research projects using Hindi sources. There is a strong emphasis on vocabulary development and on using contextually appropriate styles of spoken and written Hindi.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; THE SECOND TERM OF A TWO-TERM COURSE
HIND 430-001	ADV HINDI LANG & LIT	DWIVEDI, ANAND	WILLIAMS HALL 705	TR 0900AM-1030AM	Advanced Hindi aims at systematically developing higher level linguistic functions and cultural nuances. Students learn to describe, narrate and support opinions in informal and formal styles. The objective of the course is to promote a meaningful interaction with written literature and with native speakers in a socially acceptable manner in a variety of simple and complicated situations. A variety of authentic materials are used, such as short stories, plays, newspapers, magazines, videos, television and radio broadcasts, and interviews. Every semester the course materials and foci vary depending on the needs and interests of students in the class.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
HIND 500-001	BEG HIN/URD FOR GRADS	SREENIVASAN, RAMYA		TBA TBA-	Beginning in the fall semester of 2014 Beginning Hindi and Beginning Urdu will be merged into a single course, Beginning Hindi-Urdu. At the beginning level spoken Urdu and Hindi are identical except for a few minor points. The broad outline of the course will thus remain the same as that of the current Beginning Hindi and Urdu courses. Students will learn to communicate with the language in a variety of everyday culturally authentic situations. Additional Urdu and Hindi culture will be integrated through authentic materials such as Bollywood film and music clips, and simple written texts. There will be equal emphasis on both scripts and cultures, and parallel written materials will be provided in both scripts. Students will be expected to develop first-year proficiency in one script of their choice, and will be encouraged to learn both. By merging the two courses students will be exposed to a broader range of linguistic and cultural styles, and students will thus have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding that more closely resembles that of Hindi and Urdu native speakers. Please direct further inquiries to Josh Pien at jpien@sas.upenn.edu See schedule and classroom for HIND400/401		PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR
HIND 520-001	INTERMEDIATE HIND GRADS	SREENIVASAN, RAMYA		TBA TBA-	In Intermediate Hindi the student continues to develop the four language skills, with an emphasis on real-life situations--through hearing and practicing conversation on everyday topics, reading a variety of authentic texts ranging from advertisements to short stories, watching segments of current films, and carrying out short research projects using Hindi sources. There is a strong emphasis on vocabulary development and on using contextually appropriate styles of spoken and written Hindi.		PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR
HIND 530-001	ADV HINDI FOR GRADS	SREENIVASAN, RAMYA		TBA TBA-	Advanced Hindi aims at systematically developing higher level linguistic functions and cultural nuances. Students learn to describe, narrate and support opinions in informal and formal styles. The objective of the course is to promote a meaningful interaction with written literature and with native speakers in a socially acceptable manner in a variety of simple and complicated situations. A variety of authentic materials are used, such as short stories, plays, newspapers, magazines, videos, television and radio broadcasts, and interviews. Every semester the course materials and foci vary depending on the needs and interests of students in the class.		PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR
MLYM 409-680	BEGINNING MALAYALAM II	KURICHI, JAMES	MCNEIL BUILDING 409	MW 0600PM-0800PM	This course is designed to develop skills in reading, writing, and speaking. It will focus on the alphabet, basic vocabulary, nouns (cases, gender and number), verbs and their basic tenses, numerals, rules of joining words, adjectives, adverbs, and sentence structure. Guided conversation will be a part of every class. Students will receive considerable training in speaking and writing their own sentences and paragraphs.
MLYM 429-680	INTERMEDIAT MALAYALAM II	KURICHI, JAMES		R 0500PM-0800PM	This course is designed to further the language skills learned in Beginning Malayalam. Direct and indirect speech, passive voice, postpositions, and rules of joining words, will be included. Reading and discussion of texts from current Malayalam literature (essays, narration, short stories, and poems) will be a major portion of the course.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER
PUNJ 405-680	BEGINNING PUNJABI II	GAHUNIA, AMRIT	COLLEGE HALL 315A	MW 1200PM-0130PM	This course emphasizes speaking and reading skills in Punjabi. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to interact meaningfully and in a socially acceptable manner in a variety of simple situations involving everyday conversational topics. Further, students should be able to read and understand the main idea and most details of simple connected texts. This course will utilize authentic printed, audio, and video materials and will provide opportunities for natural communication both within and outside the classroom.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
PUNJ 425-680	INTERMEDIATE PUNJABI II	GAHUNIA, AMRIT	WILLIAMS HALL 741	TR 0430PM-0600PM	This course is designed as a continuation of Beginning Punjabi, but can also be taken by anyone who can demonstrate a similar level in proficiency of the language. The course objectives are to expand the mastery of sentence patterns and augment vocabulary and its usage through intensive grammar review and comprehension exercises. A special emphasis will also be placed on greater cultural awareness. Upon completion of this course students should be able to interact socially with added confidence and greater expressiveness. Students should also experience a great improvement in their comprehension of the spoken and written language.		CONTACT DEPT or INSTRUCTOR FOR CLASSRM INFO; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; THE SECOND TERM OF A TWO-TERM COURSE
PUNJ 434-680	ADVANCED PUNJABI	GAHUNIA, AMRIT		TBA TBA-	The objective of the course is to improve proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Fall semester: Readings in Punjabi Literature - This course addresses the individual needs of learners. This is a one semester course. The focus of the course will be to study the interpretation of written and oral materials on social, political and contemporary cultural topics from modern literature, literary criticism, poetry and drama. Weekly written compositions and oral presentations will be assigned. Grading will be based on this. Spring semester: Punjabi Popular Culture- This course focuses on different aspects of popular Punjabi culture as they are represented in media - television, internet, magazines, newspapers, film, and music. This course aims at making the best use of class participation to improve all four language skills. This is also a one semester course. Prerequisite: This course is offered through the Penn Language Center.
