(Offered as POSC 431 and ASLC 431) Do crises demand different approaches to governing? This course will examine how different regimes respond to crises and the implications for good governance and human rights. The course will utilize China's response to the Covid-19 pandemic as a central case study. We will study how Chinese politics shaped the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will also compare China's pandemic politics with other East Asian states, the US, and other cases as appropriate.

(Offered as ASLC-430 and FAMS-430)

(Offered as HIST-389 [ME/TC/TE] and ASLC 389)

(Offered as HIST 376 [AS/TC/TE/TR/TS/], ASLC 376 [SA] and SWAG 377) This course explores how categories of sex, gender, and the body have been configured in South Asian history. We will draw upon primary sources including texts, images, films, and documentaries. We will also read scholarly literature that explores South Asian history through the analytics of sex, gender, and body.

(Offered as HIST 367 [AS/TE] and ASLC 367) This seminar introduces students to the major historical scholarship and debates on the state, society, and economy in China during the Ming-Qing era, the last two imperial dynasties. The purpose of the course is to not only familiarize students with important issues in late imperial Chinese history, but also engage them in representative work by successive generations of scholars in order to understand how historical interpretations (including theoretical orientations, methodology, and use of sources) have developed over time.

(Offered as HIST 393 [ME/TC/TE/P] and ASLC 355) This course examines in depth the formative period of Islam between c. 500-680. Using predominantly primary material, we will chart the emergence, success, and evolution of Islam, the Islamic community, and the Islamic polity. The focus of this course is on understanding the changing nature over time of peoples’ understanding of and conception of what Islam was and what Islam implied socially, religiously, culturally and politically.

(Offered as REL 288 and ASLC 288) A study of the most venerated saints in the history of Islam. We will read from their biographies, poetry (paying special attention to the themes of love), and theoretical and literary works. We will examine how such literature discloses the dimensions of Islamic mysticism: rituals and practices (some of which were considered socially deviant), theories of the self/soul, epistemologies, cosmologies, and ontologies. We will examine the ways that Sufi theories and practices challenged other self-professed Islamic orthodoxies and orthopraxies.

(Offered as HIST 279 [AS/TC/TE/TR/TS] and ASLC 279 [SA].)The Indian subcontinent, the home of more than a billion people, has a rich and dynamic history. This 200-level survey is a history of the making of modern South Asia with a focus on India. Spanning the period from the sixteenth century to the present, the course introduces students to the history, politics, culture, and societies of the Indian sub-continent.

(Offered as ASLC 232 and FAMS 319) India’s popular cinema is commonly known as Bollywood and includes films that are dismissed for predictable stories, fantastical visual spectacle, and distracting dance numbers. In this course, we will take the “excesses” of Indian films seriously, and examine how they critique our cultural assumptions. A selection of feature films from different times will lead us to a historically-grounded understanding of the material and technical aspects of Indian film.

(Offered as POSC 218, HIST 218, & ASLC 218) As one of the world’s great powers, China has had a profound impact on the developing world. Through financial, military, and political means, China has shaped the economies, cultures, and environments of nations throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This course examines the historical and political aspects of this influence with the aim of better understanding the implications of China’s global presence.