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Course Details

Anticolonialism and Postcolonialism

$1,500.00

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Course Code:

PHS7301

Credit Hours:

3

Course Level:

700

Area of Study:

Postcolonial Hindu Studies

Course Description

PHS7301 - (DHS Course) This course examines anticolonial and postcolonial theories as critical frameworks and research methodologies for analyzing European representations of India and Hinduism and their enduring civilizational impact. Centered on Francophone postcolonial thinkers—Aimé Césaire, Albert Memmi, and Frantz Fanon—the course introduces foundational critiques of colonial discourse, power, and cultural domination. Students engage with theoretical tools to investigate the psychological, sociological, and epistemic consequences of colonization, particularly its reshaping of Hindu self-understanding and global representation. Through close study of colonial and postcolonial texts, alongside selected writings of Pavan Varma, the course situates these frameworks within the Indian context. Emphasis is placed on developing rigorous analytical and research skills applicable to postcolonial Hindu studies, enabling students to articulate theory, critically assess colonial legacies, and examine the transformation of cultural identity in postcolonial societies.
Anticolonialism and Postcolonialism
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Program of Study

This course is part of the following programs:

Doctor of Hindu Studies

Division

Graduate Division

Required / Core / Elective:

Required

Prerequisites:

None

Semester / Quarter System:

Quarter

Number of Weeks:

15

Semester / Quarter Offered:

TBD

Days of the Week:

Saturday

Time:

Start Date:

End Date:

Faculty

Kundan Singh, PhD

Dr. Kundan Singh holds a doctorate in Humanities with a Concentration in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California. Earlier he obtained an M.A. in Applied Psychology with a Concentration in Social Psychology from the University of Delhi, India.
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kundan.singh@hua.edu

Course Learning Objectives

In this course, the students will be able to

  • will be given a sound introduction to literature and theorists whose work will be extremely beneficial in critically examining the European literature that was generated on India and Hinduism in the colonial times.
  • will be given the framework and the container to study and investigate the cultural and civilizational impact of European literature on India and Hinduism during the colonial times.
  • will begin to gain a vision as to how the European Indology significantly altered our self-understanding as Hindus and our representation to the world, the impact of which we continue to deal with in a postcolonial world.
  • articulate the francophone anticolonial and postcolonial theories.
  • apply this framework for research and writing in the “postcolonial Hindu studies” concentration.
  • demonstrate an understanding of the psychological consequences of colonization on the colonized people.
  • explain how the psyche and behaviour of the Indian people have been altered due to British colonization. 
Anticolonialism and Postcolonialism

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Course Content

Much more than the economic exploitation of the colonized, the colonization process hovers around destroying their cultural fabric. This necessarily involves the production of literature on the colonized and the creation of institutions through which the understanding of the colonized within and without their culture is significantly altered.

There have been influential writers during the colonial period who understood the impulse of power and domination behind the production of literature on the colonized “other,” and there have been others in the postcolonial period who have analyzed the psychological and sociological effects of colonization.

Through the literature of writers such as Aime Cessaire, Albert Memmi, and Franz Fanon, who are known as Francophone postcolonial thinkers, this course will give the students the theoretical tools and methodological framework to understand and investigate the impact of colonialism on the psyche and culture of the Hindu people. To elucidate how the Francophone postcolonial framework can be applied within the Indian context, we will use the writings of Pavan Varma. 

Class Structure

The class will meet every week for 3 hours. Every week there will be assigned readings which the students are required to study and come prepared to the class to hold discussions with the instructor and with one another in a self-reflective and engaging manner. The readings will not take more than six hours of study and reflection, though the student is free to devote more than six hours if he or she feels inspired to engage in additional research and reflection.

Students will be required to write a mid-semester paper and a final-term paper. The mid-semester paper should be 4-5 pages long, describing key learnings in the course. In the final week of the class, the student is required to submit a final 15–20-page research paper (minus bibliography) on a topic which agrees with the theme of the course. Both the papers should be double spaced and written in Times New Roman.

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Doctor of Hindu Studies
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Doctor of Hindu Studies

Anticolonialism and Postcolonialism

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