Northern Arizona University Department of History
College of Arts and Letters Fall 2011
A Liberal Studies Course in the Social and Political Worlds Block. Also fulfills the NAU Global Diversity Requirement.
CHECK THE COURSE WEB PAGE FOR A COPY OF THIS SYLLABUS WITH CLICKABLE LINKS TO ELECTRONIC READINGS. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ALSO LOOK AT:
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, its 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, films, as well as some sources of information available over the Internet, this course introduces students to multiple facets of contemporary India.
The class will be run in a lecture-cum-seminar 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.
Ramachandra Guha. India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. New York: Ecco (Harper Collins), 2007.
Arundhati Roy. God of Small Things: A Novel. New York: Random House, 1997.
There are also a number of other shorter 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 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 hard copies of the readings in advance will prevent panic the night before class, or a few hours before!!
ASSIGNMENTS
There are THREE different types of assignments required for this class. In addition to regular participation in class activities, you must take one in-class mid-term exam, produce short discussion notes responding to specific questions four times during the semester, and write one formal paper based on Arundhati Roy's novel.
I. Mid Term Exam : The mid term will be worth 25 points, and will consist of short answer and longer-answer questions and may include a map component.
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. On the class meeting immediately following the formal discussion, you will submit a revised, FINAL, set of notes, on which you will be evaluated for this assignment.
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 assignment indicates, 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 two set of notes will be worth 10 points each, and the latter two worth 15 points each.
The class will be divided into small groups to facilitate the formal discussions. Attendance and participation in all discussions is mandatory; there is no possibility of make-ups in this regard. If University-related business compels you to miss the discussion, you will be allowed to submit the FINAL notes in advance of your departure.
III. Term Paper on God of Small Things : Each student will write a five to seven page paper highlighting how themes of caste, class, and/or gender ran through the novel by Arundhati Roy. Specific questions and more detailed guidelines for the paper will be provided in the assignment handed out early in November. The paper will count toward 20 points for calculating the final course grade.
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 50 points (10 for the first two, 15 the last two)
Mid Term Exam 25 points
Term Paper 20 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 NAU Policy Statements appended to this syllabus for further details. IT IS THE STUDENTS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FAMILIARIZE HERSELF/HIMSELF WITH THESE MATTERS AS DEFINED BY THE UNIVERSITY.
SECTION I. INTRODUCTIONS
August 29 Introduction to the Course and Area
August 31 Introduction to Contemporary India
Required Reading
Guha, "Prologue: Unnatural Nation."
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
SECTION II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: GANDHI'S INDIA TO NEHRU'S INDIA
September 7 Legacy of Nationalisms and Partition
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters One and Two.
September 12-14 New Nation-States: Desires and Discontents
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters Three to Five. Skim Chapter Three, READ Four and Five carefully.
September 19 The Making of India
Required Readings
1. Guha, Chapter Six.
2. "Indian Political Structure," http://www.indianembassy.pl/psystem.html
3. "Indian Politics Since Independence: An Overview" http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/314HND01.htm
September 21 Starting a Dynasty?
Screening of a documentary "Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story" Please finish watching parts one and two in your own time.
September 25 DISCUSSION # 1 : The Shaping of Modern India
SECTION III. MAKING INDIA MODERN
September 27- October 3 The Making of Contemporary India
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters Seven to Nine. Read Seven and Eight, Skim chapter Nine.
October 5 MID TERM REVIEW
October 10 MID TERM EXAM
October 12 Ruling the Republic
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters Ten to Thirteen. Read Ten and Twelve. Skim Eleven and Thirteen.
October 14 Challenges to the Nehruvian Model
Required Readings
SKIM Guha, Chapters Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen.
October 17 Majorities and Minorities
Required Readings
Guha, Chapter Seventeen.
October 19 DISCUSSION # 2: Was Nehru Good for India?
SECTION IV. INDIA AFTER NEHRU: POPULISM AND ITS DANGERS
October 24-26 Recourse to Populism: Indira is India
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters Eighteen to Twenty.
PAPER ON GOD OF SMALL THINGS ASSIGNED
October 31-November 2 Consequence of Populism
Required Readings
Guha, SKIM Chapter Twenty One, READ Twenty Two and Twenty Three.
I strongly advise you to start reading Roy's God of Small Things early in November.
November 7 Dynasty and Democracy
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters Twenty Four and Twenty Five.
