Courses for Fall 2021 | South Asia Studies

	Title	Instructor	Time	Description	Cross Listings	Fulfills	Registration Notes	Syllabus URL
BENG 403-680	Beginning Bengali I	Haimanti Banerjee	TR 05:15 PM-07:15 PM	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 423-680	Intermediate Bengali I	Haimanti Banerjee	MW 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	This course develops the student's prior knowledge of Bengali. An attempt is made to gear the syllabus to meet the specific needs of students. The focus of the course is to develop the oral and aural skills of the learner as well as improve writing skills and reading strategies. Emphasis is also laid on increasing the sociolinguistic and strategic competence of the learners so that they will be able to function in the target culture. Besides discussions on various aspects of Bengali life, students read some short literary texts in the original Bengali version.			Prior Language Experience Required
GUJR 402-680	Beginning Gujarati I	Raki Desai	MW 05:15 PM-07:00 PM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
GUJR 422-680	Intermediate Gujarati I	Raki Desai	MW 07:00 PM-08:30 PM	This course is designed as a continuation of beginning Gujarati. The 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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Prior Language Experience Required
GUJR 432-680	Advanced Gujarati I	Raki Desai	MW 08:30 PM-10:00 PM	Comprehensive study in reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension to gain advanced knowledge of Gujarati. Instructor may use poetry and/or prose as tools to engage students while having them create their own written works. Contact instructor for details.			Prior Language Experience Required
HIND 400-401	Beginning Hindi-Urdu - Part I	Josh Pien	MTWR 12:00 PM-01:00 PM	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.	URDU401401, NELC401401		Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
HIND 420-001	Intermediate Hindi I	Josh Pien	TR 10:15 AM-11:45 AM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
HIND 430-001	Readings in Hindi Literature		MW 01:45 PM-03:15 PM	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.			Prior Language Experience Required
HIND 500-001	Beg Hin/Urd For Grads	Gregory Goulding		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
HIND 520-001	Intermediate Hind Grads	Gregory Goulding		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.
HIND 530-001	Adv Hindi For Grads	Gregory Goulding		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.
MLYM 408-680	Beginning Malayalam I	James N Kurichi	TR 05:15 PM-07:00 PM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
MLYM 428-680	Intermediate Malayalam I	James N Kurichi	MW 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Prior Language Experience Required
MLYM 438-680	Advanced Malayalam	James N Kurichi	MW 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	Reading, writing, comprehension, grammer and speaking at the advanced level of Malayam are the objectives of this course.
PUNJ 404-680	Beginning Punjabi I	Amrit Gahunia	MW 05:15 PM-07:15 PM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.	https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=PUNJ404680
PUNJ 424-680	Intermediate Punjabi I	Amrit Gahunia	MW 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Prior Language Experience Required
PUNJ 434-680	Advanced Punjabi	Amrit Gahunia		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	Ramya Sreenivasan	CANCELED	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)	Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Crse Online: Sync & Async Components Registration also required for Recitation (see below)
SAST 001-402	Recitation: Intro To Modern India		CANCELED	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)
SAST 001-601	Intro To Modern India	Brian Thomas Cannon	MW 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	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.	HIST089601	History & Tradition Sector (all classes)
SAST 004-401	India's Literature	Gregory Goulding	MW 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	This course introduces students to the extraordinary quality of literary production during the past four millennia of South Asian civilization. We will read texts in translation from all parts of South Asia up to the sixteenth century. We will read selections from hymns, lyric poems, epics, wisdom literature, plays, political works, and religious texts.	COML012401	Arts & Letters Sector (all classes)	Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
SAST 005-001	Perform Arts South Asia: Performing Arts in South India	Davesh Soneji	TR 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	This course is a survey of selected traditions of theater, music, and dance in India and surrounding regions. Topics include ritual practices, theater, classical dance, classical music, devotional music, regional genres, and contemporary popular musics. Readings and lectures are supplemented by audio and visual materials and live performances. The aim of the course is to expose students to a variety of performance practices from this part of the world and to situate the performing arts in their social and cultural contexts. The course has no prerequisites.		Arts & Letters Sector (all classes)	Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
