Geography and History of South Asia

Sessions: 8  Class Time:  3:00-5:00pm

THURSDAY— 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 2/28, 3/7, 3/14, 3/21  Class Limit:  20  Member $65/ Non-Member $90

 This seminar will cover the physical, social, and cultural geography of India and its neighbors. The organizing principle will be historical, beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization, then the Vedic culture that absorbed and supplanted it, continuing through the famous empires of classical Hindu society, the invasions from Muslim Central Asia that culminated with the Mughal Empire, then the British Empire, the long campaign for freedom from British rule, and finally the time of independence that began in 1947. Because of its historic and demographic centrality, India will be the main focus, but notice will be taken of Sri Lanka and Nepal, and, in the latter part of the course the recently created (out of India) countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Tom Howard retired in 2012 from teaching geography (including “Geography and History of South Asia”) at Armstrong State University (now merged with Georgia Southern University) in Savannah, GA. His experience in India started with two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tamil Nadu (1967-69). Four trips to India followed, most recently for a month in the summer of 2011, as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities program for university professors.