SOC 269(S) Imagining Spaces of the British Empire in the Twentieth Century (Same as Asian Studies 269)*
With British India representing one of the grandest projects of European colonization, this course will begin exploring such a complex undertaking by examining accounts of architectural innovation, the politics of antiquities, town and urban planning, the urban spaces of commodity production, map-making and cartography, controversies on `filth' and public hygiene, the emergence of religious processions, and representations of the city in advertising, in twentieth century South Asia. We will study and debate these accounts to understand how spaces for the exercise of imperial forms of power emerged-and continue to do so. Because colonialism hoped to spread its reach to other parts of the British empire from its seat of power in India, this course will also engage with debates on world exhibitions and spectacles of `tradition' in Egypt, Indian Ocean communities, the metropolis of vice and scandal, and linkages with contemporary cosmopolitanisms.
Format: seminar. Requirements include full participation and attendance, two class presentations, and a final paper.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected 25). Open to non-majors. Preference will be given to Anthropology and Sociology majors.
Hour: VALIANI