Three hours of classroom instructions and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: Hindi-Urdu 1B or consent of instructor. This course acquaints students with representative readings from Hindi texts on pivotal cultural issues from a wide variety of sources, to enable them to acquire cultural competence in the language. Systematic training in advanced grammar and syntax, reinforced by exercises in composition, both oral and written. Special attention will be given to developing communication skills in both spoken and written language.

To enroll in this course, you must first obtain a CEC (Class entry code) from the instructor who will then provide you with the CCN (Course control number) that you will need to enroll. Contact the instructor, Usha R. Jain, by email at ujain@berkeley.edu or attend the first class to get the CEC.

Three hours of classroom instructions. Prerequisites: Hindi-Urdu 100B or consent of instructor. This course introduces students to a variety of contemporary literary styles. Weekly readings and discussions will be on short stories, poems, and dramatic sketches from representative authors. Written assignments on themes suggested by the readings will be required. Special attention will be given to matters of style and idiom. There will be advanced exercises in composition and students will acquire language skills sufficient to approach literary texts on their own.

To enroll in this course, you must first obtain a CEC (Class entry code) from the instructor who will then provide you with the CCN (Course control number) that you will need to enroll. Contact the instructor, Usha R. Jain, by email at ujain@berkeley.edu or attend the first class to get the CEC.

Religious Identities in South Asia  -- South Asian (S ASIAN) C128, which is to be taught by Prof. Vasudha Dalmia in the spring term, will cover the later medieval and modern period and build upon the present class. For the sake of a comprehensive introduction to Indian religions spanning from the earliest beginnings to modernity, it is recommended (but not necessary for meeting the area of breadth requirement) that students take both classes consecutively.

Attendance and active participation are mandatory and, together with regular writing assignments, count for 25 % of the final grade. The written mid-term paper will count for further 25% and the final exam for 50%.

***Meets the first five weeks of the semester.***

The Develooping World: Profound Challenges, Needs and Opportunities - An Example Applied to Eye Care in India

The developing world and its profound problems will remain with us throughout our lifetime. Continued population growth, rapid aging of these populations and provision of care for the aged, questionable adequacy of harvests, greatly unmet health needs (as one example, the HIV-AIDS epidemic), inadequate resources, often inadequate schooling, caste systems, religion and the family as foci of society, the roles and needs of men and women, and many other problems all contribute to the complex of issues that need to be faced in these environments. While these problems are enormous, individuals (singly or working together) can make a difference. There are opportunities, and these people are both cooperative and willing to share in their development. One must limit oneself to a defined problem set. In this symposium, we will explore this complex of issues, and the teacher will define those things he was/is able to achieve (and problems and difficulties encountered) in the field of eye and vision care during more than a decade of active participation in India. With India's population passing the one billion mark, the importance of addressing the very great needs of India and other developing countries is emphasized.

Individuals will be encouraged to participate actively in discussions, and to examine situations in other countries to better understand both existing problems and opportunities. Students will be asked to prepare oral presentations and written materials on related issues of personal interest. Students will meet additional agreed upon times to complete presentations during the last two weeks of class. This seminar will meet for the first five weeks of the semester. This course is also listed as Optometry 39B (CCN: 65503)

ISLAM IN SOUTH ASIA

The aim of this course on the culture and history of Muslim communities and institutions in South Asia. is to introduce students to the broad historical currents of the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent, the nature of Muslim political authority, the interaction between religious communities, Islamic aesthetics and contributions to material culture, the varied engagements and reactions of Muslims to colonial rule, and the contemporary concerns of South Asia's Muslims. While this is a lecture course, ample time will be set aside for discussion and will the active engagement of participants will be expected. Lectures will be supplemented with visual material, music, and movies where possible. This course assumes no prior knowledge of South Asian or Islamic history.

Between memory and forgetting:
narratives of the Bengal Partition, 1947

The partition was a momentous event in the history, politics and culture of the South Asian subcontinent. It uprooted about 10-12 million Hindus and Muslims in Punjab and Bengal, leaving the deepest scars in individual and collective memory. While there has been a great deal of interest in the Punjab partition in recent years, relatively little attention has been paid to Bengal. In this course we will consider the literary and cinematic narratives of the Bengal Partition.

The short stories and novels we read and the films we view explore the short- and long-term fallout of the Bengal Partition. They address the themes of communalism and violence, conditions of the refugees, victim-survivor perceptions, gender-roles and their overall impact on the history, society and culture of the subcontinent. We will read stories from both the Bengals-Bangladesh and West Bengal, amongst others by Manik Bandopadhyay, Ritwik Ghatak, Jyotirmoyee Devi from West Bengal and Selina Hossein, Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Syed Waliullah from Bangladesh. We will read a selection of critical texts based on crossing borders in literature, history and cultural studies of the Bengal Partition and view films by Ritwik Ghatak, Nemai Ghosh, and Supriyo Sen.

Ideologies and Artefacts: Perspectives on the Buddhism of Greater Jambudvipas

The course will study the Buddhism of Greater Jambudvipa -- here India and Southeast Asia -- through epigraphy, artefacts, and texts. It will scrutinize prevailing conventions and categories and question current historical and social models. Themes to be explored include the quest for blessings, benefits, and protection -- and the media of rituals, images, relics, and the built environment. The primary focus will be the pre-modern Buddhism of Siam, presented in the context of ideologies and concerns that are shared by other Buddhisms. The texts to be read will be in Pali. I will use visuals for some classes.

Selected reading of Sanskrit Primary Sources

A course aimed at developing the skills needed to read, interpret and edit Sanskrit primary materials. While the precise texts to be read will be determined together with the course participants, they will all be read from photographic reproductions of early manuscripts, inscriptions or copperplate grants.

Ruyyaka's attempt to classify Beauty

We will begin reading the opening section of Ruyyaka's Alamkaarasarvasva, where he summarizes and evaluates the theories of his predecessors, digressing to read brief passages of the original sources referred to. After that we will focus on selections of Ruyyaka's own doctrines, their refutation by the Buddhist rhetorician Sobhaakaramitra (in his Alankaararatnaakara) and their defence by Jayaratha (in his Vimarsini).

The Kaula teachings of the Maaliniivijaya

We will read selected passages of the Malinivijayottaratantra focussing on its reception by the Kashmirian exegete Abhinavagupta (primarily in his Tantraaloka). To make sense of this esoteric Saiva material, parallel passages from related Saiva Tantras (notably Saiddhaantika and Kaula scriptures) will also be looked at, some in manuscript form. This will give opportunity to discuss some of the problems faced by anyone wishing to investigate such works written in non-standard Sanskrit.

An introduction to modern spoken and written Vietnamese, including intensive drill on basic phonology and grammar. By the end of the second semester the student should be able to function successfully in ordinary Vietnamese conversation and read simple texts of moderate difficulty.

To enroll in this course, you must first obtain a CEC (Class entry code) from the instructor who will then provide you with the CCN (Course control number) which you will need to enroll. Contact the instructor, Bac Tran, in person during office hours or attend the first class to get the CEC.

An introduction to modern spoken and written Vietnamese, including intensive drill on basic phonology and grammar. By the end of the second semester the student should be able to function successfully in ordinary Vietnamese conversation and read simple texts of moderate difficulty.

To enroll in this course, you must first obtain a CEC (Class entry code) from the instructor who will then provide you with the CCN (Course control number) which you will need to enroll. Contact the instructor, Bac Tran, in person during office hours or attend the first class to get the CEC.