Topics in south asian literature and culture

Lectures: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session

This section features descriptions for the three major papers of the course.

The aim of this paper is to develop a thesis and to argue for it with reference to theoretical and case study materials from our readings.

You are required to meet with the writing tutor about your paper before completing it. Please make an appointment to meet with her next week or the following by emailing her at least 48 hours before you wish to meet. In addition, feel free to see me to discuss your ideas!

7-8 double-spaced pages, regular font (this is 12 pt Times) (roughly 2,000 words). Do not exceed 8 pages. These are argumentative papers - develop your own thesis and argue it by marshalling evidence from our readings and class discussions. Be sure to engage the arguments of and quote at least three of our authors.

Due in Lec #9

Choose one of the following topics:

Sample Student Paper (PDF) (Courtesy of Aayesha Siddiqui. Used with permission.)

The aim of this second paper is critically to engage an issue of current social concern and controversy in the U.S. With reference to both theoretical and ethnographic case study materials from our readings, drawing from US and other cultural settings.

First Draft Due in Lec #17

Please consider meeting with the writing tutor about your paper at the rough draft stage - once you've completed much of this draft! - and/or when planning your revisions after receiving my comments on your draft.

Papers are to be 7-8 double-spaced pages (roughly 2,000 words). Do not exceed 8 pages. These are argumentative papers - develop your own thesis and argue it by marshalling evidence from our readings, films, class discussions, media articles. Be sure to engage the arguments of at least three of our authors. All papers should speak to intersections of gender, sex, sexuality.

Choose an area of contemporary cultural, legal, political and/or ethical concern or debate:

Write a paper identifying specific concerns related to one of these topics, analyzing the cultural, historical, and political-economic elements that make this a social issue (its "problematization," to use Foucault's term; see Prieur pp. 126-27). To do so, draw on recent news stories, popular magazine articles, op-ed pieces, legal decisions as well as case studies presented in our readings. You will want to describe briefly the key arguments or positions on the issue, but the majority of your paper will be devoted to your interpretation and analysis of it. This means you will want to address the following sorts of questions: WHY this has become an issue of social concern now, at this historical moment, and why are the particular terms of debate as they are? What is at stake here symbolically, materially, and institutionally in these debates or negotiations about gender and sexuality; that is, what are the real and/or perceived repercussions for individuals and for a society? Conclude your essay with a brief discussion of what your analysis leads you to advocate - this could be a specific legal or political action, a line of scholarly inquiry, an education policy, etc.

For this paper, I encourage you to write a paper concerning the subjective, personal experience of having a gendered sense of self, identity, embodiment. This doesn't have to be your personal experience, per se, but I'd like you to explore how and why people respond in their everyday lives to the kinds of cultural scripts we've been tracing. The specific topic is open. Write a paper that you want to write.

You could write about sexual violence, birth control (as private matter and/or subject of state interest), sex ed, pregnancy and ultrasound, the abortion debate and ethics of abortion in the US as compared with Greece, ideologies and realities of "the family" - any of the topics we've recently addressed. Or you could propose a topic we haven't touched on directly: an anthropological analysis of contemporary dating, for instance. In the past, students have interviewed their own mothers or peers about their experiences (e.g., teenage motherhood, parenting a child with disabilities, sex ed, etc.).

Paper Proposal Due in Lec #22

Submit a topic, thesis statement (what you plan to argue) and outline of what you plan to cover. If possible, an introductory paragraph would be nice to get. Also list the articles you plan to use. You must make use of class materials, quoting and engaging the arguments of at least Three authors we've read. Authors addressing 'experience' include Abu-Lughod, Counihan, Stein, Heyes, di Leonardo, Landsman, Layne, Petchesky, etc. Proposals can be emailed to me or submitted in hard copy.

Please consider meeting with the writing tutor. And do come talk with me, before or after class, or by appointment.

Papers are to be 7-8 double-spaced pages (roughly 2,000 words). Do not exceed 8 pages.

If you're stuck coming up with a topic and approach, please see or email me! I can also suggest relevant outside readings.

Final Paper Due in Lec #25 - our last class. This is a fixed due date (late papers will be docked).

This class is for students at all levels. Whereas those who have had no prior experience of South Asian literature and cinema will get an exposure to a new world-view, those who have already been exposed to it will find and articulate new ways of approaching and interpreting the material. Class taught in English, all readings are English translations of the original texts. All films are subtitled in English.

This is a "communication-intensive" subject; we will pay special attention to honing the students' oral and written communication skills, through a strong emphasis on class discussion, oral presentations and guided written work. Students will be required to write three 7-8 page papers: they will write each paper, which will be evaluated, corrected and commented upon carefully, and they will have a week to prepare a revised version before submitting it to the instructor. The class will also be regrouped into units that will take turns at leading discussions.

Please Note: Essays submitted late without prior permission from the instructor will be penalized by one full letter grade. Acceptance of late papers will remain subject to instructor's discretion. Always keep a printed copy of your essay.

If at any point, you should feel the need for further discussion to clarify any issue, the instructor will meet with you outside class.

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