Northern Arizona University                                                                                     Department of History

College of Arts and Letters                                                                                                                   Spring  2016

 

HISTORY 314    CONTEMPORARY INDIA: 1947 TO THE PRESENT

 

A Liberal Studies Course in the Social and Political Worlds Block.  Also fulfills the NAU Global Diversity Requirement.

 

Instructor: SANJAY JOSHI                                                      Time and Location : Tue-Thu 12:45-2:00, LA 321

Office: LA 206                                                                     Office Hours: Tu-Thu 11:00-12:00 and by appointment

E-mail: Sanjay.Joshi@nau.edu                                                                                                           Phone: 523-6216

 

Course Web Page: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/contemporaryindia.html

 

PLEASE CHECK THE LINK ABOVE FOR A COPY OF THIS SYLLABUS WITH CLICKABLE LINKS TO ELECTRONIC READINGS. Check NAU’s Policy Statements: http://www4.nau.edu/avpaa/policy1.html  

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course examines social, political and economic developments in India since independence in 1947, and places these developments in a historical and comparative context.  Exploring the sources of India’s diversity as well as unity, riches as well as poverty, the roots of cooperation as well as conflict, progress as well as limitations, the course aims at achieving a nuanced understanding of the working of the world’s largest democracy.  Studying the work of well-known scholars, fiction, films, as well as some sources of information available over the Internet, this course introduces students to multiple facets of contemporary India.  Each semester, in addition to the above, this class focuses on a particular theme.  For this semester, I have chosen to focus on minorities, particularly Muslims, in the context of the history of Indian politics and culture since 1947. 

 

The class will be run in a lecture-cum-discussion format.  I hope discussions between the students and the instructor will form a significant part of the learning experience.  There will, of course, be a considerable amount of lecturing too, whose frequency and content will depend on my agenda as well as the nature of questions asked by the students!  The course demands that students come to class having done the assigned readings and prepared to discuss them with the instructor and fellow students.  As some of the course material is only accessible through the Internet, basic knowledge of how to navigate the Internet is an essential pre-requisite for this class.

 

READINGS

Two books have been ordered for this course at the NAU Bookstore, and are required reading for all students.

 

1.  Ramachandra Guha.  India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy.  New York: Ecco (Harper Collins), 2007.  ISBN-13: 978-0060958589

2. Omair Ahmad.  Jimmy the Terrorist.   Speaking Tiger Publications, 2015. ISBN  9789385288043

There are also a number of other shorter required readings available on the internet.  There are direct clickable links to most of these readings available through the electronic version of this syllabus on the COURSE WEB PAGE.  These are as much a required part of the class readings as your textbook. As a matter of habit, I urge you to visit all course-related web sites in advance, and save or print the required readings.  As I am sure most of you are aware, connections to web sites often fail at the very time we need them most!  For that reason, having soft or hard copies of the readings in advance will prevent panic the night before class, or a few hours before!!   Please note that many links require you to be logged in via an NAU domain, either from campus or via VPN.

 

STUDENT LEARNING EXPECTATIONS/OUTCOMES FOR THIS COURSE

Fifteen weeks from now, you all will have developed some sense of the complex history of the Indian subcontinent from 1947 to the present day.  To help you understand this history, the course assigns a variety of readings.  It is absolutely critical that you complete your assigned readings before coming to class. Lectures will always relate to the topics assigned but will not summarize assigned readings. Instead, they will introduce additional material, different interpretations, and theoretical concepts that are not always in the text.  I expect you to be motivated to learn about the subject and to improve your skills as a historian. I will do my best to help you understand more about the subject.  But my efforts will only help if you bring an active engagement with the contents of this course.  An active engagement will allow students to:

·         Learn through texts, lectures, and films, the important events of processes of South Asian history since 1947. 

·         Demonstrate, through the in-class examinations, their grasp of the details of this complex history.

·         Demonstrate through in-class discussions and discussion notes, their understanding of assigned textual materials and participate in critical discussions of sources and their interpretation.

·         Demonstrate through the term paper as well the essay sections of the examinations, their ability to independently identify, and critically read, analyze, and compile information from a variety of sources: fictional as well as historical, and information from Indian news and scholarly sources

 

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course uses primarily three types of instruments to assess your achievement of the learning objectives listed above. In addition to regular participation in class activities, you must take one exam, produce short discussion notes responding to specific questions three times during the semester, and write one formal paper evaluating the novel, Jimmy the Terrorist in the context of culture and politics of India since 1947.  All assignments are due on the dates indicated in the schedule.  I do not accept late assignments unless allowed for by University policy.  Health-related absences or tardiness in submitting assignments will require documentation.  

