This course will explore the history of South Asia between the eighteenth century and the present. Using a combined chronological and thematic approach and against a historical canvas that engages such diverse issues as gender, political economy, conquest, resistance, state formation, economic exploitation, national liberation, and identity politics, the aim of this course is to interrogate the impact of British colonialism and South Asian nationalisms on the state, society, and people of the subcontinent.

Through films and documentaries about sites with contentious histories and ongoing political conflicts, this course will examine the solidarities and fractures that resistance against colonial and foreign control brings about in struggling societies. We will particularly engage with themes around sovereignty and self-determination, nationality and belongingness, and history and memory. Such questions not only have real-world stakes for peoples' survival and political identities, but also shape in profound ways the imaginations and practices of resistance and solidarity across the globe.

This seminar will examine anti-colonial perspectives that influenced not only the twentieth century movements for decolonization and independence, but also profoundly shaped struggles for equality and justice within South Asian societies. We will do a close reading of seminal works of political leaders and underground revolutionaries, reformists and radicals, poets and intellectuals.

In 79 CE, the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, preserving them for future rediscovery. This course examines the unparalleled evidence for Roman daily life that archaeologists have uncovered at these sites since the start of excavation in the 1700s -- including everything from public art and architecture to domestic spaces, farms, tombs, shops, graffiti, and even sewers.

In 79 CE, the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, preserving them for future rediscovery. This course examines the unparalleled evidence for Roman daily life that archaeologists have uncovered at these sites since the start of excavation in the 1700s -- including everything from public art and architecture to domestic spaces, farms, tombs, shops, graffiti, and even sewers.