SAST 001-401	INTRO TO MODERN INDIA	CHAKRABARTI, BAISHAKH	COLLEGE HALL 200	TR 1030AM-1200PM	This introductory course will provide an outline of major events and themes in Indian history, from the Mughal Empire in the 16th century to the re-emergence of India as a global player in the 21st century. The course will discuss the following themes: society and economy in Mughal India; global trade between India and the West in the 17th century; the rise of the English East India Company's control over Indian subcontinent in the 18th century; its emergence and transformation of India into a colonial economy; social and religious reform movements in the 19th century; the emergence of elite and popular anti-colonial nationalisms; independence and the partition of the subcontinent; the emergence of the world's largest democracy; the making of an Indian middle class; and the nuclearization of South Asia.	History & Tradition Sector (all classes)	HISTORY & TRADITION SECTOR
SAST 002-401	THE CITY IN SOUTH ASIA	LIBEIRO, SIRUS	UNIVERSITY MUSEUM 329	TR 1200PM-0130PM	This interdisciplinary social science course examines key topics, themes, and analytic methods in the study of South Asia by focusing on significant South Asian cities. With one-fifth of the worlds population,South Asia and its urban centers are playing an increasingly important role in recent global economic transformations, resulting in fundamental changes within both the subcontinent and the larger world. Drawing primarily on ethnographic studies of South Asia in the context of rapid historical change, the course also incorporates research drawn from urban studies, architecture, political science, and history, as well as fiction and film. Topics include globalization and new economic dynamics in South Asia; the formation of a new urban middle class; consumption and consumer culture; urban political formations, democratic institutions, and practices; criminality & the underworld; population growth, changes in the built environment, and demographic shifts; everyday life in South Asia and ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identities, differences, and violence in South Asia's urban environments. This is an introductory level course appropriate for students with no background in South Asia or for those seeking to better understand South Asia's urban environments in the context of recent globalization and rapid historical changes. No prerequisites. Fulfills College sector requirement in Society and foundational approach in Cross-Cultural Analysis.	Society sector (all classes)	CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; SOCIETY SECTOR; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
SAST 003-401	HIST,CLTR, EARLY INDIA	ALI, DAUD		CANCELED	This course surveys the culture, religion and history of India from 2500 BCE to1200 CE. The course examines the major cultural, religious and social factors that shaped the course of early Indian history. The following themes will be covered: the rise and fall of Harappan civilization, the "Aryan Invasion" and Vedic India, the rise of cities, states and the religions of Buddhism and Jainism, the historical context of the growth of classical Hinduism, including the Mahabharata, Ramayana and the development of the theistic temple cults of Saivism and Vaisnavism, processes of medieval agrarian expansion and cultic incorporation as well as the spread of early Indian cultural ideas in Southeast Asia. In addition to assigned secondary readings students will read select primary sources on the history of religion and culture of early India, including Vedic and Buddhist texts, Puranas and medieval temple inscriptions. Major objectives of the course will be to draw attention to India's early cultural and religious past and to assess contemporary concerns and ideologies in influencing our understanding and representation of that past.	History & Tradition Sector (all classes)	HISTORY & TRADITION SECTOR
SAST 006-401	HINDU MYTHOLOGY	PATEL, DEVEN	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 419	TR 1200PM-0100PM	Premodern India produced some of the world's greatest myths and stories: tales of gods, goddesses, heroes, princesses, kings and lovers that continue to capture the imaginations of millions of readers and hearers. In this course, we will look closely at some of these stories especially as found in Purana-s, great compendia composed in Sanskrit, including the chief stories of the central gods of Hinduism: Visnu, Siva, and the Goddess. We will also consider the relationship between these texts and the earlier myths of the Vedas and the Indian Epics, the diversity of the narrative and mythic materials within and across different texts, and the re-imagining of these stories in the modern world.	Arts & Letters Sector (all classes)	CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; ARTS & LETTERS SECTOR; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