 

I.                   Mid Term Exam : The mid-term exam (closed book, in class) worth 25 points, will consist of short answer and longer-answer questions and may include a map component. No final exam.

 

II.                Discussion Notes : This may be a relatively new kind of assignment for you, so do pay attention to the following:

You will be given specific questions or topics around which to frame your discussion notes a few days in advance of the discussion day.  On the day of the discussion you need to come prepared with TWO copies of your notes (two to three typed pages) on the questions set for discussion.  You will hand one copy of the notes to me, and use the other to participate in the discussion.

 

The class after the formal discussion, your entire group will submit a revised, FINAL, set of notes. The schedule ensures that you have a weekend in between the initial and revised submission.  Each group will choose a group leader for each discussion who will coordinate the activities of the group.  The group leader will indicate to me the level of participation in revisions, will coordinate revision activities, and ensure that revisions are completed and submitted on the due date.  The group leader must also report to me if any member of the group is not participating as fully as desirable in the group’s task.  Your evaluation will depend on the quality of BOTH sets of notes, with greater emphasis (between 70 and 80%) on the first submission.   

 

To evaluate the notes I will be looking for both a clearly-outlined THESIS in response to each question, AND relevant data/evidence to support your thesis.  As the assignments will indicate, the evidence/ data can be in “note” form.  Notes that do not indicate a clear thesis or sufficient supporting data will be penalized at my discretion.  To allow you to get used to the requirements of this assignment, they have been weighted progressively.  The first set of notes will be worth 10 points, the second 15 points, and the last 20 points.  Together discussion notes comprise 45 out of the total 100 points for the course.   

 

The class will be divided into small groups to facilitate the formal discussions.  Attendance and participation in all discussions is mandatory.  Missing the in-class discussion will also make you ineligible for participating in the revision process.  Please make sure that your other commitments (academic, work-related, or personal) do not conflict with the discussion dates; there is no possibility of make-ups in this assignment.  In rare cases, where University-policies permit, I will allow you to submit one set of notes (treated as your FINAL notes) in advance of your departure.

 

III.             Evaluating Jimmy the Terrorist:  Your task will be write a formal paper between 7 to 10 pages (double spaced, one inch margins, fonts between ten and twelve points) evaluating the novel in the context of history you have learnt in this course.  All conventions of academic writing and citations need to be followed while writing this paper.

 

Requirements

In addition to course material, this paper requires you to conduct some independent research.  Your paper should use at least five sources beyond course readings (at least three journalistic sources and two scholarly sources) on the position of Muslims or other minorities in contemporary India (since 1947).  Journalistic sources should include at least one source from the Indian subcontinent.  You may also use the more polemical websites to gather research material, but these should be used to represent perspectives, rather than factual evidence.  Scholarly sources can include peer-reviewed journals (or their websites), books published by reputable academic presses, or proceedings of conferences.  I would particularly urge you to look at journals such as Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) http://www.epw.in/ or Seminar from India http://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html.  EPW is archived on JSTOR and Seminar back issues are searchable and accessible on their website.  This assignment will be worth 25 points.

 

IV. Class Participation: My subjective assessment of your attendance and participation in class activities (including the discussions) will count toward 5 points of the total course grade.

 

EVALUATION

Grades will be determined using the following criteria:

Discussion Notes                                             45 points (10 for the first, 15 second, and 20 third)

Mid Term Exam                                              25 points

Paper on Jimmy the Terrorist                          25 points 

Class Participation                                           5 points

TOTAL FOR COURSE                               100 points

The grading scale for the course will be as follows: 

90+ = A; 80 - 89= B; 70-79= C; 60-69= D; below 60= F.

 

COURSE POLICIES

I expect regular class attendance of course, without which there is no point in your being enrolled in this class. Missing too many classes will undoubtedly and negatively impact on your class performance, especially given the discussion-oriented nature of this class, and will be penalized at my discretion.

 

If you miss a class, whatever your reasons for doing so, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to meet or call a classmate and find out what happened in that class.  I also expect you to come to class having done all the required reading, and prepared to engage in discussion.  Finally, I expect you to be motivated to learn about the subject, and to improve your skills as a historian and social critic.