November 9 DISCUSSION # 3: Evaluating Indian Democracy
SECTION IV: CRITICAL THEMES IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN HISTORY
November 14-16 Class, Caste and Gender
Required Readings
1. Amartya Sen, "Class in India." pp 204-209 of Argumentative Indian (Penguin, 2005) http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/Sen_-_Class_in_India_PDF.pdf
2. . I want you to start by going to the Library of Congress (LoC) Country Studies page on India at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/intoc.html and FIRST go to the section on Caste and Class and read the subsections on
* Varna, Caste, and Other Divisions
* Intercaste Relations
* Changes in the Caste System
THEN go back to the section titled Themes in Indian Society and read the subsections on
* Hierarchy
* Purity and Pollution
(As the LoC stores these as temporary files, I cannot provide you direct links to these subsections. Despite the complicated instructions, these are very short, simple readings)
3. Urvashi Butalia, "Women's Movement in India: Action and Reflection." http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/india1-cn.htm
4. Screening parts of When Women Unite
November 21 Class, Caste and Gender in God of Small Things
Required Readings
Arundhati Roy, God of Small Things. (Entire text).
November 23 - 28 Caste, Community, and Power
Required Readings
Guha, Chapters Twenty Six and Twenty Seven.
PAPER on God of Small Things DUE NOVEMBER 28
November 30 Contradictions of Contemporary India
Required Readings
SKIM Guha, Chapters Twenty Eight and Twenty Nine.
December 2 Popular Culture in Contemporary India
Required Readings
Guha, Chapter Thirty
December 4 DISCUSSION # 4 Making Sense of Contemporary India
December 6 Final Discussion Notes due.
Northern Arizona University
Policy Statements
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NAU's Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy seeks to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety of all individuals within the university. The goal of this policy is to prevent the occurrence of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status and to prevent sexual harassment, sexual assault or retaliation by anyone at this university.
You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean's office or from the NAU's Affirmative Action website http://www4.nau.edu/diversity/swale.htm. If you have 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).
Students with Disabilities
If you have a documented disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting the office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at 928-523-8773 (voice), 928-523-6906 (TTY). In order for your individual needs to be met, you are required to provide DSS with disability related documentation and are encouraged to provide it at least eight weeks prior to the time you wish to receive accommodations. You must register with DSS each semester you are enrolled at NAU and wish to use accommodations.
Faculty are not authorized to provide a student with disability related accommodations without prior approval from DSS. Students who have registered with DSS are encouraged to notify their instructors a minimum of two weeks in advance to ensure accommodations. Otherwise, the provision of accommodations may be delayed.
Concerns or questions regarding disability related accommodations can be brought to the attention of DSS or the Affirmative Action Office. For more information, visit the DSS website at http://www2.nau.edu/dss/.
Academic Integrity
The university takes an extremely serious view of violations of academic integrity. As members of the academic community, NAU's administration, faculty, staff and students are dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of honesty and are committed to maintaining the academic integrity essential to the education process. Inherent in this commitment is the belief that academic dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity and impedes learning. Students are therefore responsible for conducting themselves in an academically honest manner.
Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying instances of academic dishonesty. Faculty members then recommend penalties to the department chair or college dean in keeping with the severity of the violation. The complete policy on academic integrity is in Appendix G of NAU's Student Handbook http://www4.nau.edu/stulife/handbookdishonesty.htm.
Academic Contact Hour PolicyThe Arizona Board of Regents Academic Contact Hour Policy (ABOR Handbook, 2-206, Academic Credit) states: "an hour of work is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time…at least 15 contact hours of recitation, lecture, discussion, testing or evaluation, seminar, or colloquium as well as a minimum of 30 hours of student homework is required for each unit of credit."
The reasonable interpretation of this policy is that for every credit hour, a student should expect, on average, to do a minimum of two additional hours of work per week; e.g., preparation, homework, studying.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Membership in the academic community places a special obligation on all members 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.
It is the responsibility of each student to behave in a manner that does not interrupt or disrupt the delivery of education by faculty members or receipt of education by students, within or outside the classroom. The determination of whether such interruption or disruption has occurred has to be made by the faculty member at the time the behavior occurs. It becomes the responsibility of the individual faculty member to maintain and enforce the standards of behavior acceptable to preserving an atmosphere for teaching and learning in accordance with University regulations and the course syllabus.
At a minimum, students will be warned if their behavior is evaluated by the faculty member as disruptive. Serious disruptions, as determined by the faculty member, may result in immediate removal of the student from the instructional environment. Significant and/or continued violations may result in an administrative withdrawal from the class. Additional responses by the faculty member to disruptive behavior may include a range of actions from discussing the disruptive behavior with the student to referral to the appropriate academic unit and/or the Office of Student Life for administrative review, with a view to implement corrective action up to and including suspension or expulsion.