SAST 007-401	INTRO MODRN S.ASIA LIT: NEW LITERATURES OF RESISTANCE AND REPRESENTATIONS	GOULDING, GREGORY	JAFFE BUILDING B17	MW 0200PM-0330PM	This course will provide a wide-ranging introduction to the literatures of South Asia from roughly 1500 to the present, as well as an exploration of their histories and impact on South Asian society today. How are literary movements and individual works - along with the attitudes towards religion, society, and culture associated with them - still influential in literature, film, and popular culture? How have writers across time and language engaged with questions of caste, gender, and identity? We will read from the rich archive of South Asian writing in translation - from languages that include Braj, Urdu, Bangla, and Tamil - to consider how these literatures depict their own society while continuing to resonate across time and space. Topics of dicussion will include the Bhakti poetries of personal devotion, the literature of Dalits - formerly referred to as the Untouchables - and the ways in which literature addresses contemporary political and social problems. Students will leave this course with a sense of the contours of the literatures of South Asia as well as ways of exploring the role of these literatures in the larger world. No prior knowledge of South Asia is required; this course fulfills the cross-cultural analysis requirement.	Arts & Letters Sector (all classes)	CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; ARTS & LETTERS SECTOR; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
SAST 054-401	RELIGION AND RESISTANCE IN SOUTH ASIA	MOHAMMAD, MAHBOOB	WILLIAMS HALL 25	MW 0200PM-0330PM	In this course, we focus on various medieval and contemporary devotional forms of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam in South Asia. Several definitions try to tie the idea of devotion to classicism and traditionalism with a set of conservative ideas. However, this course introduces the students to a diverse and pluralistic understanding of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam that also has a history of resistance and protest beginning with poets such as Kabir and others from the Bhakti movement, and Sufi devotional contexts in South Asia. We read about the histories of these rebellious poets and their interventions into the traditional practices of devotion. We also discuss about how these medieval trends find their way into contemporary times enriching the discourses of Dalit, Muslim and Feminist movements.
SAST 105-001	BEGINNING TABLA II	BHATTI, AQEEL	WILLIAMS HALL 812	MW 0500PM-0630PM	A continuation of Tabla I, also open to beginning students.		PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR
SAST 107-001	BEGINNING SITAR II	GOKHALE, JAGADEESH	WILLIAMS HALL 812	TR 0430PM-0600PM	This is the second semester of a performance course in the North Indian sitar Students who have not taken the first semester but play any musical instrument are permitted to join. Principles of composition and improvisation will be explored in practice and supplemented by readings and listening. The class gives a group performance at the end of the semester.		CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
SAST 113-401	ASIAN AM COMMUNITY: Asian American Community	KHAN, FARIHA	CLAUDIA COHEN HALL 392	TR 1200PM-0120PM	Who is Asian American and how and where do we recognize Asian America? This interdisciplinary course explores the multiple factors that define Asian American identity and community. In order to provide a sketch of the multifacted experience of this growing minority group, we will discuss a wide variety of texts from scholarly, artistic, and popular (film, cinematic) sources that mark key moments in the cultural history of Asia America. The course will address major themes of community life including migration history, Asian American as model minority, race, class, and transnational scope of Asian America. In combination with the readings, this class will foster and promote independent research based on site visits to various Asian American communities in Philadelphia and will host community leaders as guest lecturers.		CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN US; CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE US
SAST 142-401	INTRO BUDDHISM	MCDANIEL, JUSTIN		CANCELED	This course seeks to introduce students to the diversity of doctrines held and practices performed by Buddhists in Asia. By focusing on how specific beliefs and practices are tied to particular locations and particular times, we will be able to explore in detail the religious institutions, artistic, architectural, and musical traditions, textual production and legal and doctrinal developments of Buddhism over time and within its socio-historical context. Religion is never divorced from its place and its time. Furthermore, by geographically and historically grounding the study of these religions we will be able to examine how their individual ethic, cosmological and soteriological systems effect local history, economics, politics, and material culture. We will concentrate first on the person of the Buddha, his