Women, Religion, and Conflict in South Asia

This course examines religious conflict in contemporary South Asia with a focus on women. The course will begin with an introduction to the religious landscape of South Asia, including historical interactions between Hindus and Muslims, contemporary conflicts, and women’s roles in mediating conflict from Indian villages to urban Pakistani apartment complexes. Guiding questions will be: How are issues of women, gender, and religion framed in narratives of conflict? How, if at all, do women experience or interpret religious conflict differently than men? What are women’s roles in navigating, mediating, and/or transforming conflict in local contexts? In the latter half of the course, students will develop a research agenda on a specific topic of interest, to be presented in class.