SAST 050-401	Intro To Indian Phil	Deven Patel	TR 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	This course will take the student through the major topics of Indian philosophy by first introducing the fundamental concepts and terms that are necessary for a deeper understanding of themes that pervade the philosophical literature of India -- arguments for and against the existence of God, for example, the ontological status of external objects, the means of valid knowledge, standards of proof, the discourse on the aims of life. The readings will emphasize classical Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophical articulations (from 700 B.C.E to 16th century CE) but we will also supplement our study of these materials with contemporary or relatively recent philosophical writings in modern India.	PHIL050401, RELS155401, SAST603401	History & Tradition Sector (all classes)	Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
SAST 057-301	Planning To Be Offshore	Srilata Gangulee	TR 12:00 PM-01:30 PM	Freshman Seminar. In this course we will trace the economic development of India from 1947 to the present. Independent India started out as a centrally planned economy in 1949 but in 1991 decided to reduce its public sector and allow, indeed encourage, foreign investors to come in. The Planning Commission of India still exists but has lost much of its power. Many in the U.S. complain of American jobs draining off to India, call centers in India taking care of American customer complaints, American patient histories being documented in India, etc. At the same time, the U.S. government encourages highly trained Indians to be in the U.S. Students are expected to write four one-page response papers and one final paper. Twenty percent of the final grade will be based on class participation, 20 percent on the four response papers and 60 percent on the final paper.			Course is available to Freshmen. Freshman Seminar
SAST 058-401	Doing Research: Qualitative Methods and Research Design	Lisa A Mitchell	MW 12:00 PM-01:30 PM	This interdisciplinary course introduces students to qualitative research methods and frameworks in the social sciences and humanities. The goals of the semester will be for each student to develop their own research proposal for a specific project that they could imagine pursuing over the summer or later in their undergraduate career,and to develop a web-based exhibit of one Penn-based research collection of interest. Students will be introduced to a range of textual, archival and media collections and databases available at Penn, with particular attention to South Asia and other specific regions of interest to course participants. The class will visit the Penn Musuem object collections and archives, the Art library, the Kislak Center for Rare Books and Manuscripts, Film Archives, and other special collections on campus, and meet with a representative from the Center for Undergraduate Research Funding (CURF). Students will learn how to frame an effective research question, situate it in relation to existing research, select the most appropriate methods for addressing the question, and develop an effective research plan. Each week students will be introduced to a new set of frameworks for analysis, see specific examples of their application drawn from anthropological, historical, and related scholarship and have opportunities to practice applying and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of specific methodological tools. Students will also have the opportunity to identify sources of funding for summer research projects and prepare applications for these opportunities as part of the course. The course is ideal as an introduction to both the excellent libraries and research collections housed at Penn, and to a wide range of intellectual frameworks for engaging with these collections - a great way to kick off your undergraduate experience at Penn! Prerequisite: Topic varies by semester, see subtitle and Professor.	ANTH058401		Course is available to Freshmen. Freshman Seminar
SAST 104-001	Beginning Tabla I	Aqeel Bhatti	MW 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	An introduction to the tabla, the premier drum of north Indian and Pakistani classical music traditions.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
SAST 106-001	Beginning Sitar I	Jagadeesh J Gokhale	TR 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	This course is an introduction to the repertoire and performance practices of the North Indian sitar. Fundamentals of sitar technique, composition, and improvisation are presented and practiced in class. Class lectures and discussions, audio and video material, and reading and listening assignments on selected topics supplement practice, to provide an overview of the social and historical context and the formal structures of North Indian music in general. There are no prerequisites for the course, but some experience with instrumental or vocal music is suggested. Each student is expected to put in two hours of individual practice per week, and complete reading, audio, and written assignments. The class gives a group performance at the end of the semester.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.	https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST106001
