Anthropology of India

3 units

An introduction to the societies and cultures of India through its social margins. Our approach will leverage scholarship from many fields, highlighting the strengths and limitations of singular-discipline analyses and universalized histories. Ethnographic narratives will be woven into historical accounts of major cultural shifts. Students will learn to evaluate and apply multi-vocal perspectives on larger global issues that have transformed India since the end of colonization, including demographic, economic, social, cultural, political, and religious change. Topics will include population and life expectancy, civil society, social-moral relationships, caste and communalism, youth and consumerism, the new urban middle class, environment and health, tourism, public and religious cultures, social activism, politics and law