 

PLEASE NOTE: I do not give extensions, incompletes, or make-up exams, except in cases allowed for by University Policy.

Plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and will result in failing the course.  Please consult the section on “Academic Integrity” in the link to NAU Policy Statements at the top of this syllabus for further details.  IT IS THE STUDENTS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FAMILIARIZE HERSELF/HIMSELF WITH THESE MATTERS AS DEFINED BY THE UNIVERSITY.

 

PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE (dates, readings and assignments subject to change)

 

SECTION I. INTRODUCTIONS

January 19                                         Introduction to the Course and Area

 

January 21                                         Introduction to Contemporary India

Required Reading

Guha, "Prologue: Unnatural Nation."  And, Chapter One.

Screening of part of documentary “Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story”.  Complete watching Part One in your own time over the next two weeks.  Film Available Streaming online VIA THE BBLearn Page for the class

 

Recommended

You may also want to refer to three other links from the course web page: 

1. A List of Commonly Used Abbreviations and Acronyns in Contemporary India.

2. A GLOSSARY OF INDIAN POLITICAL TERMS.

3.  Library of Congress, Country Studies: India, an updated profile

 

SECTION II.  HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: GANDHI’S INDIA TO NEHRU’S INDIA

January 26                             Legacy of Nationalisms and Partition                    

Required Readings

Guha, Chapters One and Two.           

 

January 28- February 4       New Nation-States: Desires and Discontents

Required Readings

Guha, Chapters Three to Five.  Skim Chapter Three, READ Four and specially Five carefully.

Questions for Discussion One assigned February 4th

February 9                             The Modern State

Required Readings

1. Guha, Chapter Six.

2. “Indian Political Structure”

3. “Indian Politics Since Independence: An Overview”

 

February 11                           DISCUSSION # 1 : The History of the Modern Indian State

Revised Notes due February 16th

 

SECTION III.                       MAKING INDIA MODERN

February 16-18                      A Modern State

Required Readings

Guha, Chapters Seven to Nine.  Read Seven and Eight, Skim chapter Nine.

 

February 23-25                      Ruling the Republic

Required Readings

Guha, Chapters Ten to Thirteen.  Read Ten and Eleven. Skim Twelve and Thirteen.

 

March 1                      MID TERM REVIEW

 

March 3                      MID TERM EXAM

Questions for Discussion Two assigned March 3rd

 

March 8                      Challenges to the Nehruvian Model

Required Readings

SKIM Guha, Chapters Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen.  READ Chapter Seventeen

                       

March 10                   DISCUSSION # 2: Was Nehru Good for India?

Revised Notes due March 22nd  (you may submit these earlier if you can)

 

March 15-17              SPRING BREAK  No Class,  but do watch documentary “Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story” PART TWO, in your own time.  Film Available Streaming online VIA THE BBLearn Page for the class.  You may also want to make an early start on reading Jimmy the Terrorist.

 

SECTION IV.  INDIA AFTER NEHRU: POPULISM AND ITS DANGERS

March 22-24              Recourse to Populism: Indira is India

Required Readings

Guha, Chapters Eighteen to Twenty.

 

March 29                    Consequence of Populism

Required Readings

Guha, SKIM Chapter Twenty One, READ Twenty Two and Twenty Three.

 

March 31:  No Class as I will be out of town.  Catch up on Readings or read ahead!

 

 

 

April 5                        Dynasty and Democracy

Required Readings

Guha, Chapters Twenty Four and Twenty Five.

 

April 7-12                   Indian Democracy

            Required Readings

            Guha, Chapters Twenty Six, Twenty Seven, and Twenty Eight.

 

April 14                      DISCUSSION # 3: Evaluating Indian Democracy

Revised Notes due April 19th 

·          You must start reading Ahmad’s Jimmy the Terrorist now

 

SECTION V.  FOCUSING ON MINORITIES 

April 19                      Politics of Majorities and Minorities

            Required Readings

1.      Re-Read Guha, Chapters One, Two, and closely re-read Chapter Seventeen and Twenty Seven

2.      Mushirul Hasan, “Empowering Differences:  Political Action, Sectarian Violence and the Retreat of Secularism.” Pp. 253-297 of Mushirul Hasan, Legacy of a Divided Nation: Indian Muslims Since Independence  (Boulder, CO:  Westview Press, 1997). BBLearn 

 

April 21                      Hindutva’s Coming of Age 

No Class Meeting but…

Required Viewing and Reading

Watch:  Anand Patwardhan’s Ram Ke Naam (In the Name of God) Available at the BBlearn page for the course.

