Listed in: Asian Languages and Civilizations, as ASLC-472 | History, as HIST-472
Mekhola S. Gomes (Section 01)
(Offered as HIST 472 [AF/AS/ME/TC/TE/TR/TSP] and ASLC 472 [SA]) This research seminar will explore connections across South and Southeast Asia as part of the Indian Ocean world. We explore how our understanding of the world is transformed when studied through the lens of the Indian Ocean rather through nation-state histories. We will analyze primary sources including pottery shards, Old Javanese texts, seals, Sanskrit inscriptions, sculptural reliefs, poetry, and paintings. We will also read the works of scholars who have used different approaches to understand interactions across the Indian Ocean. Throughout the module, we will pay attention to how pilgrims, traders, rulers, and scholars traveled and interacted across the ocean space. We will seek to understand the histories of South and Southeast Asia both in their similarities as well as in their historical differences as part of the Indian Ocean world. Ultimately, we will see how placing the histories of South and Southeast Asia within the Indian Ocean world deepens and widens our understanding of the history and the world. One meeting per week.
Limited to 18 students. Fall semester. Professor Gomes.
How to handle overenrollment: priority to HIST and ASLC majors
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Research seminars require independent research, including the framing of a research question, and the identification and analysis of relevant primary and secondary sources. History majors must write a 20-25 page, evidence-based paper.
Section 01
W 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM CHAP 205