SAST 124-401	Narrative Across Culture	Ania Loomba	MW 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	The purpose of this course is to present a variety of narrative genres and to discuss and illustrate the modes whereby they can be analyzed. We will be looking at shorter types of narrative: short stories, novellas, and fables, and also some extracts from longer works such as autobiographies. While some works will come from the Anglo-American tradition, a larger number will be selected from European and non-Western cultural traditions and from earlier time-periods. The course will thus offer ample opportunity for the exploration of the translation of cultural values in a comparative perspective.	THAR105401, COML125401, ENGL103401, NELC180401	Arts & Letters Sector (all classes)	Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.	https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST124401
SAST 142-401	Intro Buddhism	Justin Mcdaniel	M 01:45 PM-03:45 PM	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.	RELS173401, EALC015401		Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Registration also required for Recitation (see below)
SAST 146-401	Islam in Modern World	Jamal J. Elias	TR 10:15 AM-11:45 AM	This course key issues facing Muslims in the modern world with an emphasis on gaining an understanding of how Muslims view themselves and the world in which they live. Beginning with a discussion of the impact of colonialism, we will examine Islamic ideas and trends from the late colonial period until the present. Readings include religious, political and literary writings by important Muslim figures and focus on pressing issues in the Islamic world an beyond: the place of religion in modern national politics; the changing status of women; constructions of sexuality (including masculinity); pressing issues in bioethics; Islam, race and immigration in America; the role of violence; and the manifestations of religion in popular culture.	RELS146401, NELC184401	Hum & Soc Sci Sector (new curriculum only)	Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Humanities & Social Science Sector
SAST 211-401	Sexual Science in India	Arnav Bhattacharya Daud Ali	TR 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	This course will introduce students to the problems of sex, sexuality and sexual science in South Asia over the centuries. Its central problem will be how sex, society and knowledge about sex have been transformed in South Asia under the conditions of colonial and postcolonial modernity. It will consider how a multitude of indigenous practices and knowledges, from the famous Kamasutra and its allied knowledges to the transgender communities, from the Lazzat-un-Nisa to concubinage and the sexual norms of elite households, were framed and reframed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the agency of a variety of institutions, groups and individuals. The course will also show how South Asia played a crucial role in the global evolution of sexual knowledge. Topics will include the varieties and functions of traditional sexual knowledges, colonial sexology, changing sexual identities and practices, the relation of psychiatry and medicine to sex, queer and transgender sexualities, and the complex and shifting role of the state and civil society to all of these topics.	SAST611401, HSOC211401
SAST 212-401	Development in India	Tariq Thachil	TR 10:15 AM-12:00 PM	This course introduces students to the complex issues surrounding questions of political and economic development in India, the world's largest democracy, and home to a large chunk of the globe's low-income population. Not surprisingly, the successes and failures of India are tremendously important to the study of democracy and development. The experiences of countries in this region have given rise to influential theories of development. The policy prescriptions these theories have produced have in turn been applied back onto India, with spectacular results- both positive and negative. Over the course of the semester, we will use the concrete experiences from the past seven decades in India to ask and answer fundamental questions about development, including: Does democratic politics help or hurt prospects for economic development? Why are some poor countries like India are able to maintain democracies, while equally poor countries in the region, such as Pakistan, are not? How did British colonialism shape the nature of post-colonial development? Should the state or the market play a dominant role in the economies of newly independent nations? How can we best measure poverty, and what have been the challenges to reducing it in the developing world? What are the challenges and opportunities produced by rapid international migration to rich countries? The course is divided into four thematic units, which build upon one another. Within each theme, we draw from a wide array of source materials, reading scholarship in political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, journalistic non-fiction, and even film. While empirically focusing on India, we will also read about the experiences of other countries in South Asia, and also from East Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan African in specific weeks. This will help students place the experiences of South Asian countries in broader comparative perspective.	PSCI212401
