Ethnography of Gender in South Asia

ANTH 290B Mona Bhan 2:20-3:50 MW

This course explores the relationship between gender and social change in South Asia. We will examine how gendered identities shaped and were shaped by colonialism and postcolonial state formation across South Asia. How are contemporary economic and political transformations such as globalization and terrorism further redefining normative gendered categories as men and women participate in the global workforce as well as in transnational terrorist networks? How can gender provide a useful framework to engage with and critique the dramatic economic and political transformations of the past few decades? The course will use ethnographies and films from India, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan as well as contemporary novels to engage with such questions.