This paper acquaints students with the richness and diversity of the anthropological study of South Asia's major regions: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It explores both the historically well-developed anthropology of the region and much contemporary research on the region. Its concerns include theories of caste; popular and politicised religion including pilgrimage and devotional experience in Hinduism; Sufism, syncretism and religious reform in Islam; also gender, sexuality and marriage; the significance and legacy of India's key social and political thinkers including Nehru and Ambedkar; social movements among 'tribal' and 'subaltern' groups; democracy, governance and new political mobilisations; communal and religious conflict; cities and urban life; class, consumption and the individual; environmentalism and contemporary anti-corruption movements. The paper is taught through seminars and some lectures, in a single integrated series of seminars running through all three terms.
Further information including a list of lecture courses and background reading can be found in the Paper Guide in the Paper Resources section to the right of this page.