many biographies and how he has been followed and worshipped in a variety of ways from Lhasa, Tibet to Phrae, Thailand. From there we touch on the foundational teachings of the Buddha with an eye to how they have evolved and transformed over time. Finally, we focus on the practice of Buddhist ritual, magic and ethics in monasteries and among aly communities in Asia and even in the West. This section will confront the way Buddhists have thought of issues such as "Just-War," Women's Rights and Abortion. While no one quarter course could provide a detailed presentation of the beliefs and practices of Buddhism, my hope is that we will be able to look closely at certain aspects of these religions by focusing on how they are practiced in places like Nara, Japan or Vietnam, Laos.		SECTION ACTIVITY CO-REQUISITE REQUIRED; CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
SAST 160-401	GODLINESS, MIRACLES, AND 'MADNESS' IN INDIAN OCEAN PORT CITIES	SEVEA, TERENJIT	WILLIAMS HALL 301	T 0300PM-0600PM	This undergraduate-level course introduces students to religious worlds within port cities of the modern Indian Ocean that were centered upon peripatetic Muslim, Saiva, Christian and Sikh miracle-workers, missionaries and 'gods.' This course will particularly consider how extant, published sources reveal how religion in 19th and 20th century cosmopolitan port cities and islands was centered upon holy men and women or spiritual beings, and intricately connected to modern economic, political and technological developments in the Indian Ocean. This course is divided into three parts. In the first part of this course, students will be introduced, on the one hand, to the scholarship on the port cities or islands of, and religions or religious networks in, the modern Indian Ocean. On the other hand, to anthropological, historical and literary works on Muslim saints, Christian missionaries and Saiva gods in the Indian Ocean. In the second and main section of this course, students will be introduced to contemporary academic literature pertaining to the inter-linkages between itinerant miracle-workers, missionaries, 'gods' and devotional cults, and economic, political and technological developments in the Indian Ocean. As well as works that explore European institutions, barracks, plantations, cells and asylums, and steam travel being steeped in customary religion, carnivals, ecstasy, madness and miracle stories. Here, students will be encouraged to consider ways in which a study of religion and religious economies of modern Indian Ocean port cities can be recovered through extracts from a range of anthropological, literary and historical sources. In the third part of this course, students will be encouraged to engage with the question of whether the religion of devotional cults preoccupied with the powers of Muslim, Saiva, Christian, and Sikh miracle-workers, missionaries and 'gods' in cosmopolitan port cities, was a distinct product of circulations within the Indian Ocean.		FRESHMAN SEMINAR; FRESHMAN SEMINAR
SAST 166-401	THE ASIAN CARIBBEAN	PILLAI, RUPA	WILLIAMS HALL 723	TR 0300PM-0430PM	This course complicates prevailing understandings of the Caribbean and extends the boundaries of Asian America by exploring the histories, experiences, and contributions of Asians in the Caribbean. In particular, we will focus on the migrations of Chinese and Indian individuals to Cuba, Trinidad, and Guyana as well as how their descendants are immigrating to the United States. We will examine the legal and social debates surrounding their labor in the 19th century, how they participated in the decolonization of the region, and how their migration to the United States complicates our understandings of ethnicity and race. Ultimately, through our comparative race approach, we will appreciate that the Caribbean is more than the Black Caribbean, it is also the Asian Caribbean.		CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN US; CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE US
SAST 189-401	ISLAM AND THE WEST	SEVEA, TERENJIT	WILLIAMS HALL 826	TR 0600PM-0730PM	How did Muslims and modern South Asia interact with the West? What Islamic idioms, orientations and movements emerged in the nineteenth and twentienth centuries? Was South Asia a prominent global center of Islam? What kinds of Islamic educational institutions developed in modern South Asia? How did Muslims appropriate technologies? What materials were printed by Muslims? Were Muslims part of the British army? What was jihad in modernity? How did Muslim 'modernists' and 'traditionalists' respond to the challenges of colonialism and modernity? What was the nature of Sufism in modern South Asia? What was the nature of politicalIslam in South Asia? How did some Muslims demand a Muslim State? What was the Partition? How has Muslim history been remembered in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan? This is an introductory course, and aims to introduce students to a facet of the long history of Islam, Muslims, and the West.
