Course Description – South Asian Studies Programme

Course Description

Note:
SNG coded courses are open only to graduate students in the Master of Social Sciences and Graduate Diploma in Geopolitics of South Asia programmes.
Not every course will be available in a semester.

Core

SNG5101 The Making of Modern South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

A study of the formation of the modern states of South Asia provides the historical context for understanding the geopolitical landscape of the region. This course examines the antecedents that shaped the formation of South Asian states and their political development after independence. It will explore the impact of colonial rule and the advent of nationalism(s) in the region, the legacies of Partition and key issues, both domestic and international, confronting these states in the immediate post-independence period, or in the process of their transformation from monarchies to republics.

SNG5102 Introduction to the Geopolitics of South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

The rapidly changing geopolitical landscape of South Asia necessitates a closer look at the issues that impact the region and the global order. Taking a thematic approach, this course will focus on some of the critical areas that define the political, social and economic contours of the region. It will look at issues relating to ethnicity and nation-building; civil-military relations; religion and politics; women and politics; and nuclearization and conflict management in South Asia. The impact of these issues on regional and international geopolitics will be explored using particular case studies at the national and regional levels.

Elective

SNG5201 Gender and Politics in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

The course provides students with a conceptual grounding in the relationship between gender and political power in South Asia. It begins with an overview of the possibilities and limitations of gender as a lens for the study of political processes and leaderships in the Global South. Topics include the discursive role of gender in the development of nationalism, decolonisation, and nation-building, the circumstances that influenced the rise to power of women heads of state, and an evaluation of their leaderships at the national, regional, and international levels. Students will analyse how gender correlates with politics and geopolitics in South Asia.

SNG5202 Borders, Partitions and Capitals in South Asian Geopolitics

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

This course aims to provide a critical perspective on South Asian geopolitics by focusing on three key elements: borders, partitions and capitals. It will revisit the three historical ‘fault-lines’ that have indelibly shaped South Asian border: the Durand Line (1893), the McMohan Line (1914) and the Radcliffe Line (1947), looking at the distinct contexts and outcomes of border delineation. Further, it will focus on the 1947 Partition of British India and Pakistan’s breakup in 1971 and consider their larger geopolitical consequences. Finally, it will study the emergence of national capitals of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

SNG5203 Political Cinema and Cinema as Politics in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

The course provides students with a grounding in the political utility of mass media, with a focus on cinema. It begins with an overview of the political beginnings of cinema in South Asia, and proceeds to look at cinema’s intersections with political power at the state and national levels. The course sheds light on cinema as a tool of governance across various temporal contexts. Focussing on the role of cinema as a manifestation of ‘soft power,’ it explores how this media form has aided the development of bilateral diplomatic ties regionally and internationally, whilst also revealing tensions in interstate relations.

SNG5204 Memory and Politics in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

Memory is political. In this course, we examine case studies from across South Asia to understand how collective memories of the past are crafted and communicated towards political ends. Memory may be contentious and serve competing claims; blur distinctions between temporal and sacred pasts; rely on imagined futures; or shared across borders encouraging transnational collaboration. Our study covers technologies of memory-making including print, cartography, construction, and broadcast; as well as considers the silence, forgetting, imagination, and forgery in public memory. Through this course, students will better recognise and critique this key aspect of political exercise and communication in South Asia.

SNG5205 Trans-Himalayan Geopolitics in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

This course will introduce students to the Himalayas as a site of national and international politics in South Asia. It will include study of the trans-Himalayan region between India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Tibet, Bhutan for examining colonialism, nationalism, and international relations in addition to the geopolitics of water, infrastructure, sacredness, and militarization in the Himalayas. Along with academic texts, students will also have the opportunity of listening to guest speakers (including academics, journalists, security strategists and diplomats from various countries) as well as accessing online archives of maps, landscape paintings and travelogues of early cartographers of the Himalayas.

SNG5206 Political Ideologies in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

This course introduces students to the major ideologies competing to shape the future of South Asia. These include Islamism, Hindutva, Naxalism and populism. It traces the emergence of these ideologies and critically examines their content. In doing so, it demonstrates how Islamism and Hindutva do not represent a return to the past but rather are modern constructions that emerged through an engagement with modern conceptions of religion and the model of the modern nation-state. Furthermore, this course highlights the inconsistencies and paradoxes that define these ideologies particularly with regard to their positions on issues relating to economics and gender.

SNG5207 Techno-politics in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

South Asia is a key terrain in shaping the history and trajectory of digital media in the twenty-first century. This course explores the intersection of technology and politics in South Asia. This course reviews how technology and politics interact in South Asia and how imaginaries of technology affect political trends and realities. It also examines how digital technologies are used to advance development, the rise of different forms of digital infrastructures, and the embedding of digital platforms like Facebook and YouTube. It also engages with debates on how technology is shaping representation, identity, power, production, circulation and consumption in South Asia.

SNG5208 Politics, Public Policy and Development in South Asia

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-3-3-4
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil

This course provides an in-depth exploration of development and inequality, with a strong emphasis on political science and public policy perspectives. Critical development studies courses centre the sociological and people-centric aspects of how development projects are implemented. This course explores how people-centric approaches to development can be contextualised in the context of the political economy of the nation and international politics, including the democratic institutions and processes and overall intricacies of public policy. Through this, students will gain a nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between politics, public policy, and development in South Asia, nationally and regionally.

SNG5301 Thesis

Units: 8
Workload: 0-0-0-0-0-20
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): SNG5660

Students enrolled in the Master of Social Sciences (Geopolitics of South Asia) programme will have the opportunity to conduct in-depth research on a topic of their choice, to be determined together with their supervisor. They will proceed to write a thesis of between 10,000 and 12,000 words on the topic.

SNG5660 Independent Study

Units: 4
Workload: 0-0-0-0-0-10
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): SNG5301

The Independent Study course is designed to enable the student to explore an approved topic in South Asian Studies in depth. The student should approach a lecturer to work out an agreed topic, readings, and assignments for the course. A formal, written agreement is to be drawn up, giving a clear account of the topic, study programme, assignments, evaluation, and other pertinent details. Head's and/or Graduate Coordinator's approval of the written agreement is required. Regular meetings and reports are expected. Evaluation is based on 100% CA and must be worked out between the student and the lecturer prior to seeking departmental approval.