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COURSES

Two courses are offered:1) Anthropology 267 Peoples of South Asia and 2) Anthropology 310 Fieldwork in Ethnography. Both courses speak to the culture of India and the art, aesthetic and craft traditions of western Indian. Students with special needs due to their major/disciplinary requirements may discuss the possibility of an independent study with Dr. Jhala. Formal instruction will be supported by guest lecturers who are experts in the subject areas and by visits to local sites such as temples, artist studios and villages where students can gain a first hand experience of the performative, ritual and creative processes that are underway, as well as the pace and flavor of rural life.

The first course will discuss Culture, Caste, History and Religion in South Asia in general and in western India in particular. Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, the great religions that are indigenous to India as well as on Islam, Christianity and Zorastrianism that were brought to western India by migrant populations will be introduced and local sites will be visited. Hindu Philosophy, cosmology, mythology and ritual practice will form the core of the offerings and will serve to make comparative studies of other resident faiths. This will be off set by exploring the life styles of the pastoral and craft communities in town and in nearby villages.

The second course on fieldwork in ethnography, will in turn build on the first course to provide the basis to understand how to engage with local populations and explore how religious and secular ideas have found expression in the plastic and performance arts, in the temple, the palace, the mercantile and village traditions.

Students will receive a reading package on which lectures will be based, but it is by participating and observing performances of various cultural events and life patterns and flows, that the students will gain a more substantial appreciation of the culture they are studying. This combining of the abstract and philosophical with the pragmatic, practical and the performative will provide the students with opportunities for individual research and reflection. Students are expected to write term papers or make videotapes or other portfolios that will reflect their interest. Each project has to be approved by the Faculty Director. For those doing studio projects, studio space and apprenticeships will be arranged with local master craftsman or artist.

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