SAST 215-401	ASIAN AM GENDERSEXUALITY: ASIAN AMERICAN GENDER AND SEXUALITY	PILLAI, RUPA	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 407	TR 1030AM-1200PM	This course explores the intersection of gender, sexuality, and race in Asian America. Through interdisciplinary and cultural texts, students will consider how Asian American gender and sexualities are constructed in relation to racism while learning theories on and methods to study gender, sex, and race. We will discuss masculinities, femininities, race-conscious feminisms, LGBTQ+ identities, interracial and intraracial relationships, and kinship structures.		CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN US; CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE US
SAST 217-401	CU IN INDIA: CU IN INDIA: THE PERFORMING ARTS OF MODERN SOUTH INDIA	SONEJI, DAVESH	WILLIAMS HALL 826	M 0400PM-0700PM	C.U. in India is a hybrid, domestic/overseas course series which provides students with the opportunity to have an applied learning and cultural experience in India or South East Asia where students participate in 1) 28 classrom hours in the Fall term 2) a 12-day trip to India or South East Asia with the instructor during the winter break visiting key sites and conducting original research (sites vary) 3) 28 classroom hours at Penn in the Spring term and 4) a research paper, due at the end of the Spring term. Course enrollment is limited to students admitted to the program. For more information and the program application go to http://sites.sas.upenn.edu/cuinindia This is a 2-CU yearlong course DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS MARCH 31st
SAST 221-401	ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN: Asian American Women: Nation, Self, Identity	ROY, RAILI	WILLIAMS HALL 319	W 0200PM-0500PM	This course examines the literary constructions of Asian American Womens' identity in relation to the U.S. nation state. How have the figures of the tiger mother, the Asian nerd, the rice queen, the trafficked woman, the geisha, the war bride, emerged to represent Asian American women, and how have Asian American feminists responded to these problematic racial stereotypes? How does the scholarship on such racialized representations illuminate historical and contemporary configurations of gender, sexuality, race, class, nation, citizenship, migration, empire, war, neoliberalism and globalization as they relate to the lives of Asian American women? In exploring these questions, this course examines Asian American histories, bodies, identities, diasporic communities, representations, and politics through multi- and interdisciplinary approaches, including social science research, literature, popular representations, film, poetry and art.		CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN US; CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE US
SAST 262-401	MAKING/MEDIEVAL INDIA	ALI, DAUD	CLAIRE M. FAGIN HALL (NURSING 216	T 0400PM-0700PM	This course will provide an in-depth understanding of South Asia in what is often called its 'medieval' period--from the rise of the great temple kingdoms until the end of the Delhi Sultanate in the sixteenth century (c. 500 CE - c. 1500 CE). This millenium is arguably one of the most transformative in South Asia's history, a period when many of its most distinctive social and cultural features evolved. The course will provide both an overview of the period as well as an introduction to major interpretations and types of sources (textual, visual, and archaeological). The focus throughout the course will be on the heterogeneous development of states, societies and cultures with special attention to long-term processes of transformation. One set of themes explored will be largely social and economic, focusing on the development of agrarian and peasant societies, aristocracies and intellectuals, as well as the role of mercantile, pastoralist, nomadic and forest-living groups. Another set of themes will explore cultural transformation, including the development, transformation and interaction of religious practices, the emergence of cosmopolitan and regional literary cultures, and the rise of distinctive urban, courtly, and rural world views. Special themes of discussion may include violence and manners, material cultures, religious conflict, devotional religion and gender relations.
SAST 408-680	BEGINNING KANNADA II	SWAMINATHAN, VIJAYALAKSHMI		MW 0400PM-0600PM	This is a systematic introduction to the Kannada language and culture for beginners. The course aims at developing listening and comprehension and a real life interactive speaking ability in a variety of everyday topics. The Kannada script is introduced from the beginning and the language is presented in its socio-cultural context for achieving a meaningful and operational control of the language. Students acquire basic rules for structural and socio-cultural appropriateness. Students learn vocabulary related to a variety of topics during the semester. Class activities include watching videos, role-playing, language games and group work. Evaluation is based on class participation, performance in quizzes and tests and completed assignments.
SAST 411-680	BEGINNING MARATHI II	RANADE, MILIND	WILLIAMS HALL 220	MW 0500PM-0700PM	Simple sentences in the present tense, narration (spoken as well written) of day to day activities, expressing likes & dislikes, culturally appropriate greetings and addressing, ability to describe events happening in present and present incomplete tense, consolidation of reading and writing skill acquired in the previous semester as well as proper pronunciations of common usage words and phrases. Speaking practices based upon the My Marathi Text book created by University of Mumbai.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; THE SECOND TERM OF A TWO-TERM COURSE
SAST 413-680	INTERMEDIATE MARATHI II	RANADE, MILIND		TBA TBA-	In the syllabus for the fourth semester Marathi course gaining language inputs regarding Marathi culture and day to day daily life in Maharashtra becomes one important topic. Day to day communication skills necessary to survive in Maharashtra on the street like interaction with a grocery store clerk or a vegetable sales woman in the market, a rikshaw driver, a policeman, a commoner, asking and providing directions on the street and various day to day real life situations are improvised and practiced. Vocabulary, sentence structures and associated grammar is acquired during practice and real life situations based exercises.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; ONE TERM COURSE
