This introductory proficiency-based course in Hindi and Urdu allows students to acquire linguistic skills in culturally authentic contexts. Students will learn to communicate in a variety of everyday situations. Hindi and Urdu share a basic grammar and core vocabulary but differ in terms of scripts and some cultural markers. There will be equal emphasis on both scripts and cultures; parallel written materials will be provided in both scripts. Students are expected to develop proficiency in one script of their choice, and are encouraged to learn both. Classes will be interactive.

This course continues training in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Students will learn to read and understand texts in Hindi on familiar topics, to speak confidently and effectively in a wide range of common situations, to write concise texts expressing their thoughts and views, and to acquire general familiarity with the cultural context in which Hindi is used. Students will engage in interactive and collaborative task-based activities in the classroom.

Reading and viewing of select Hindi/Urdu literary works and their cinematic adaptations, covering a wide-range of registers, genres and styles: drama, short story, novel (excerpts), as well as commercial and alternative cinema. Attention will be given to historical and social context, as well as different styles and trends. Stories and films will address issues of discrimination, inequity, and reform, representations of gender, social and cultural norms and conventions, stereotypes, taboos, and transgressions. In-depth classroom discussion in Hindi/Urdu of all materials.

An introduction to classical Sanskrit grammar and vocabulary, as well as Devanagari script, pronunciation, and phonological change (sandhi). Students will begin to read simple Sanskrit prose and verse.

Strengthens classical Sanskrit grammar and vocabulary and builds knowledge of South Asian religion and culture through reading selections from Sanskrit Epics and Puranas. Requires SAN102 or permission from the instructor.

This course will provide an introduction to the study of South Asian languages in relation to culture (and history, society and politics), addressing topics such as orality and writing systems, multilingualism and polyglossia, literary cultures, cosmopolitan and vernacular language politics, and their relationship to social identity in historical and contemporary perspective.

This course is a continuation of HIN-URD 102, concentrating on Urdu. Students beginning with intermediate proficiency in either Urdu or Hindi will be brought to an advanced level in Urdu in all four skills. The Urdu script will be introduced and an emphasis will be placed on strengthening literacy skills. After completing the course, students will be able to read or comprehend through listening, a variety of authentic Urdu texts and media materials. Various aspects of the target culture will be integrated with instruction. Activities will be conducted in Urdu and classes will be interactive.

Whether as arranged marriage or as untouchability, why does caste persist into the present? And what is the relationship between lived experiences of caste and religion? Caste as an order of hierarchy and inequality exists throughout South Asia and across all religions practiced in this region. This seminar will explore the history of caste and untouchability as well as the history of the effort to annihilate caste. It will travel from the pre-modern period into the present, dwelling along the way on political and autobiographical writings and other compositions of anti-caste thinkers, including Dalits (those formerly deemed "Untouchable").

This course provides the second semester of training in Hindi and Urdu, allowing students to acquire linguistic skills in culturally authentic contexts. Equal emphasis is placed on both Hindi and Urdu, including writing systems, vocabulary, and culture. Course will focus on using language for communication. Students will be able to read and write both Hindi and Urdu scripts, communicate in social situations, and narrate in all three time frames: past, present and future. Classes are interactive.

This is a continuing proficiency-based course which refines and expands previously acquired linguistic skills in culturally authentic contexts. Focus is on expanding vocabulary, mastering more complex grammatical structures, and acquiring idiomatic expressions. Use of authentic Hindi materials from print and electronic media, literature, and films. Classroom activities are interactive and collaborative.

Poetry occupies a significantly large space in the public sphere in South Asia. In addition to the expected areas of literature and performing arts, poetry is routinely performed in different domains of everyday life. This course will introduce students to various traditions, texts, and genres of Hindi-Urdu poetry that are routinely publicly performed as part of religious rituals, social practices, performing arts, and protest rallies. We will closely read some of the most widely performed Hindi/Urdu poems as independent literary texts, experience them as performances, and then analyze both texts and performances in their own contexts.

