South Asian Studies

Overview

Key facts

The curriculum combines rigorous training in one or more South Asian languages with study of various aspects of modern and classical South Asian civilizations. The University has a distinguished faculty of scholars who provide instruction in diverse areas of South Asian studies, offering a rich variety of courses on these topics.

Students in the South Asian Studies from University of Washington studies may specialize in one or more areas of expertise represented by the faculty. These include language, religion, culture, cinema, environment, international development, human-animal-interactions, ethnicity and nationalism, human rights, gender, migration, and contemporary politics.

Students may draw on the notable strength the program has in classical South Asian languages, literature, and religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism. Several of the South Asia faculty teach courses in Comparative Religion. Areas of expertise include the religious literature of northern India in the late middle ages, and South Asian Buddhism.

In modern and contemporary South Asia, topics covered include international development, public affairs, architecture and urban planning, law, business, women and gender studies, environmental protection and nature conservation, health and demography, communications, dalit studies and postcolonial literature. For instance among these faculty are experts teaching courses on international feminism, cultural aspects of international development, social ecology of the tropics, South Asian architecture, media and communications, international relations and human rights, , contemporary political changes and government. Faculty with research and teaching interests in South Asia work in departments or interdisciplinary programs including Anthropology, Architecture, Art History, Business, Chemistry,  Comparative Literature, Cinema and Media, Comparative Religion, Communications, Economics, English, Ethnomusicology, Geography, History, International Studies, Law, Political Science, Public Affairs, Psychology, and Women Studies.

Languages of South Asia offered on a regular basis by the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures include Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Sanskrit. There are special offerings of other major languages, such as Pali, Gujarati, Panjabi, and Nepali, as well as special fields such as sociolinguistics, Vedic literature, Bhakti literature, epigraphy, and Paninian grammar. Instruction is available both in English and, for advanced students, in the languages involved. South Asian Studies graduates have gone on to graduate programs in various academic disciplines, as well as careers in government service, journalism, teaching, research, international trade, and the travel industry.