SAST 426-680	INTERMEDIATE PASHTU II			CANCELED	The second semester of intermediate study and a more in-depth study of the Pashto language. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension are all stressed in this more advanced course which also continues to build on grammer skills.		PRIOR LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE REQUIRED; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; THE SECOND TERM OF A TWO-TERM COURSE
SAST 428-680	INTERMEDIATE KANNADA II	SWAMINATHAN, VIJAYALAKSHMI		CANCELED	Students continue their study of Intermediate Kannada I, both in language and culture. The course aims at honeing listening and comprehension and a real life interactive speaking ability in a variety of everyday topics. The Kannada script is learned in its socio-cultural context for achieving a meaningful and operational control of the language. Students acquire basic rules for structural and socio-cultural appropriateness. Students learn vocabulary related to a variety of topics during the semester. Class activities include watching videos, role-playing, language games and group work. Evaluation is based on class participation, performance in quizzes and tests and completed assignments.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER
SAST 517-401	CU IN INDIA: CU IN INDIA: THE PERFORMING ARTS OF MODERN SOUTH INDIA	SONEJI, DAVESH	WILLIAMS HALL 826	M 0400PM-0700PM	C.U. in India is a hybrid, domestic/overseas course series which provides students with the opportunity to have an applied learning and cultural experience in India or South East Asia where students participate in 1) 28 classrom hours in the Fall term 2) a 12-day trip to India or South East Asia with the instructor during the winter break visiting key sites and conducting original research (sites vary) 3) 28 classroom hours at Penn in the Spring term and 4) a research paper, due at the end of the Spring term. Course enrollment is limited to students admitted to the program. For more information and the program application go to http://sites.sas.upenn.edu/cuinindia This is a 2-CU yearlong course
SAST 554-401	RELIGION AND RESISTANCE IN SOUTH ASIA	MOHAMMAD, MAHBOOB	WILLIAMS HALL 25	MW 0200PM-0330PM	In this course, we focus on various medieval and contemporary devotional forms of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam in South Asia. Several definitions try to tie the idea of devotion to classicism and traditionalism with a set of conservative ideas. However, this course introduces the students to a diverse and pluralistic understanding of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam that also has a history of resistance and protest beginning with poets such as Kabir and others from the Bhakti movement, and Sufi devotional contexts in South Asia. We read about the histories of these rebellious poets and their interventions into the traditional practices of devotion. We also discuss about how these medieval trends find their way into contemporary times enriching the discourses of Dalit, Muslim and Feminist movements.
SAST 562-401	MAKING/MEDIEVAL INDIA	ALI, DAUD	CLAIRE M. FAGIN HALL (NURSING 216	T 0400PM-0700PM	This course will provide an in-depth understanding of South Asia in what is often called its 'medieval' period--from the rise of the great temple kingdoms until the end of the Delhi Sultanate in the sixteenth century (c. 500 CE - c. 1500 CE). This millennium is arguably one of the most transformative in South Asia's history, a period when many of its most distinctive social and cultural features evolved. The course will provide both an overview of the period as well as an introduction to major interpretations and types of sources (textual, visual, and archaeological). The focus throughout the course will be on the heterogeneous development of states, societies and cultures with special attention to long-term processes of transformation. One set of themes explored will be largely social and economic, focusing on the development of agrarian and peasant societies, aristocracies and intellectuals, as well as the role of mercantile, pastoralist, nomadic and forest-living groups. Another set of themes will explore cultural transformation, including the development, transformation and interaction of religious practices, the emergence of cosmopolitan and regional literary cultures, and the rise of distinctive urban, courtly, and rural worldviews. Special themes of discussion may include violence and manners, material cultures, religious conflict, devotional religion and gender relations.
SAST 631-401	THE SANSKRIT EPICS	PATEL, DEVEN	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 25	M 0600PM-0900PM	Ancient India's two epic poems, composed in Sanskrit and received in dozens of languages over the span of two thousand years, continue to shape the psychic, social, and emotional worlds of millions of people around the world. The epic Mahabharata, which roughly translates to The Great Story of the Descendants of the Legendary King Bharata, is the longest single poem in the world (100,000 lines of Sanskrit verse) and tells the mythic history of dynastic power struggles in ancient India. An apocalyptic meditation on time, death, and the utter devastation brought upon the individual and the family unit through social disintegration, the epic also houses one of the great religious works of the world, The Bhagavad Gita (translation: The Song of God), which offers a buoy of hope and possibility in the dark ocean of the epic's violent narrative. The other great epic, The Ramayana (Rama's Journey), though essentially tragic, offers a brighter vision of human life, how it might be possible to live happily in an otherwise hopeless situation. It too is about struggles for power in ancient India but it offers characters--especially Rama-- that serve as ideals for how human beings might successfully negotiate life's great challenges. It also provides a model of human social order that contrasts with dystopic polities governed by animals and demons. Our course will engage in close reading of selections from both of these epic poems (in English translation, of course) and thus learn about the epic genre, its oral and textual forms in South Asia, and the numerous modes for interpreting the epic. We will also look at the reception of these ancient works in modern forms of media, such as the novel, television, theater, cinema and the comic book/anime. In the process, through selected essays and reflections, we will pay special attention to the ways in which the ancient epics remain deeply relevant in the modern world, reflecting on topics such as the aesthetics of war, the psychic life of social ideals, and creative responses to ethical conflicts.