Read:  Sunil Khilnani, “Who is an Indian.”  Pp 150-195 of Sunil Khilnani, The Idea of India (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997). BBLearn 

Pankaj Mishra “Ayodhya:  The Modernity of Hinduism” in Kamla Visveswaran ed. Perspectives on Modern South Asia.  Blackwell, 2011.

 

April 26                      Gender and Politics of Religion

            Required Reading

            1. Zoya Hasan, “Gender, Religion and Democratic Politics in India” Third World Quarterly

Volume 31, Issue 6, (2010), pp. 939-954. BBLearn 

3.      Paola Bacchetta,“‘All our Goddess are Armed’: Religion, Resistance and Revenge in the Life of a Militant Hindu Nationalist Woman,” in Bacchetta, Gender in the Hindu Nation: RSS Women as Ideologues.  (Kali/Women Unlimited: New Delhi, 2004):  61-92. BBLearn 

 

Highly Recommended Viewing

Nisha Pahuja The World Before Her [Documentary, 91 minutes]  I hope to have this on BBLearn by this time, but you may otherwise watch it at http://www.hulu.com/watch/684156

 

April 28 -May 3         Growing Up Muslim

            Required Reading

1.      Omair Ahmad, Jimmy the Terrorist

2.      Gyanendra Pandey, “Can a Muslim Be an Indian?”  Comparative Studies in Society and History 41, 4 (October 1999) pp. 608-629. BBLearn 

 

 

May 5                         Contemporary Intolerance

            Required Reading

            Because of the topicality of this subject, the readings below (all short newspaper or web articles) are even more likely to change than other parts of this syllabus

1.      Sylvie Kauffmann, “India, France and Secularism” New York Times (October 27, 2015) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/opinion/india-france-and-secularism.html

2.      Arundhati Roy,   “Why I am returning my Award”  Indian Express November 5, 2015 http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-i-am-returning-my-award/ 

3.      Pratap Bhanu Mehta, “Who is a Patriot” Indian Express (November 27, 2015) http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/who-is-a-patriot/

4.      Ajaz Ashraf, “Divine Bovine controversy: While battling the demon of intolerance, let us not forget the monster of literalism”  Firstpost (November 24, 2015)  http://www.firstpost.com/india/divine-bovine-controversy-while-battling-the-demon-of-intolerance-lets-not-forget-the-monster-of-literalism-2518660.html

 

            PAPER EVALUATING JIMMY THE TERRORIST DUE IN CLASS. 

There is no final exam for this course         

 

LIBERAL STUDIES REQUIREMENTS    

Liberal Studies Mission

The mission of the Liberal Studies Program at Northern Arizona University is to prepare students to live responsible, productive, and creative lives as citizens of a dramatically changing world. HIS 314 supports the mission of the Liberal Studies program in the following ways:

 

*It helps students gain a deeper understanding of the history of the world’s largest democracy and about a fifth of humanity.

*It helps them understand the historical factors that have created a rich cultural, political, social, and religiously diverse environment in India since independence from the British in 1947.

*Understanding how such diversity emerged and how traditional identities have been transformed, mobilized and managed in an modern electoral system students better appreciate the changing and complex world around them.

*In seeking to understand and evaluate competing interpretations of this rich and complex history, through a variety of sources, the course helps students gain the skills to do the same for the world they inhabit.

Distribution Block: Social and Political Worlds.  

This course provides students with:

*The opportunity to study economic, social, and political developments in India since independence and understanding India’s place in the global comity of nations, promotes a better understanding of the social and political world we inhabit. 

 

*An analytic framework that foregrounds the very different ways in which democracy works in the Indian context, which allows students to understand the diversity that can inhabit what has become the central organizing and rhetorical concept of the modern world order.

Essential Skill: Critical Thinking.  The following assignments will help foster this skill among students of HIS 314.

*students will be able to identify the broad contours of the political, social, and cultural history of India from independence to the present day in written examinations.

* through writing a term papers, preparing notes for discussion, and most of all through the final project, students will be able to demonstrate the ability to critically read and interpret primary (particularly news sources)and secondary sources, and reach their own conclusions about the merits of different arguments.

* in all their writings, students will be able to combine evidence from secondary and primary sources to describe the complexities of political, social, and cultural life of India since independence. 

