College of Arts and Sciences Spring
2000
Instructor: SANJAY JOSHI Meeting time: T-Th. 4:00-5:15
Office: LA 206 Office Hours:T-Th. 12:30-02:00,
Phone: 523-6216 and by appointment
Web Page: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6 E-mail: Sanjay.Joshi@nau.edu
IMPORTANT:
Please look at the "Northern Arizona University Policy Statements" and
the "Classroom Management Statement" at the back of this documentbefore
reading the syllabus.
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 shortcomings, the course aims at achieving
a nuanced understanding of the working of the world's largest democracy.
Studying the work of well known scholars, as well as a selection from the
many sources of information available over the Internet, this course introduces
students to the multiple facets that make up India today.
The
class will be run primarily as a seminar, with discussions between the
students and the instructor forming the main part of the learning experience.
The discussions will, on occasion, be supplemented by lectures. Frequency
and content of lectures will be dictated by the nature of questions asked
by the students. The reading load for the class is not very high, but the
course demands that students come to class having done the assigned readings
and prepared to discuss them with the instructor and fellow students.
READINGS
Four
books are Required
Readings for all students in the class and have been ordered at the
NAU Bookstore. There will be additional required readings from English-language
media sources from India and other South Asian nations available on the
Internet. We will use these to bring ourselves up-to-date on current developments
in the region.
1.
Selig Harrison, Paul Kreisberg, and Dennis Kux. India
and Pakistan: The First Fifty Years. New York and Cambridge, U.K.:
Woodrow Wilson Press and Cambridge University Press,1999. An elementary
introduction to events, personalities, and issues in India and Pakistan
since independence in 1947. We will focus on the sections on India, using
the case studies of Pakistan as comparative examples. This book will be
used primarily as an introduction to different parts of the course.
2. Sunil Khilnani. The Idea of India. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
A
more complex look at some of important issues of contemporary Indian politics
in the context of historical developments since 1947.
3. Karin
Kapadia, Siva
and Her Sisters: Gender, Caste, and Class in Rural South India. This
ethnography of life in rural India will better help us understand the problems
of power and politics at the level of everyday experience of people.
4.Amitav Ghosh, Shadow
Lines. A work of fiction set in India during the time of partition,
independence, and after. Ghosh's sensitive portrayal of social life among
urban middle class Indians gives us yet another angle from which to understand
society and politics in contemporary India.
5. Because this
is a course on Contemporary
India, we will be studying history as it happens! For that reason it will
become important to introduce more current writing, taken from newspapers,
journals, or other sources. I may put such readings on reserve, circulate
them to students in the class, or provide you with the URLs to look up
on the World Wide Web. These readings will then become a part of the REQUIRED
course readings.
ASSIGNMENTS
In addition to regular participation in class activities, the course requires students to write short reports on two books from the course, write one paper based on using contemporary media sources, and take three exams.
I. Book Reports
Students will be asked to write between 800 and 1000 word reports on Karin Kapadia's Siva and Her Sisters and Amitav Ghosh's Shadow Lines. These reports should not only summarize the contents of the books, but also offer an analytical assessment of the works. Detailed guidelines will be provided closer to the time of the report assignments. Each report will count towards 10% of the total course grade.
II. Paper
The paper (between 1000 and 1200 words) will be based on a survey and analysis of CONTEMPORARY INDIAN OR SOUTH ASIAN media sources and centered on a specific theme. You may choose to pick up on one of the themes covered in the course or choose your own after consulting with me. The Internet (with http://www.samachar.com one of the best sites to start with) is the best source for following contemporary developments, and I urge students to begin their media study early in the semester. There are also links to various media sources from my web page at http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6 The paper should aim to place contemporary events in a historical context and will count towards 30% of the total course grade.
III. Exams
There will be THREE
exams, whose content is explained in the course schedule below. Exam #
1 will count towards 10% of the total class grade, Exam #2 will count towards
15%, and the Final will count towards 20% of the total grade.
ATTENDANCE AND COURSE POLICY
I expect regular
class attendance of course, without which there is no point in your being
enrolled in this class, but I do not demand it. Missing too many classes
will however undoubtedly and negatively impact on your class performance,
especially given the discussion-oriented nature of this class.
If you miss a class,
whatever your reasons for doing so, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to arrange
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.
EVALUATION
Grades for the course will be determined according to the following criteria:
Book Report One 10%
Book Report Two 10%
Paper 30%
First Exam 10%
Second Exam 15%
Final Exam 20%
Class & Discussion
Participation 5%
TOTAL FOR COURSE 100%
The grading scale for the course will be as follows:
90%+ = A;
80 - 89%= B;
70-79%= C;
60-69%= D;
below 60%= F.
PROVISIONAL
COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to modification)
Tue.
January 16: An
Introduction to Contemporary India.
I. INDIAN POLITICS 1947-2001
Thu.
January 18: Start Screening film, The
Dynasty: The Nehru Gandhi Story.
Tue. January 23: Harrison et. al. India and Pakistan: The First Fifty Years, "Introduction."
Continue
viewing The
Dynasty.
Thu. January 25: Harrison et. al. Chapter 1.
Continue
viewing The
Dynasty.
Tue. January 30: Harrison et. al. Chapter 2.
Start Reading Amitav Ghosh.
Continue
viewing The
Dynasty.
Thu. February 1: Khilnani, The Idea of India, "Foreword," "Preface," and "Introduction: ix-13."
Complete
viewing The
Dynasty, if necessary.
Tue.
February 6: Khilnani,
Chapter 1.
Thu. February 8: Contemporary Political Developments. Readings to be assigned.
Tue. February 13: Khilnani, Chapter 4.
Review for 1st
Exam.
Thu. February 15: 1st
Exam: Political Developments in India 1947-2001
Tue.
February 20: Discuss Amitav Ghosh's Shadow
Lines.
THE INDIAN ECONOMY
Thu February 22: Harrison
et. al. Chapter 3.
Tue February 27: Harrison
et. al. Chapter 3 and skim chapter 4.
Thu March 1: Khilnani Chapter 2.
REVIEW OF GHOSH due.
Start Reading Kapadia.
March 6 - March 8: SPRING
BREAK
Tuesday March 13: Khilnani
Chapter 2, continued.
Thursday March 15: Extra
readings on the economy. TO BE ASSIGNED.
Tuesday March 20: Review
for 2nd Exam on the Indian economy.
Thursday March 22: Exam #
2 Political Economy of India, 1947-2001
SOCIAL ISSUES: CLASS, CASTE, AND GENDER
Tuesday March 27: Harrison
et al Chapter 5.
Thursday March 29: Harrison SKIM chapter 6.
Kapadia Chapter 1.
Screening of Film When
Women Unite
Tuesday April 3: Kapadia
Chapters 2 & 3.
Thursday April 5: Kapadia
Chapters 4, 5 & 6.
Tuesday April 10: Kapadia
Chapter 7.
Thursday April 12: Kapadia
Chapters 8, 9 & 10.
Tuesday April 17: Kapadia
Chapters 11 & 12.
INDIA IN THE WIDER WORLD
Thursday April 19 Harrison et. al. Chapter 7.
REVIEW OF KAPADIA DUE.
Tuesday
April 24: Extra readings on India and the World, to be assigned.
Thursday April 26: Harrison et al. Chapter 8 & 9.
TERM PAPER DUE
Tuesday May 1: Discuss India
and the World.
Thursday May 3: End of Term review.