This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

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Calendar

Topics of the course are listed below. The "lab sessions" are mandatory for students traveling on the MIT India program, but optional for other students.

LEC # TOPICS KEY DATES
1 Introduction  
2 A Historical Approach and Personal Memoirs: Quest for Freedom, Partition and Memories (1857-2004) Film: 1947 Earth (1999)
3 Land Reforms (1950-85): Poverty Line and Peasantry Film: Ankur (1974)
4 "The Emergency Rule" (1975-77): Democracy or Dictatorship?  
5 "The Emergency Rule" (1975-77): Democracy or Dictatorship? (cont.)  
6 The Universal Civil Code Debate and the Shah Bano Case (1985 and its Aftermath): Women and Islam  
7

Mandal Commission (1990): Caste and Affirmative Action

 Film: Bawandar

Paper I due
8 Documentary Cinema and Academic debate: Ayodhya (1992): Religious Conflict, Within and Beyond Borders Short documentary film: Mandir, Masjid, Mandal and Marx
9

Parallel Cinema and Fiction: Seventy-Third Amendment, Panchayati Raj and the Empowerment of Women (1992-2004)

Guest Speaker: Professor Esther Duflo, MIT

 Film: Bandit Queen (1996)
10 Popular Culture and its Critique: The World Cup and Bollywood Goes West (1983-2001): Cricket Mania, Post-Colonialism and National Pride Film: Lagaan (2001)
11

Ethnography and Pulp Magazines: Star TV arrives in India: Global or Local? (1990's - the present)

Health Care in India: Guest lecture by expert from MIT-Health, followed by Q and A

 Lab Session I: Practical Advice for the Traveler
12 Press and Other Media: IT Revolutions (1990 - the present): BPOs, Call Centers, Outsourcing and all that... Lab Session II: Among your Colleagues and Friends - Food, Social Practices and Taboos
13 History and Religion in Modern Times: The Romila Thapar Controversy (2001 and Ancient History): Myth, Legends, History and National Identity Lab Session III: Daily Logistics - Practical Advice for Negotiating Systems: Businesses, Maps, Railway Stations, Airports, Public Transport System
14

Politics, Documenting and Civil Society: Elections 2003-2004: Consensus and Controversies

Guest Speaker: Professor Abhijit Banerjee, MIT

Wrap up Discussion

Short documentary film: The Name of the Disease (Banerjee and Banerjee)

Lab Session IV: At the End of the Day - Entertainment in Urban Life: Choices and Recommendations

Paper II due