Viz

HIST 167: History of Modern South Asia, 1947 onward

Tehreema Mitha Dance Company

This course examines the history of South Asia from 1947 onward. We will focus on the political trajectories of two key players in the region, namely India and Pakistan. While this is a survey course it is not a comprehensive overview of the history of the two countries. Instead it covers some of the more significant moments of rupture and violence in the political history of the two states and the course is thematically organized. The first half of the course offers a top-down, macro overview of these events and processes whereas the second half examines the ways in which people experienced these developments. We will study this using the physical body as our medium of analysis by considering the ways in which the body is disciplined, policed and represented by the postcolonial state(s) as well as how it becomes a site of resistance and contestation. To this end we will have the opportunity to meet a Pakistani dancer, Tehreema Mitha, and see how her use of her body in her art form is refracted through some of the themes that we cover in this course.

Tehreema Mitha Dance Company (a Bharatanatyam & Contemporary dance company based in DC) will be visiting Carleton College and during their visit we will be watching two documentaries on Tehreema's work as well as their full ensemble performance in the Weitz cinema. These events will form the basis of one of the course assignments as you will learn to understand and appreciate the visual interpretations of key topics and themes in South Asian history such as gender, national identity and religion.

Visual Assignment

Assignment handout for filmed group interviews with Tehreema Mitha (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 128kB Jun29 12)