The minor in South Asian Studies, offered by the Centre for South Asian Studies at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, allows students to study South Asia in an approach attentive to global formations. With access to the faculty and resources of the Contemporary Asian Studies program, students are introduced to the study of South Asia—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka—through a wide angle view of Asian modernities, political economies, and cultures, all the while delving into to specialist close-ups of South Asia. The program poses crucial questions for understanding global processes and diverse worlds—the tribal forest land, the bazaar, sacred sites, and the urban slum, among many others—preparing students for globally-minded careers and advanced social science and humanities research.
With a curriculum motivated by the moving present—the changing face of South Asia today—the minor offers rigorous training in major debates and questions in the rich field of South Asian Studies, and provides a basic foundation for many directions of future study. From historical contexts of ethnic conflict, to postcolonial readings of ancient traditions, to the politics of religious and ethnic identities, to the workings of vast-scale democracy and capitalism, to the worlds of cinema and public culture, students are exposed to the dynamic landscapes—political, material, and mythic—that constitute present-day South Asia. Through open access to comparative courses in the Contemporary Asian Studies program, students can learn from tenured and tenure-track faculty specialists in South, East, and Southeast Asia. For more information about the program and its requirements, please visit the Centre for South Asian Studies website.