SAST 634-301	REALISM AND SA LIT: REALISM AND SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE	GOULDING, GREGORY	JAFFE BUILDING B17	R 0300PM-0600PM	This course examines problems of realism as a concept in relation to South Asian literature in the 19th and 20th centuries. Realism, both in its broadest sense as mimetic depictions in literature, as well as specific instantiations in art history, literature, and politics, has had a decisive impact on South Asian literary history. Yet as a topic realism presents several unique challenges, not unlike its twin in twentieth-century literature, the equally-protean modernism. In part this may stem from its conceptual and disciplinary range, pulling together problems in the history of science, the politics of art, and aesthetics. With these caveats in mind, we will examine a range of texts, both those specifically dealing with South Asian literature, as well as those considered foundational to understandings of realism at play. Readings in criticism may include Hegel, Marx, Ian Watt, Rabindranath Tagore, Gyorgy Lukacs, Bertold Brecht, Raymond Williams, Frederic Jameson, Theodor Adorno Walter Benjamin, Namwar Singh, Ram Vilas Sharma, WReC, Michael Lowy, and Meenakshi Mukherjee, along with fiction and poetry by Nazeer Ahmed, Tagore, Munshi Premchand, Sa'adat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai, O.V. Vijayan, and Uday Prakash. We will also discuss, when relevant topics relating to art history and cinema studies. This course will be suitable both for those students who wish to investigate realism in South Asian history, as well as those who want a thorough grounding in the theory and literary historiography of realism more generally.
SAST 674-401	Southeast Asian Manuscript Traditions	MCDANIEL, JUSTIN	WILLIAMS HALL 215	T 1200PM-0300PM	This is an advanced PhD seminar in which the students will need advanced proficiency in Pali and at least one Southeast Asian Language (Burmese, Thai, Khmer, Lao, Leu, Khoen, Shan, and/or Lanna). Original manuscripts from Penn's collection of Southeast Asian religious, medical, botanical, historical, art, and literary archives will be examined and discussed.
SKRT 461-301	SANSKRIT 1ST YR PART II	PATEL, DEVEN	WILLIAMS HALL 705	MWF 1100AM-1200PM	During the first semester of beginning Sanskrit, students will be introduced to the script, phonetics, and grammar of the Sanskrit language. By the end of the semester they will be able to begin to read Sanskrit texts and compose Sanskrit sentences in addition to carrying out simple conversation. They will build the requisite skills to read, by the second semester, simple inscriptions and sections from texts like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, Pancatantra, and Yoga Sutra. Students will also be introduced to many features of Sanskrit culture.
SKRT 480-301	READINGS IN SANKRIT LIT	ALI, DAUD	WILLIAMS HALL 826	TR 1030AM-1200PM	This course is for advanced students of Sanskrit. Designed as a seminar, the course aims to take students through the primary and secondary sources of Sanskrit literary and phlosophical production. Each semester will focus on a different genre: epic, belles-lettres, lyric poetry, drama, philosophy, shastra, advanced grammar, history, poetics, and epigraphy. We will focus on original sources, secondary scholarship, and theoretical approaches toward the translation and study of Sanskrit texts.
TAML 407-680	BEGINNING TAMIL II	RENGANATHAN, VASU	WILLIAMS HALL 29	MW 0500PM-0700PM	This course is a continuation of the Beginner Tamil TAMIL406. It continues to teach grammar and spoken sill from semester I. Lessons in the class will be based on a set of Tamil learning lessons and videos made available at http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil and the book by the Instructor titled "Tamil Language in Context", information available at http://www.thetamillanguage.com. By the end of the semester, students will have a working knowledge in reading Tamil text with a basic skill to write and speak the language at ACTFL's Beginner High level.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
TAML 427-680	INTERMEDIATE TAMIL II	RENGANATHAN, VASU	WILLIAMS HALL 438	TR 0500PM-0630PM	This course is a continuation of Intermediate Tamil I (TAMIL426) and it continue to develop the skills obtained either from the Beginning Tamil course or from students' prior exposure to Tamil by other means. The emphasis will be on using the language in actual environments both in spoken medium and in written medium. Multimedia materials such as audio and videos as provided in the website http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil or http://www.thetamillanguage.com will be extensively used to provide students an exposure to the Tamil culture and customs as authentic as possible. Besides improving their speech and writing, students will also be introduced gradually to Tamil literature, which has two thousand years of literary history. By the end of this course, students will have ACTFL's intermediate high proficiency level.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; THE SECOND TERM OF A TWO-TERM COURSE
