Women, Society, and Gender Representation in South Asia

Catalog description

In this course we look historically at womens lives, gender norms, and representations in societies of South Asia, from social norms of womens representation in some early Buddhist and Brahmanical texts, through the medieval and early modern period, and into its colonial history. With the growth of the nationalist surge, as questions of the place of women in society, or how gender relations were to be organized in the nascent nation became salient. Topics discussed include: customs like sati, widowhood, and age of marriage; representations of same-sex relations; alternative religious movements; increased participation in education and print culture. The course focuses on women as active subjects and agents of history.