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Courses

Please note that not all courses may be available during a term.

AP/HND1000 6.0 Y Elementary Hindi-Urdu

INSTRUCTOR: TBA

PREREQUISITE: No previous knowledge of Hindi or Urdu. Departmental Course Entry Authorization slip is required prior to enrolment.

DESCRIPTION: The objective of this course is to learn the Hindi writing system (Nagari script) and to develop basic oral and written skills of HindiUrdu (the Nastaliq script will be learned in Hindi 2000). You will be introduced to formal grammar and everyday vocabulary of HindiUrdu and we will practice grammatical concepts and conversational skills in class and in the Multimedia Language Centre. Equal time is spent on reading, writing, listening and speaking comprehension.

FORMAT: Four class hours per week and activities in the Multimedia Language Centre.

EVALUATION: On-time attendance and class performance 30%, assignments 20%, tests 20%, midterm 15%, final exam 15%.

TEXTS: Usha R. Jain, Introduction to Hindi Grammar, 1995; Rupert Snell, Teach Yourself Hindi, 2003; course kit.

AP/HND2000 6.0 Intermediate Hindi-Urdu

INSTRUCTOR:Shobna Nijhawan

PREREQUISITE: AP/HND1000 6.0 or basic knowledge of the Nagari script (reading and writing) and knowledge of modern standard Hindi grammar. Students who have not completed HND1000 but have studied Hindi in other contexts (school, home, through movies) must take a placement test prior to enrolment. This course is not open to native speakers.

DESCRIPTION: The course continues the work covered at the elementary level. It focuses on the acquisition of more complex grammatical structures, studying idiomatic expressions, expanding vocabulary and practice of conversational skills. In addition, the Urdu script (Nastaliq) is introduced. Readings provide cultural information about South Asia and the diaspora. They are selected from Hindi literature (prose and poetry), popular movies and documentaries as well as songs.

FORMAT: Four class hours per week.

EVALUATION: Attendance and class participation 20%, assignments 20%, tests 20%, 2 oral presentations 10%, midterm test 15%, final test 15%.

TEXTS: R.S. McGregor, Hindi-English Dictionary, Oxford, 1993, R. Delacy, Beginner's Urdu Script, London, 2003, one Hindi grammar book, readings are distributed in class.

AP/HND2700 6.0 South Asian Literature and Culture

INSTRUCTOR: Shobna Nijhawan/Sailija Krishnamurti

PREREQUISITE: None (taught in English)

DESCRIPTION; The objective of this course is to acquire an understanding of the diverse manifestations of South Asian culture in history and the present day. We explore how South Asian culture is imagined and how cultural traditions are embedded in vernacular literature and the popular media. In discussing questions of ideology, representation and cultural memory through the lens of analytical concepts such as gender, class and caste, we will investigate how mainstream cultural manifestations are transmitted, contested and/or reified in literature and film.

FORMAT: Three class hours per week.

EVALUATION: Attendance and participation (including the group project) 25%, two tests (fall), one test (winter) 30%, journal (5 entries per term) 25%, essay (research paper) 20%.

TEXTS: All weekly readings except the following two books are available in the Course Kit. Jhumpa Lahiri, Namesake (Fall), Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence. Voices of the Partition of India (Winter).

AP/HND3600 3.0 F South Asian Female Literary Activism

INSTRUCTOR: Shobna Nijhawan

PREREQUISITE: None (taught in English)

DESCRIPTION; The course introduces students to the writings, political activism and films of women from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the South Asian diaspora in the last century and the present day. All texts are in English translation.

FORMAT: Three class hours per week.

EVALUATION: Attendance and participation 15%, five journal entries (4% each) 20%, two tests (10% each) 20%, paper 20%, final examination 25%.

TEXTS: Ismat Chughtai, The Quilt and Other Stories, New Delhi, Kali for Women, 1994; Mahasweta Devi, Mother of 1984, Calcutta, Seagull Books, 1998; Geraldine Forbes, Women in Modern India, Cambridge, OUP, 1998, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana's Dream and Selections from the Secluded Ones, Ed. and tr. Roushan Jahan, New York, the Feminist Press, 1997; Radha Kumar, A History of Doing. An illustrated account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 18001980, Kali for Women, 1993; Course Kit.

AP/HND3610 3.0 F Writing of Premchand (1880-1936)

INSTRUCTOR: Shobna Nijhawan

PREREQUISITE: None (taught in English)

DESCRIPTION: Premchand (18801936) is one of the most eminent writers of Hindi and Urdu fiction. The course introduces students to his oeuvre as it emerged in a period of heightened nationalist consciousness and anticolonial activism. The readings pay particular attention to Premchand's depiction of the condition of peasants, colonial economic exploitation, and women's issues (dowry, widowhood). We also trace Premchand's literary development from an idealist utopianist and convinced follower of Mahatma Gandhi to a disillusioned fighter.

Note: Knowledge of Hindi and/or Urdu is not required. All readings are available in English translations. Students with advanced knowledge of Hindi and/or Urdu are encouraged to read the original texts.

FORMAT: Three class hours per week.

EVALUATION: Attendance and participation 20%, two tests (15% each) 30%, midterm paper 25%, final exam 25%.

TEXTS: The Oxford India Premchand Omnibus, 2004 (with translations of a selection of Premchand's short stories and two novels by David Rubin, Alok Rai, and C.K. King; course kit.