SAST 223-401	Words Are Weapons	Afsar Mohammad	TR 01:45 PM-03:15 PM	This course focuses on the key themes of protest and resistance in contemporary South Asian literarure. Most South Asian countries have been witnessing an endless wave of protests and resistance from various sections of public life for the last three decades. In India, for example, protest literature emerges not only from traditionally marginalized groups (the poor, religious and ethnic minorities, depressed castes and tribal communities), but also from upper-caste groups, whose protest literature expresses concerns over economic oppression, violence and the denial of fundamental rights. Literature is becoming an immediate tool to articualte acts of resistance and anger, as many writers and poets are also taking on new roles as poitical activists. In this class, we will read various contemporary works of short fiction, poetry and memoirs to comprehend shifts in public life toward political and social activism in South Asia. We will also watch two or three documentaries that focus on public protests and resistance. No pre-requisites or South Asian language requirements. All literary works will be read in English translations.	COML230401, COML534401, SAST523401			https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST223401
SAST 268-401	Art and Empire in India: Art and Empire in India, 1750-1900	Sonal Khullar	TR 10:15 AM-11:45 AM	This course surveys transformations in visual culture between the Mughal and British empires in India from the mid-eighteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We shall consider changes in artistic production, patronage, publics, and viewing protocols in the contexts of the court and bazaar. We shall examine the emergence of new technologies and its impact on visual forms, media, and genres, focusing on the interplay of photography, print, and painting. We shall explore the role of institutions -the art school, the museum, and the archeological survey- and the professions and practices they engendered. We shall analyze how architecture and urban planning created new built environments and social relationships in colonial India. We shall view objects first-hand in the Penn Museum, Penn Libraries, and Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is a reading- and writing-intensive course. Students with a background in related disciplines such as literature, history, religion, anthropology, and South Asian Studies are welcome.	ARTH268401, ARTH668401, SAST668401			https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST268401
SAST 290-401	South Asians in the Us	Fariha Khan	TR 12:00 PM-01:30 PM	This course investigates the everyday practices and customs of South Asians in America. Every immigrant group has its own history, customs, beliefs and values, making each unique while simultaneously a part of the "melting pot" or salad bowl" of American society. Yet how do people define themselves and their ethnicities living in a diasporic context? By taking into account the burgeoning South Asian American population as our model, this course will explore the basic themes surrounding the lives that immigrants are living in America, and more specifically the identity which the second generation, born and/or raised in American, is developing. South Asians in the U.S. will be divided thematically covering the topics of ethnicity, marriage, gender, religion, and pop culture. Reading and assignments will discuss a variety of issues and viewpoints that are a part of the fabric of South Asia, but will focus on the interpretation of such expressive culture in the United States.	ASAM160401			https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST290401
SAST 505-401	Arts of the Book in South Asia	Sonal Khullar	R 01:45 PM-04:45 PM	Topic varies from semester to semester. For the Fall 2021 semester, the topic will be: Arts of the Book in South Asia. This course critically surveys the history of books in South Asia from 1100 to the present, focusing on the relationship between the visual arts and book form. Beginning with palm-leaf manuscripts in the pothi format and their repositories, we consider material and cultural shifts in the idea, use, and practice of the book with the widespread use of paper and production of codices in Sultanate, Mughal, Deccani, and Rajput courts painting from the fifteenth century onward. Then we analyze transformations of the book in colonial South Asia with the rise of photography and print technologies, and a changing public for art, printed books, and illustrated manuscripts. We conclude by examining the revival and resurgence of books, including artists' books and artistic projects about book culture, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Throughout we attend to physical and social contexts for the book, including workshops, libraries, storehouses, schools, and museums. We explore multiple modalities that bear upon book use, that is, orality, aurality, textuality, performativity, and visuality, and various practices that books generate, that is, making, collecting, gifting, junking, cutting, pasting, binding, inscribing, translating, publishing, curating, venerating, and recycling. We shall view objects first-hand in the Penn Libraries and Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is a reading- and writing-intensive course. Students with a background in related disciplines such as literature, history, religion, architecture, anthropology, geography, cinema studies, and feminist studies are welcome.	ARTH511401			https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST505401
