San Francisco State Univeristy is now offering interested students with an opportunity to minor on South Asia and its diaspora studies. The minor provides unique and critical perspectives by using a multi-disciplinary approach.

Academically, students will gain by selecting this minor:

(1) a multifaceted understanding of South Asian/diasporic history, cultures, art, politics, and economics.
(2) an understanding of how South Asian/diasporic identities are shaped by gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, caste, race, and religion.
(3) a sophisticated contemporary understanding of how South Asia and its diaspora has been impacted, and in turn, impacts new global realities in economics, culture, and politics.
(4) a comparative understanding of South Asia and its diaspora.

Curriculum:

• Students are required to take a total of 18 units to obtain the minor. They are expected to take a minimum of three courses from the core and at least two courses from the electives (listed below).
• Courses need to have at least 40% of the content devoted to South Asia and/or the diaspora to be considered part of the minor; this 40% is inclusive of student projects.
• Please note that some courses have prerequisites. Many of the prerequisite courses are part of the GE program, so students who plan carefully will be able to fulfill GE and prepare for courses in the minor without taking additional units. Prerequisites, with the exception of “upper division standing,” are indicated in parentheses.
• Courses marked with an asterisk ( * ) require approval from the minor advisor.

Core courses: The following courses give students basic frameworks in South Asian Studies. These courses fully concentrate (all semester) on South Asia and/or the diaspora. They function as survey courses that provide students with a broad introduction to the history, culture, and politics of South Asia.

Students are required to select 9-17 units from the core courses listed below. They need to select one course each from the core areas designated below (“Culture of South Asia,” “History and Politics of South Asia,” and “South Asian Diaspora”); additional courses can be selected from any of these areas.

Core 1: Culture of South Asia (3-6 units)

1. ANTH 315: Peoples and Cultures of India* (3)
2. ART 502 Art of South Asia (3) (ART 205)
3. HUM 535 Classical South Asian Cultural Forms (3) (ENG 114 or equivalent)
4. HUM 536 Modern South Asian Cultural Forms (3) (ENG 214 or equivalent)

Core 2: History and Politics of South Asia (3-8 units)

5. HIST 584 History of the Indian Sub-Continent (3) (ENG 214 or equivalent)
6. IR 326 South and Southeast Asia Foreign Relations (4) (ENG 214 or equivalent)
7. IR/PLSI 412 South Asian Politics (4) (ENG 214 or equivalent)
8. PLSI 415 Politics of India (4) (ENG 214 or equivalent)

Core 3: South Asian Diaspora (3 units)

9. ETHS 340 South Asian Diaspora in the U.S. (3)
10. ETHS 680 Issues in Comparative Ethnic Studies (3)*
11. ETHS 694 Community Service Learning (3)*

Elective courses: The following elective courses reflect both a more topical and comparative focus: they enable students to study South Asia and its diaspora in an in-depth manner (e.g., Biography of a City: Delhi) as well as in relation to other regions of the world (e.g., Art and Architecture of Islam). Other courses that have 40% South Asia and/or diaspora content may be acceptable with advance approval by the minor advisor.

Select 1-9 units from the following courses:

1. All core courses listed above
2. AAS 200 History of Asian Americans (3) or AAS 300 Asian Americans in California (3)
3. ART 504 Art and Architecture of Islam (3)
4. ART/HUM 205 Asian Art History (3)
5. HIST 606 History of Iran and Afghanistan, 1500-Present (3)
6. HNDI 101 First Semester Hindi (5)
7. HUM 366 India's Gandhi (3) (ENG 114 or equivalent)
8. HUM 375 Biography of a City: Delhi (3)*
9. IBUS 594 Emerging Business Issues in the Asia-Pacific Region (3) (IBUS 330)
10. MUS 530 Musics of the Middle East and India (3)
11. PHIL 510 The Buddhist Tradition (3)
12. PLSI 416 Ethnicity and Nationalism (4) (ENG 214 or equivalent)
13. SNSK 699 Sanskrit (1-3)