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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : South Asian Studies

Postgraduate Course: South Asia: Culture, Politics & Economy (SCIL11017)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course provides a unique insight into the South Asian region. South Asia today is not only geo-politically significant but has risen to global prominence as an important locale for burgeoning economic growth and development, cultural production and nation building. This course offers theoretical context and empirical illustrations to make this complex region both accessible and better understood. The postgraduate course situates the enquiry into contemporary South Asia at the intersections of its civilisational context and tryst with post-colonial nation building, variegated traditions and faceted modernities, cultural production and structural violence, economic development and social exclusion, global structures and local - South Asian - agency. The teaching modality is multi-disciplinary, providing a unique mix of sociological and anthropological approaches to the region, and delivers an in-depth understanding of the contemporary culture, politics and economy of a 5000-year-old civilisation.
Course description This is a new optional course designed for the new taught MSc in Sociology and Global Change to provide students without a background in Sociology with an overview of debates around key substantive areas in the discipline. It will also be available as an option for students on the MSc (R) (South Asian Studies) and (from 2011) the MSc (South Asia and International Development) and other Master's level programmes in the School. Depending on the outcomes of current discussions, might become a core course in a new cross-School Taught Master's degree.

The course will provide a general overview of key concepts and theoretical approaches to understanding South Asia with specific reference to:
- The civilizational and national context
- Post-colonial economic, scientific and political developments
- Structural inequalities, stratifications, and violence
- Cultural production and globalisation
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  10
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 10, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Assessment will be by a final essay of 3,500-4,000 words, on a topic to be agreed between the student and the course convenor.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Develop a deep and informed understanding of the South Asian region
  2. Articulate their own approach to theories
  3. Think creatively about the social complexities in South Asia and how these relate to local and global developments
  4. Think and articulate from a multi-disciplinary perspective
Reading List
Bharadwaj, A. and Glasner, P. 2009. Local Cells, Global Science: The Proliferation of Stem Cell Technologies in India, Routledge
Cameron, M. M. 1998. On the Edge of the Auspicious: Gender and Caste in Nepal. University of Illinois Press
Copeman, J. 2009. Veins of Devotion: Blood Donation and Religious Experience in North India. Rutgers University Press.
Das, V. 2006. Handbook of Indian Sociology. Oxford University Press
Desai, J. 2003. Beyond Bollywood: The Cultural Politics of South Asian Diasporic Film. Routledge.
Diane P. Mines, D.P and Lamb, L. 2002. Everyday Life in South Asia. Indiana University Press.
Gardner, K. 1995. Global Migrants, Local Lives: Travel and Transformation in Rural Bangladesh. Clarendon Press.
Gorringe, H. 2005. Untouchable Citizens: The Dalit Panthers and Democratisation in Tamilnadu, Sage
Jeffery, P & Jeffery, R. 2006. Confronting Saffron Demography: Religion, Fertility, and Women's Status in India, Three Essays Collective.
Vishwanathan, S. 1997. A Carnival for Science, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Wallerstein, I. 1974, 'The rise and future demise of the World Capitalist System: concepts for comparative analysis' Comparative Studies in Society and History, 16, 4: 387-415
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Roger Jeffery
Tel: (0131 6)50 3976
Email: R.Jeffery@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Jade Birkin
Tel: (0131 6)51 1659
Email: Jade.Birkin@ed.ac.uk
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