SAST 523-401	Words Are Weapons	Afsar Mohammad	TR 01:45 PM-03:15 PM	This course focuses on the key themes of protest and resistance in contemporary South Asian literarure. Most South Asian countries have been witnessing an endless wave of protests and resistance from various sections of public life for the last three decades. In India, for example, protest literature emerges not only from traditionally marginalized groups (the poor, religious and ethnic minorities, depressed castes and tribal communities), but also from upper-caste groups, whose protest literature expresses concerns over economic oppression, violence and the denial of fundamental rights. Literature is becoming an immediate tool to articualte acts of resistance and anger, as many writers and poets are also taking on new roles as poitical activists. In this class, we will read various contemporary works of short fiction, poetry and memoirs to comprehend shifts in public life toward political and social activism in South Asia. We will also watch two or three documentaries that focus on public protests and resistance. No pre-requisites or South Asian language requirements. All literary works will be read in English translations.	COML230401, COML534401, SAST223401			https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST523401
SAST 603-401	Intro To Indian Phil	Deven Patel	TR 05:15 PM-06:45 PM		PHIL050401, RELS155401, SAST050401		Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
SAST 611-401	Sexual Science in India	Arnav Bhattacharya Daud Ali	TR 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	This course will introduce students to the problems of sex, sexuality and sexual science in South Asia over the centuries. Its central problem will be how sex, society and knowledge about sex have been transformed in South Asia under the conditions of colonial and postcolonial modernity. It will consider how a multitude of indigenous practices and knowledges, from the famous Kamasutra and its allied knowledges to the transgender communities, from the Lazzat-un-Nisa to concubinage and the sexual norms of elite households, were framed and reframed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the agency of a variety of institutions, groups and individuals. The course will also show how South Asia played a crucial role in the global evolution of sexual knowledge. Topics will include the varieties and functions of traditional sexual knowledges, colonial sexology, changing sexual identities and practices, the relation of psychiatry and medicine to sex, queer and transgender sexualities, and the complex and shifting role of the state and civil society to all of these topics.	SAST211401, HSOC211401
SAST 627-401	S.Asian Lit As Comp Lit	Gregory Goulding	T 03:30 PM-06:30 PM	This course takes up the question of reading South Asian Literature both as a collection of diverse literary cultures, as well as the basis for a methodology of reading that takes language, region, and history into account. It takes as a starting point recent work that foregrounds the importance of South Asian language literatures, and their complex inteactions, to an understanding of South Asian literary history, as well as critiques of the concept of world literature that question its underlying assumptions and frequent reliance on cosmopolitan languages such as English. In what ways can we describe the many complex interactions between literary cultures in SOuth Asia, rooted in specific historical contexts, reading practices, and cultural expectations, while maintaing attention to language and literary form? How, in turn, can we begin to think of these literatures in interation with larger conversations in the world? With these considerations in mind, we will examine works of criticism dealing with both modern and pre-modern literatures, primarily but not exclusively focused on South Asia. Topics will include the concept of the cosmopolis in literary and cultural history, the role of translation, the transformations of literature under colonialism, and twentieth centure literary movements such as realism and Dalit literature. Readings may include works by Erich Auerbach, Frederic Jameson, Aijaz Ahmad, Gayatri Spivak, Aamir Mufti, Sheldon Pollack, David Shulman, Yigal Bronner, Shamshur Rahman Faruqi, Francesca Orsini, Subramanian Shankar, Sharankumar Kimbale, and Torlae Jatin Gajarawala. We will also examine selected works, in English and in translation, as case studies for discussion. This course is intended both for students who intend to specialize in the study of South Asia, as well as for those who focus on questions of comparative literature more broadly.	COML627401
SAST 645-401	Religion in Mod S.Asia	Davesh Soneji	F 01:45 PM-04:45 PM		RELS644401
SAST 668-401	Art and Empire in India	Sonal Khullar	TR 10:15 AM-11:45 AM	This course surveys transformations in visual culture between the Mughal and British empires in India from the mid-eighteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We shall consider changes in artistic production, patronage, publics, and viewing protocols in the contexts of the court and bazaar. We shall examine the emergence of new technologies and its impact on visual forms, media, and genres, focusing on the interplay of photography, print, and painting. We shall explore the role of institutions -the art school, the museum, and the archeological survey- and the professions and practices they engendered. We shall analyze how architecture and urban planning created new built environments and social relationships in colonial India. We shall view objects first-hand in the Penn Museum, Penn Libraries, and Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is a reading- and writing-intensive course. Students with a background in related disciplines such as literature, history, religion, anthropology, and South Asian Studies are welcome.	ARTH268401, ARTH668401, SAST268401			https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=SAST668401
