Students will gain a historical overview of German Indology from its origins to the present. They will read basic source texts for German attitudes towards ancient and modern India, especially the Vedic period, Brahmanism, and Hinduism. They will learn how German nationalism, theories of racial supremacy, the quest for Aryan identity, and Protestantism and Lutheran anti-Semitism shaped the discipline of Indology. German Indology’s role in fostering National Socialism and the treatment of Jewish Indologists will also be discussed. Students will also be expected to read and analyze excerpts from Rammohan Roy, Dayanand Saraswati, Tilak, and Ambedkar in light of their knowledge of Indology.
Areas of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
This course is intended to introduce students to the theory and practice of history. Students will read several different examples of historical writing. They will reflect on the reasons for writing and studying history, the importance of collective and individual memory, and the role of narrative in relation to identity. They will also examine the problems with historical memory, the dangers of historicism, and the transformation in the concept of history with the rise of “scientific” historiography. Students can expect to gain significant conceptual nuance about history, which they can then apply to their own research.
Areas of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
Area of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
Students will gain a grounded knowledge of textual criticism. They will learn basic concepts and terms used in textual criticism, along with the skills to read and use a critical edition. They will also learn how to edit texts themselves. The course will prepare students to critically analyze current editions, including editions or textual reconstructions applying the “text-historical method.”
Areas of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
A key focus of this course is to examine the way the Enlightenment framed the relationship of religious authority to prejudice. Students will additionally learn how the Enlightenment set the terms of debate for issues that continue to affect the twenty-first century, including the conflict between tradition and modernity, science and faith, reason and revelation, the private and the public, and the religious and the secular spheres. They will learn to critically analyze these issues, provide historical context, and engage with contemporary political debates.
Areas of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
In this course, students will make the university itself—as a historical creation, a social body, and an institution—into an object of analysis. They will reflect on problems with the university, its relation to the wider public, and the dangers that concentration and specialization pose for learning. They will also gain critical insight into the university as an instrument of social segregation and control. Student projects can include: examining education access and outcomes for black vs. white students, graduate placement, and contemporary debates over affirmative action and discriminatory admission policies (e.g., at Harvard and other Ivy Leagues)
Area of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
In this course, students will make the university itself—as a historical creation, a social body, and an institution—into an object of analysis. They will reflect on problems with the university, its relation to the wider public, and the dangers that concentration and specialization pose for learning. They will also gain critical insight into the university as an instrument of social segregation and control. Student projects can include: examining education access and outcomes for black vs. white students, graduate placement, and contemporary debates over affirmative action and discriminatory admission policies (e.g., at Harvard and other Ivy Leagues).
Area of Study: History and Methods
Required/Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study and completion of HAM 7401 – The Humanities and the University I
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
Areas of Study: History and Methods
Required/ Elective: Elective
Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study
Instructor: Dr. Joydeep Bagchee
