History 355 - SEM:TOPICS IN SOCIAL HISTORY

Topics course. One of the most enigmatic political leaders of the modern period, M.K. Gandhi remains a controversial figure. On one hand, he is celebrated as the father of the Indian nation and an apostle of non-violence, and on the other hand viewed as a wily politician and a patriarch with problematic views of gender and sexuality. In his lifetime, thousands saw him as a saint, while others (mainly Hindu nationalists) reviled him as a traitor to Indian nationalism and blamed him for the partition of India. This course investigates these multiple myths and images around Gandhi in order to understand which, if any of these, have any historical validity. Using Gandhi's own writings and the words of his contemporary admirers and detractors, it attempts to go beyond these binaries and instead explore his biography, his politics and his philosophy in their full complexity.

Topic: Interrogating Gandhi: Beyond the Myth of the Mahatma. Instructor Permission. Not open to first-years, sophomores