International Conflict The Origins of Global Fury Afghanistan and the Origins of Global Fury - Spring 07 Afghanistan and the Origins of Global Fury - Fall 06 Cuba and Haiti Religious Revolutions and violence Haiti and the Caribbean Contemporary Issues in International Relations Introduction to International Relations South Asia in a Global and Historical Context Politics of the Third World

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Global Political Economy of Oil Understanding Capitalism Foundations in the Political Economy

Ideas and Ideology Love, Hate and Sexual Desire Under Colonialism Junior Year Honors Seminar: Cultural Encounters, 1999-2000

PSC 334
South Asia in a Global and Historical Context
Naeem Inayatullah

I. Starting Assumptions

In the global context of unequal power relationships the studying of one culture by another cannot be considered an apolitical act. Too often, studying "others" is a prelude to conquering, exploiting, converting, condescending towards them. Rarely, however, is such studying a prelude to genuine critical conversation among equals. This is no less true today than it was a hundred years ago in the heyday of colonialism. It is no less true for small courses in middle level universities than it is for state department specialists, think-tank experts, CIA intelligence operatives, and peace corps volunteers.

Such assumptions make teaching a course on South Asia very difficult for two reasons: First, I am wary of the potential abuse that may result from our inquiry. Second, I often find it difficult to offer penetrating criticisms of South Asian societies until I am confident that some type of critical self-consciousness has been attained by North American students. Yet, I embrace teaching this course because it offers me an opportunity to learn more about the cultures from which I originate and therefore an opportunity to learn more about myself. I am also interested in learning from student insights about South Asia.

Within this tension I propose a course of study of South Asia with two goals in mind: First, that we study different aspects of South Asian societies always within a global and historical context. That is, we never assume that South Asian societies are fixed and isolated entities with some permanent essence. Rather, we assume that South Asian societies contain multifaceted cultures that can best be understood in the context of global contact. Second, that we observe ourselves as we study South Asia. That is, we make ourselves and not just South Asia the object of our study.

The goal of the course, therefore, will be two fold: First, to learn something about South Asian "others." Second, to observe how, and especially why, we learn about "others." If we are successful it will come as no surprise that we have learned as much about ourselves as we have about South Asia and South Asians.

II. Readings

Since, to a degree, the course is designed around our own thinking I see the purpose of the textual material as very different from that in other courses. Most of these texts have provoked in me intense responses, represent a neglected but significant world view, or contain what I think is a type of wisdom. While we will read all materials, the purpose of our reading is not just to "cover" the texts. Rather, I hope we will use these texts to create an internal and class wide conversation. That is, I see the texts as useful and important to the degree that they provoke our response.

Available at the ORANGE STUDENT BOOKSTORE and at the Reserve Desk at Bird Library:

K.N. Chaudhuri, Asia Before Europe: Economy and Civilization of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750 (Cambridge 1990)

Daedalus: Another India, Fall 1989 (not available at Bird)

B.H. Farmer, Introduction to South Asia, 2nd edition, (Routledge, 1993)

Francis G. Hutchins, The Illusion of Permanence: British Imperialism in India (Princeton 1967)

Sadaat Manto, Kingdom's End and Other Stories

Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism (Oxford 1983)

Schmidt, Atlas of South Asian History, (M. E. Sharpe, 1994)

Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India (Heinemann 1988) [Also under the title Ice Candy Man]

Stanley Wolpert, The New History of India (Oxford 1989)

III. Evaluations

There are 5 written assignments for this course. These consist of:

two non-graded but required papers: an "entry" paper at the beginning of the term and an "exit" paper at the end of the term;

25% of your grade is based on an essay (between 2500-3500 words) grounded in your personal response to at least four articles in Daedalus and either Manto's or Sidhwa's book;

25% of your grade is based on an oral exam of 15 minutes in my office, or a critical book review essay (between 2500-3500 words) both covering on the books by Schmidt, Wolpert, and Farmer;

50% of your grade is based on an essay (around 4000 words) on your analysis of the Hutchins, Nandy, and Chaudhuri books.

Please mark the following schedule on your calendar:

Thursday, January 24 at 8:30 AM: Entry Paper due

Tuesday, February 14 at 8:30 AM: First essay due

Tuesday, March 21 at 8:30 AM: Second essay due, please schedule oral exam appointments for the week of March 20-24.

