Harvard offers a wide array of courses on South Asia, ranging from language to history, politics, economics, religion, and much more. Check out a selection of what is offered during Spring 2026. Please refer to the Course Catalog for the most up-to-date information. We will continue to add to this list as we hear about more courses.
Courses Spring 2026
DPI 453: South Asian America: Politics and Policy in South Asia
Gautam Nair
This new seminar examines the politics and policy of South Asia, a region marked by immense diversity and rapid transformation. Home to a quarter of the world’s population and a rich tapestry of cultures, languages, and histories, South Asia presents a unique laboratory to study pressing global challenges confronting the developing world. We will examine a variety of topics including democracy and political development; the management of ethnic diversity and conflict; jobless economic growth and industrial policy; the political economy of gender inequality; state-building; climate change and pollution; and foreign policy. Drawing on cutting-edge research and canonical scholarship, the course will emphasize the development of analytical frameworks to critically assess the complex issues and opportunities facing most of the countries in South Asia. In exploring these topics, the course aims to foster a nuanced and robust understanding of the political and policy landscape, preparing students to engage thoughtfully and effectively in academic and policy discussions concerning South Asia. There are no prerequisites and prior knowledge of the region is not assumed, but some quantitative training at the level of the MPP/MPAID core and a willingness to read and learn swiftly will be helpful. Auditors are not permitted.
GOV 1192: Democracy, Diversity, and Development in South Asia
Mashail Malik
This course explores major political and economic developments in South Asia, with a special focus on India and Pakistan. Since the partition and independence of British India in 1947, these two nations have followed divergent trajectories while grappling with shared challenges. India is famously known as the world’s largest democracy — even as some worry about contemporary democratic backsliding — while Pakistan has alternated between military and civilian governments since its inception. Religion and ethnic diversity have profoundly shaped the political and social landscapes of both nations. Through the lens of nearly eight decades of post-colonial politics, this course introduces students to various social scientific theories concerned with the interplay of democracy, diversity, and development. Drawing on interdisciplinary materials from the social sciences, alongside journalistic non-fiction and fiction, students will engage critically with the historical and contemporary dynamics that define South Asia.
HDS 3222: Gender and Asceticism in South Asia
Mikaela Chase
This course examines how asceticism operates as a gendered discourse, challenging binaries of male/female and masculine/feminine, while offering insights into the fluidity of spiritual roles across South Asia. Focusing on themes such as celibacy, virtue, and bodily discipline will elucidate how ascetic practices intersect with issues of gender and power.
HIST 17085: Empire, Nation, Partition: Modern South Asia in Global Perspective
Sugata Bose
An analytical survey of the Mughal, British and late Ottoman empires; anti-colonial nationalism in South Asia and its connections with freedom struggles elsewhere in the world; the partitions of India, Ireland and Palestine at the moment of British decolonization in comparative perspective; and their long shadow on post-colonial history.
HISTSCI 1840: Science, Technology, and Medicine in South Asia
Eric Gurevitch
Science is big in South Asia, and it has been for a long time. Today, the Constitution of India speaks of the duty of citizens to develop a “scientific temper” and of the responsibility of the government to finance “scientific or technical education.” Medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and other practical sciences have lengthy histories in the region, and these disciplines were used to theorize society and belonging in colonial and nationalist thought. This undergraduate seminar explores the changing and contested understandings of science, technology and medicine in South Asia from the precolonial to the present. No prerequisites or specialized knowledge required.
RELIGION 64/HDS 3070: Krishna and Christ: Does it Matter?
Francis Clooney
Krishna, a supreme deity of Hindu tradition, and Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christian faith, have been compared and contrasted for well over two centuries. They been understood as similar divine persons, who descend into this world and are embodied here, gather followers, offer wise instructions, save their devotees, and are best approached by love and devotion. But differences have often been emphasized. For centuries, missionaries, scholars, and many ordinary believers have seen Krishna and Christ as competitors., pushing similarities and differences in contexts (most often in India but not only) where true religion, salvation, and conversion were at stake. Questions arose such as these: Are Krishna and Christ mythical or historical figures? The former mythical and the latter historical? Is either divine? Both? Did they truly come into this world, by incarnation or avatara? If they save, how does that happen – and save from what? Are they moral role models? Can a Hindu love Christ, and a Christian love Krishna?Such were “hot” questions for a very long time, and even today for some. But for many, such questions have lost their urgency in the 21st century. It is good that competition is largely a thing of the past, but it may not be good that the urgency of the comparison — Krishna and Christ, Christ or Krishna? – no longer matters to most people. Do we have something to gain by taking both Krishna and Christ seriously? Facing this question sheds light on many larger questions regarding spirituality, religion, and cross-cultural learning.
SAS 172: Classical Indian Literature in Translation
Martha Selby
This course will provide you with a comprehensive overview of narrative literature and poetry composed in the three classical languages of
India (Old Tamil, Sanskrit, and Prākrit). We will begin with a survey of the languages of classical India and their literatures, and after a brief
exploration of Vedic poetry, you will be introduced to the aesthetic conventions of the Sanskrit and Tamil literary worlds. First, we will examine rasa theory as it is spelled out in the Sanskrit Nāṭyaśāstra, and we will then move on to dhvani or “poetic resonance” as an analytical category described by the theoreticians Ānandavardhana and Abhinavagupta. We will then move on to the themes of land and landscape, which are typical of early Tamil poetry, paying special attention to poetic convention and generic taxonomies. This will give us the means to study poetry produced in India’s classical period. In tandem with our explorations of literary convention, we will read a Sanskrit play, as well as a wide variety of poems from various collections from the Sanskrit and Prākrit traditions. We will also read selections from the eight anthologies of classical Tamil that treat akam (romantic/erotic) and puram (heroic/ethical) themes. We will then move on to an exploration of epic and story literature from the Sanskrit and Tamil languages.
RELIGION 1061/HDS 3919: Introduction to the Upanisads
Francis Clooney
This seminar introduces the ancient Indian Upanisads, some of the oldest and most famous primary texts of Vedic and Hindu India, ranging from before 700 BCE to 200 BCE and later. Select later Upanisads too will be considered, and the reception of the Upanisads in the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Topics include: the nature of self and of absolute reality; knowledge as transformative; the limits of language; the role of God in a nondualist worldview; meditation practice; death and rebirth; knowledge and ethics. Texts will be read in translation. No language or course prerequisites, but students will be encouraged to make use of any such expertise.
Languages
Harvard offers courses in many languages related to South Asia, including, Hindi-Urdu, Kashmiri, Nepali, Sanskrit, Tibetan (Classical), Tibetan (Colloquial), and Tamil.
Are you a Harvard faculty member with a course you’d like included in our list? Tell us about it! Email mittalsai@fas.harvard.edu.