Gender in Modern South Asia

Gender is crucial to understanding the political, cultural, and economic trajectories of communities in colonial and postcolonial South Asia. Throughout this course, we will ask a series of questions: How does gender structure conceptions of home, community, and homeland in South Asia? How do gender and religion become represented in movements for nation-states? How does women's participation in anticolonial politics and fights for equal representation in postcolonial nation-states affect our understanding of gender in South Asia today? Readings examine the creation and impact of religious personal law under British colonial rule, the role of masculinity in the British-Indian army, perspectives on religion and clothing, the interplay of rights movements and anti-colonialism, and the status of women in postcolonial India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Students will also explore a range of primary sources, including political treatises, short stories, didactic manuals, autobiographies, and travelogues.