SAST 686-401	History of Islam in South Asia	Megan E Robb	M 12:00 PM-03:00 PM	This class is designed to structure reflection on Islam and Islamic culture in South Asia-- Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Contrary to the popular perception that the Middle East defines Islam, Asian countries not only host the most Muslims in the world but have been the source of some of Islam's most important social and reform movements in the last three hundred years. This class looks at the history of Muslim societies across Asia not just as a religious community but also as a social and cultural bloc (a distinctive part of what Marshall Hodgson called the 'Islamicate' world, but also an area that challenges some of Hodgson's assumptions about the Islamicate world). This course allows for the study of the Muslim world between the years1700 to present. The class will allow students to compare and contrast Muslim societies over the last three centuries, examine points of confluence for geographically- or culturally- distinct Muslim peoples in the last three centuries, and in their writing assignments focus on the history of one society in a wider Islamicate context. In the process students will gain a more nuanced awareness of how Islam has made an impact in Asian countries, and how Asian countries have in turn impacted Islam.	RELS586401
SAST 701-401	Historical Anthropology: Methodology Seminar	Lisa A Mitchell	R 01:45 PM-04:45 PM	Topics vary	ANTH711401
SKRT 460-001	Sanskrit 1st Year Part I	Josh Pien	MW 01:45 PM-03:15 PM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
SKRT 480-301	Readings in Sankrit Lit	Deven Patel	MF 03:30 PM-05:00 PM	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 406-680	Beginning Tamil I	Vasu Renganathan	MW 05:15 PM-07:15 PM	This course introduces students to colloquial Tamil and formal written Tamil. A balance between production skills, namely writing and speaking, and comprehension skills, namely reading and listening, will be maintained throughout the course. Reading materials will introduce students to customs and habits of the Tamil speakers in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore. 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 mid level.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.	https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=TAML406680
TAML 426-680	Intermediate Tamil I	Vasu Renganathan	TR 05:15 PM-06:45 PM	This course develops the skills obtained either from the Beginning Tamil course or from students' prior exposure to Tamil by some other means. Basic knowledge of Tamil script, reading and writing in Tamil is required to take this course. Heavy emphasis will be made on using the language in actual environments both in spoken medium and in written medium. Multimedia materials such as audio and video facilities from the book and the website Tamil Language in Context (http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil) will be used extensively to provide students an exposure to the Tamil culture and customs as followed in Tamilnadu, India. Besides improving their speech and writing, students will also be introduced gradually to Tamil literature, which has two thousand years of literary history. The learning process in this course will be facilitated by the lessons and videos as provided in the website and the book. By the end of this course, students will have ACTFL's intermediate mid level proficiency in Tamil.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Prior Language Experience Required	https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=TAML426680
TAML 446-680	Advanced Tamil	Vasu Renganathan	TR 07:00 PM-08:30 PM	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.			Prior Language Experience Required	https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2021C&course=TAML446680
TELU 409-001	Beginning Telugu I	Afsar Mohammad	MTWR 05:15 PM-06:15 PM	This course introduces students 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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
TELU 429-001	Intermediate Telugu I	Afsar Mohammad	MW 08:30 AM-10:00 AM	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.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Penn Language Center Permission Needed Prior Language Experience Required
URDU 401-401	Beginning Hindi-Urdu - Part I	Josh Pien	MTWR 12:00 PM-01:00 PM	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.	HIND400401, NELC401401		Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
URDU 421-001	Intermediate Urdu I		TR 10:15 AM-11:45 AM	This 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 tols needed to handle a variety of authentic written and spoken Urdu sources including film, music, media reports, folk tales, and simple literature. Student 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 previous Urdu or Hindi study or the equivalent proficiency. Students with speaking ability in Urdu or Hindi but without reading/writing skills are encouraged to contact the instructor for placement.			Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
URDU 431-401	Advanced Urdu		TR 01:45 PM-03:15 PM	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.	NELC431401