South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Interdisciplinary Minor in South Asian Studies

The Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies offers an Interdisciplinary Minor in South Asian Studies. The minor is especially suited for students interested in a program of studies with focus on South Asia, as a complement to their disciplinary study. The structure of the minor provides students a great amount of flexibility; possible areas of emphasis include language and literature, as well as history and social sciences.

A minimum grade-point average of 2.75 in South Asian Studies courses is required for completion of the minor. The 18-20 hours of courses selected by students for the South Asian Studies Minor should form a coherent program of study and must meet the approval of an advisor in the Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The program must include at least 6 hours or 300- or 400-level courses. A student's plan of courses for the minor must be approved by the program. The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will verify that students have completed the program, on the recommendation of the director of the Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

Hours

Requirements

3-5 hours

Fourth-semester course work in an area-relevant language. Courses that meet this requirement and are currently offered on a regular basis are HNDI 404 (5 hours) AND SNSK 404 (3 hours) The requirement may also be met by comparable courses in these and other South Asian and South Asia-related languages, taught at UIUC or at other universities, through online courses (where available), and through a proficiency examination.

3 hrs

HIST 130–Civilization of India (same as ANTH 130)

12 hrs

Courses on South Asian history, language, literature, culture, and society from the following list:*

ACE 453–Econ Dev in S and SE Asia

ANTH 499 –Topics in Anthropology (appropriate sections)

ASST 398–Colloquium in Asian Studies (appropriate sections)

CWL 189 or CWL 190–Classics Non-West Culture I and II (appropriate sections)

ECON 450–Developments Economics (appropriate sections)

HNDI 405–Advanced Hindi I and HNDI 406–Advanced Hindi II

HNDI 408–Intro to South Asian Lit

HIST 430–India from Colony to Nation

LA 218–S. Asian Cultural Landscapes (same as ASST 218)

MUS 417–Area Studies in Ethnomusicology (same as ANTH 417) (appropriate sections)

PS 346–Gov & Pol of South Asia (same as ASST 346)

RLST 104–Asian Mythology

RLST 213–Intro to Islam-ACP

RLST 260–Mystic and Saints in Islam

RLST 286–Introduction to Hinduism

RLST 494–Topics in Religious Thought (appropriate sections)

RLST 403–Women in Muslim Societies (same as ANTH and GWS 403 and HIST 434)

RLST 408–Islam and Modern Society

RSOC 443–Social Change in Dev Areas (same as SOC 463)

18-20

total

* Other area-relevant courses may be substituted as they are offered, with approval of the advisor. These include courses in languages other than Hindi and independent study courses with South Asia teaching faculty and with appropriate topics, such as the following ANTH 390, HIST 490, LING 290, PS 490, RLST 390, SOC 390. Students wanting to take such independent study courses need to get permission from the instructor; not more than two independent study courses may be taken to meet the degree requirements.