Love and Devotion in Islamic South Asia

Undergraduate / Graduate

This English-medium seminar for undergraduate and graduate students surveys the scholarship on nearly a millennium of Islamic devotional literatures and practices in South Asia. Combining theoretical, historical, and literary studies with sources in English translation, it invites students to consider comparatively a range of disciplinary approaches to the study of Islam in the subcontinent. The wide range of linguistic traditions that we will encounter in English analysis and English translation, which include Arabic, Awadhi, Bangla, Deccani, Hindi, Persian, and Urdu, gestures toward the broader themes of multi-regionalism, trans-communalism, and ecumenicalism highlighted in our readings. Some familiarity with the academic study of Islam will be helpful, but is not a prerequisite, since we will begin our quarter asking broad questions that we will continue to refine as we progress. Likewise, the class does not suppose any familiarity with languages other than English.