India Studies Minor

Mission Statement

The India Studies Program at the University of Connecticut endeavors to increase knowledge about India by creating new courses and integrating existing courses on India to constitute an India Studies Minor, as well as sponsoring co-curricular programs and events.

  • India is home to the major religions of the world

India has an ancient culture and an enormous body of literature that goes back 3000 years. Four major religions originated in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism; and it has the world’s second largest population of Muslims.

The largest democracy in the world and the second most populous country, India has a patchwork of ethnicities and eighteen official languages, with thirty-five languages spoken by at least one million people. How such a large and diverse country can hold together, and even more remarkably, through democratic institutions, is an intellectual puzzle in itself.

India today is an industrializing country but already the world’s fourth largest economy and an emerging software superpower. India provides an excellent case study for all the global issues that confront the contemporary world.

Plan of Study

The minor is an interdisciplinary program, which draws on various departments including History, Fine Arts, Literatures, Cultures & Languages, English, Philosophy, Political Science, Economics, and Sociology to offer courses.

Completion of a minimum of (15) fifteen credits at the 2000-level or above is required, including at least 3 courses from Group A. Any remaining credits can be completed in Group B courses, INDS courses, or any independent study that focuses on India (approved by coordinator of India Studies).

The India Studies minor requires one of the following:

  1. The completion of INDS 4296 Thesis (or)
  2. The completion of any thesis focusing on India and approved by the Coordinator of India Studies (or)
  3. Participation in an approved, credit-bearing Study Abroad program in India (or)
  4. An approved independent study which is completed in India

Also recommended are appropriate 1000-level and above courses that provide an introduction to the advanced courses, such as PHIL 1106. Students are strongly encouraged (although not required) to take an Indian language course in the Critical Languages program.

Group A: Core courses

AAAS/HIST 3812; AAAS/HRTS/SOCI 2220; ART/AASI/INDS 3375; ENGL 3320, 4301W (when offered with South Asia as topic and approved by India Studies Advisor); INDS 3210; POLS 3472/W.

Group B: Related courses

ARE 4305; ECON 3473/W; ENGL 2301/W; POLS/WGSS 3216; SOCI 3701/W

 

NOTE: Administration of the India Studies Minor has been moved to the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For more information, contact Director Jason Oliver Chang at his email jason.o.chang@uconn.edu, or his phone at (860) 486-5717.

Study Abroad / Office of Global Affairs

India Studies at UConn also encourages scholarly research by faculty and students; sponsors lectures, performances and films; brings visiting faculty to campus; and works to establish linkages with universities in India for Study Abroad and for faculty exchange and research through the Office of Global Affairs.