Graduate study in South Asian history encompasses the themes of colonialism/post-colonialism, gender, modernity, capitalism, and environmental history; emphasizes a rigorous and in-depth engagement with the methodological and theoretical interventions made by South Asian historians in feminist theory, postcolonial theory, Marxist history, and Subaltern Studies; and encourages students to look beyond the sub-continental landmass and across the Indian Ocean to East Africa, the Middle-East and Southeast Asia.

Campus Resources

Beyond the department, students will find resources available through the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES). CSAMES organizes a weekly lecture series, invites visiting speakers, and organizes conferences. In September 2016, CSAMES organized an enormously successful conference titled: Partition and Empire: Ireland, India, Palestine and Beyond. CSAMES also sponsors a Master's Degree in South Asian Studies.

Graduate students in the History Department can take classes in Hindi/Urdu and in Sanskrit with the Department of Linguistics.