Thursday, May 4 at 9:00 AM: Third Essay due

Thursday, May 4 at 9:00 AM : Exit paper due

No one will be assigned a final grade which is below the average of their individual assignment grades. In calculating the final grade, however, I reserve the right to bring into consideration such things as general improvement, the excellence of any one assignment, attitudes and actions which facilitate the learning experience, and creative and synthetic efforts.

Note Well: No final Grades will be released unless all (including non-graded) assignments are turned in.

IV. The Evaluation Process and the Meaning of Grades

The course is designed to respond to the content and form of your writing. I will comment both on the strengths and weaknesses of your writing. You are expected to respond to these comments during my office hours. The written comments and the oral conversation will help you to know what I expect and will help me to find out your needs and concerns. Evaluators always respond best to your needs if you show a concern for the ideas, an awareness of their criticism, and an appreciation for their efforts. Concentrate on these aspects of the conversational process and the grades will take care of themselves. Of course, disagreements are always a part of any conversation. Please do not be afraid to voice your disagreements. (You are always welcome to visit me during office hours for other reasons or for no reason at all.).

Grades are assessed on bringing together two criteria. The first is absolute and external, the second is relative and internal. On the one hand, your work will be assessed on the basis of the norms of clarity, organization, coherence, logical flow, creativity, depth, and intensity. On the other hand, each of you will be assessed according to your specific development. That is, each one of us is in a different situation in our educational process. My assessment of your work will be based partly on your progress relative to your starting point in this course.

While evaluation can be a rewarding process, no one I know likes to assign grades. In this course, grades serve merely as shorthand for characterizing the immediate evaluation process. They say nothing about your general capacity, your intrinsic worth as a human being, nor do they forecast your ability to grow and learn in the future. Keeping this in mind, here is what the evaluator may mean by assigning the following grades. A "C" means either that a barely adequate amount of effort is noticeable, or that effort is somewhat mis-focused or mis-targeted. A "B" means that good effort is coupled with a fairly good understanding of what is being asked. An "A" reveals both intense effort and remarkable achievement. At the other end of the scale, a "D" means either that an inadequate amount of effort is being put forth or that strong effort seems to have been mis-targeted. That is, there is little overlap between the evaluator's expectations and the student's efforts. An "F" means little or no effort is noticed or that there is a complete misunderstanding about expectations. Receiving a "D" or an "F" requires you to see me as soon as possible.

Finally, keep in mind that the evaluation process is reciprocal, hence the "exit paper." Even before the exit paper you will be evaluating my performance. I hope that your informal or formal comments on my performance will become part of a regular process. You should know that your formal evaluation of my efforts at the end of the term is significant in two additional ways. First, it affects my standing within the department and the university both socially and financially. Second, and more important, it is often seen as the best indicator of the effectiveness of my efforts. Your evaluation will directly influence how I teach future courses.

V. Writing Suggestions for Essays

I hesitate to offer a set of suggestions on writing essays because they may stifle your style. Also, you may be tempted to follow my suggestions to the letter thereby missing the overall point of my suggestions which have more to do with the attitude you bring to the writing and the tone you create. Nevertheless, I have decided to offer these suggestions because you may need and appreciate a certain amount of direction, and, because there is a particular style of writing - the style of an essay - which I wish to emphasize and which I hope you will add to your repertoire of skills. Please take these instructions as "suggestive" and make your own decision on whether you wish to follow them. I also would like to register a warning: While this style of writing may have great personal benefits it is not usually favored. The academy usually stress a much more certain and assertive style.

1. Getting Started

Often the most difficult part of writing an essay is selecting a topic. Over the years I have discovered that my idea of a good essay contains two elements. First, the topic has be important to you; it must be something about which you feel strongly, over which you might have some anger, or around which you sense some passion. Second, and equally important, the essay must contain arguments and tones which support alternative points of view. As you might sense, these two requirements are in tension; the first assumes you to have taken a position, the second asks you to doubt that position. Your task, as I see it, is to fruitfully sculpt this tension. Let me alert you to two pitfalls: without the first element you are unlikely to motivate yourself to write well, nor are you likely to generate an interest in the reader; without the second element you are unlikely to engage your reader in an honest conversational process.