TAML 446-680	ADVANCED TAMIL	RENGANATHAN, VASU	WILLIAMS HALL 318	TR 0630PM-0800PM	This course is a continuation of the Advance Tamil Course I and its primary focus is to concentrate particularly on any one of the genres of the Tamil language namely Sangam, medieval or modern Tamil, which span a vast variety of texts from Aham, Puram, religious poems along with a whole array of Tamil inscriptions. The familiarity from Advanced Tamil I course will be adequately used to master in any aspect of these three genres of the Tamil language. Based on the general interests of the students who are enrolled in this course specific variety of the text to concentrate upon will be selected. In the past, we have read poems from the Sangam genre Purananuru, Ahananuru, Silappatikaram, Manimekalai etc., along with the parallel religious poems from Tirumurai, Nalayira Divyaprabandam and so on. We have also read as part of this course texts from Islam literature, Tamil inscriptions and other related kinds. Text from the instructors book (to be published), "Ilakkiyap payaNangkaL" will be used to give a birds eye view to students about Tamil literature and the transitions that took place from Sangam, medieval and modern period. This course will train students to have a near-native proficiency in Tamil along with a professional skill in any particular variety of the Tamil language.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
TAML 489-001	READINGS CLASSICAL TAMIL	RENGANATHAN, VASU		TBA TBA-			LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
TELU 410-001	BEGINNING TELEGU II	MOHAMMAD, MAHBOOB	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 139	MW 1030AM-1200PM	This course continues tudents to the basic Telugu language skills, with an emphasis on practice for listening comprehension, and speaking Telugu. Combined with exposure to Andhra culture, the classroom and online work in this course will enable interested students to pursue further language study in Telugu at the intermediate level, to carry out field research in Andhra Pradesh, or to prepare them to advanced work in Telugu Studies. An introduction to Telugu like this will also be useful for students who just want to acquire basic Telugu language skills for learning a new language or being able to communicate with Telugu speaking family and friends or to enjoy Telugu music and films.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
TELU 430-301	INTERMDIATE TELUGU II	MOHAMMAD, MAHBOOB		TBA TBA-	This course is designed to expand the students' basic language skills in Telugu in order to allow them to function adequately in a Telugu-speaking environment, to immerse themselves in the rich Andhra culture, and to accomplish a more advanced competency in an interesting foreign language. This course is also aimed at students planning to conduct scholarly research in Telugu history, literature or society, or humanities or social science fieldwork in Telugu speaking areas.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE; THE SECOND TERM OF A TWO-TERM COURSE
URDU 402-401	BEGINNING HINDI-URDU II	RANADE, MILIND	LAB-STRUC OF MATTER 112B DAVID RITTENHOUSE LAB 3C8	TR 0300PM-0430PM F 0300PM-0400PM	This introductory course core proficiency in Hindi-Urdu up to the intermediate level. It is designed for students with little or no prior exposure to Hindi or Urdu. The course covers all four language skills (speaking, lsitening, reading, and writing) and all three models of communication (interpersonal, presentational, interpretive). Students will develop literacy skills in the primary script of their choice (Hindi or Urdu script). All written materials will be provided in both scripts. All meetings are interactive and students acquire the language by using it in realistic contexts. Culture is embedded in the activities and is also introduced through various authentic materials.		LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
URDU 422-401	INTERMEDIATE URDU II	MENAI, MUSTAFA	MCNEIL BUILDING 154A	TR 1030AM-1200PM	This continuing second-year course allows students to continue improving their Urdu proficiency while also gaining a broad foundational understanding of Urdu society and culture throughout South Asia. The course provides students the tools needed to handle a variety of authentic written and spoken Urdu sources including film, music, media reports, folk tales, and simple literature. Students will also continue to increase their speaking and writing proficiency to be able to discuss a broad range of concrete, real-world topics. The course is designed for students with one year of previous Urdu or Hindi study or the equivalent proficiency.		SEE SPECIAL MESSAGE IN DEPARTMENT HEADER; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
URDU 431-401	LANGUAGE & LITERATURE: Advanced Urdu-Language and Literature	MENAI, MUSTAFA	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 140	TR 0130PM-0300PM	This course is designed to give in-depth exposure to some of the finest works of classical and modern Urdu prose and poetry along with the historical and socio-political trends they represent. Figures covered range from Ghalib (b.1797) to Faiz, Fehmida Riaz, and post 9/11 Urdu prose and poetry. The course is open to both undergraduates and graduate students, subject to having intermediate level proficiency. The course is repeatable, and hte content changes every semester. Multi-media content such as music, videos, blogs etc. will be actively incorporated. Every effort will be made to accommidate individual interests. Students are encouraged to contact the instructor with any questions, or if they are unsure about eligibility. Prerequisite: Intermediate reading, writing and speaking skills in Urdu are recommended but please contact the instructor if you are unsure of your eligibility and want to do discuss further. Topic changes each semester.		CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS; LANGUAGE SKILLS COURSE
URDU 462-001	URDU TOPICS COURSE: URDU LIT IN TRANSLATION	MENAI, MUSTAFA	JAFFE BUILDING 104	TR 1200PM-0130PM	Topics vary by semester in advanced level Urdu.