 

 

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

POLICY STATEMENTS

NAU’s Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy prohibits sexual harassment and assault, and discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status by anyone at this university. Retaliation of any kind as a result of making a complaint under the policy or participating in an investigation is also prohibited. The Director of the Office of Affirmative Action & Equal Opportunity (AA/EO) serves as the university’s compliance officer for affirmative action, civil rights, and Title IX, and is the ADA/504 Coordinator. AA/EO also assists with religious accommodations. You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean’s office or from the NAU’s Affirmative Action website nau.edu/diversity/. If you have questions or concerns about this policy, it is important that you contact the departmental chair, dean’s office, the Office of Student Life (928-523-5181), or NAU’s Office of Affirmative Action (928) 523- 3312 (voice), (928) 523-9977 (fax), (928) 523-1006 (TTD) or aaeo@nau.edu.

 

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you have a documented disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting Disability Resources (DR) at 523-8773 (voice) or 523-6906 (TTY), dr@nau.edu (e-mail) or 928-523-8747 (fax). Students needing academic accommodations are required to register with DR and provide required disability related documentation. Although you may request an accommodation at any time, in order for DR to best meet your individual needs, you are urged to register and submit necessary documentation (www.nau.edu/dr) 8 weeks prior to the time you wish to receive accommodations. DR is strongly committed to the needs of student with disabilities and the promotion of Universal Design. Concerns or questions related to the accessibility of programs and facilities at NAU may be brought to the attention of DR or the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity (523-3312).

 

ACADEMIC CONTACT HOUR POLICY

Based on the Arizona Board of Regents Academic Contact Hour Policy (ABOR Handbook, 2-224), for every unit of credit, a student should expect, on average, to do a minimum of three hours of work per week, including but not limited to class time, preparation, homework, studying.

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Integrity is expected of every member of the NAU community in all academic undertakings. Integrity entails a firm adherence to a set of values, and the values most essential to an academic community are grounded in honesty with respect to all intellectual efforts of oneself and others. Academic integrity is expected not only in formal coursework situations, but in all University relationships and interactions connected to the educational process, including the use of University resources. An NAU student’s submission of work is an implicit declaration that the work is the student’s own. All outside assistance should be acknowledged, and the student’s academic contribution truthfully reported at all times. In addition, NAU students have a right to expect academic integrity from each of their peers.

Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying potential violations of the university’s academic integrity policy. Instances of potential violations are adjudicated using the process found in the university Academic Integrity Policy.

 

RESEARCH INTEGRITY

The Responsible Conduct of Research policy is intended to ensure that NAU personnel including NAU students engaged in research are adequately trained in the basic principles of ethics in research. Additionally, this policy assists NAU in meeting the RCR training and compliance requirements of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-The America COMPETES Act (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science); 42 U.S.C 18620-1, Section 7009, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy on the instruction of the RCR (NOT-OD-10-019; “Update on the Requirement for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research”). For more information on the policy and the training activities required for personnel and students conducting research, at NAU, visit: http://nau.edu/Research/Compliance/Research-Integrity/

 

SENSITIVE COURSE MATERIALS

University education aims to expand student understanding and awareness. Thus, it necessarily involves engagement with a wide range of information, ideas, and creative representations. In the course of college studies, students can expect to encounter—and critically appraise—materials that may differ from and perhaps challenge familiar understandings, ideas, and beliefs. Students are encouraged to discuss these matters with faculty.

 

CLASSROOM DISRUPTION POLICY

Membership in the academic community places a special obligation on all participants to preserve an atmosphere conducive to a safe and positive learning environment. Part of that obligation implies the responsibility of each member of the NAU community to maintain an environment in which the behavior of any individual is not disruptive. Instructors have the authority and the responsibility to manage their classes in accordance with University regulations. Instructors have the right and obligation to confront disruptive behavior thereby promoting and enforcing standards of behavior necessary for maintaining an atmosphere conducive to teaching and learning. Instructors are responsible for establishing, communicating, and enforcing reasonable expectations and rules of classroom behavior. These expectations are to be communicated to students in the syllabus and in class discussions and activities at the outset of the course. Each student is responsible for behaving in a manner that supports a positive learning environment and that does not interrupt nor disrupt the delivery of education by instructors or receipt of education by students, within or outside a class. The complete classroom disruption policy is in Appendices of NAU’s Student Handbook.