Continuing from SAN 101, this course provides a firm foundation in Classical Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Students continue learning the rules for phonological change (sandhi), and other building blocks of Sanskrit grammar. Students will read Sanskrit texts of increasing difficulty, acquire the skill of recitation of Sanskrit poetry in several meters, and learn to compose small but cohesive narratives of medium difficulty in Sanskrit. By the end of the year, students will be ready to read independent texts in a variety of genres, using Sanskrit-English dictionaries and grammars.

Strengthens Classical Sanskrit grammar and vocabulary and builds knowledge of South Asian religion and culture through reading selections from Sanskrit epics, narrative, pre-philosophical, didactic, and poetic texts. Together with SAN 105 this course provides students an introduction to the major genres of Sanskrit literature.

This course introduces intellectual, philosophical, and poetic tradition of Classical India through readings selected from different Sanskrit texts of various periods, genres, and branches of Indian thought. All the readings are dedicated to the topic of TIME thus showing how this important notion has developed through ages and texts. The course will afford the students an opportunity to get acquainted with works in different genres and types of Sanskrit connected via a common theme. Not only will it show how ideas about time have evolved, but also demonstrate how the Sanskrit language has changed along with the ideas.

This course is a multidisciplinary approach to the field of South Asian Studies with a particular focus on the research of Princeton University faculty. Students will gain and understanding and perspective on the region and how a diverse group of scholars and academic fields explore South Asia including history, literature, culture, politics, and religion. Students will directly engage with primary materials, analyze them within context, develop strong arguments and present their insights in class.

This course surveys ideas regarding gender and sexuality at various points in the cultural history of South Asia and how these ideas have shaped women's and men's lives and experiences in the society. We examine how different communities pushed against gender norms and cultural expectations using different ideologies and strategies resulting in a diverse range of feminist projects in South Asia. The course explores ideas about gender, sexuality, and feminism in various domains of South Asian life. Apart from reading scholarship on relevant topics, we analyze primary textual sources, such as religious texts, literary genres, and folklore.

This is a continuing proficiency-based course which refines and expands previously acquired linguistic skills in culturally authentic contexts. Focus is on expanding vocabulary, mastering more complex grammatical structures, and acquiring idiomatic expressions. Use of authentic Urdu materials from print and electronic media, literature, and films. Equal emphasis on all skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). Various aspects of the target language culture will be integrated with instruction. Activities will be conducted in Urdu and classes will be interactive.

How can dissent be a catalyst for change? What motivates people to challenge power and authority in all their myriad forms? Can acts of dissent be at once political and intimate, public and personal? What do ethnographic methods and anthropology as a discipline bring to the study of dissent? In this course we will examine these questions through an immersion in the multifaceted ways in which people dissent. We will investigate the social and historical underpinnings of dissent vis-à-vis a range of oppressive forces, be they authoritarian states, colonial power, patriarchal orders, or regimes of caste and religion.

This course explores the emerging phenomenon of "digital public infrastructures" (DPIs). These efforts -- which typically consist of technologies for identity management, payments, and data exchanges -- have been heralded as critical infrastructure for the twenty-first century economy. DPIs have the potential to spur innovation and economic development and to change the relationship between citizens and the state. The course will examine India's digital stack, which is among the most prominent and well-developed, but will take a global and comparative approach, discussing similar emerging systems in China, the EU and USA.

This course will examine where and why women and men are not treated equally, how gender inequality impacts human welfare and development, and what works to minimize gender inequality in the Global South. This course will introduce students to cutting-edge research on gender inequality in countries as diverse as India, China, South Korea, Brazil, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Mali, as well as the reasons why some government efforts to reduce gender inequality are successful while others fail or even backfire. The course will emphasize the importance of culture and norms.

This course is a cross-comparative spatial history of caste in South Asia and race in the United States. Exploring architecture's deep entanglement in property and capital, students will learn how modern property co-emerged with contextual assemblages of race, caste, class, ethnicity, gender, and citizenship. Taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to examine intertwined histories of settler colonial and colonial spatial practices in these different geographies, students will engage humanities research methods through critical reading and writing while simultaneously learning to analyze and draw from visual and material culture.