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Recent debates in South Asia have tended to circle around the larger thematic complex of religion, politics and education, often with a focus on Islam. Be it the introduction of a headscarf ban in schools in the Indian state of Karnataka, government-directed restrictions of the freedom of speech when it came to discussing the issue of Kashmir at Indian universities, violence committed by radicalized student groups in Pakistan, or the expansion of the madrasa sector in the same country, these examples confirm that the topic of Islam, education and politics in South Asia is as timely as ever. Often, these debates impact diaspora communities as well and are mirrored in discussions about “hate speech” and the interpretation of South Asian history on US college campuses, ideological struggles over curricular contents in UK schoolboards, or public debates on questions of integration and culture in Germany. For understanding these present concerns, it is crucial to acknowledge their historical roots and contextualizing their longer histories.
This course, therefore, introduces students to the main themes, institutions and figures connected to the larger complex of Islam, politics and education in South Asia with the goal to critically analyze its dynamics, identify its main themes and patterns, and situate contemporary debates within a larger history of ideas. Focusing on the late colonial as well as the early postcolonial period in both India and Pakistan, the course is structured chronologically as well as thematically. Using as an example the history of one particular institution or stream of thought, it introduces students to the main movements in modern South Asian Islam, including so-called “traditional” Islam, Islamic modernism, anticolonial resistance movements, pan-Islamism, Islamism and religious nationalism, as well as their major representatives. The course explores the intersection of religion and education with the goal to enable students to learn to think outside the box and see beyond conceptual binaries such as secular/religious, public/private, or traditional/modern with regard to South Asian politics and culture.
Learning goals:
- To understand and become familiar with foundational concepts, personalities and academic writings relating to Islam, politics and education in South Asia.
- To critically examine debates on the topic and place them in a wider historical and socio-cultural context.
- To critically engage with and analyze primary source material
- To introduce students to methods of historical research
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