ANTH 399: Issues in Anthropology

ANTH 399-001: The Ramayana:The Many Lives of a South Asian Epic
(Fall 2016)

03:00 PM to 04:15 PM MW

Nguyen Engineering Building 1109

Section Information for Fall 2016

ANTH 399 - 001: The Ramayana:The Many Lives of a South Asian Epic

This course will study the Ramayana, the great epic of South Asia and South-East Asia, as literature, translation, and living culture. We will view it not as any single, bound book but rather as a story that has metastasized into hundreds, perhaps thousands of versions – in dozens of languages – as poetry, folk performance, painting, television mega-serial, comic book, political diatribe. We’ll ground ourselves by learning the tale from accessible contemporary sources, opening up our conversations about translations into English, then go further, with readings that help us understand the Ramayana as a place where a vast and fragmented but also very inclusive culture works out its various obsessions, passions, arguments and social conflicts. Eventually, we’ll be ready to experiment with and produce our own Ramayanas…. In other words, we’ll use this epic poem and tale as a fascinating, weird, profound and deeply enjoyable way of helping us understand and come to grips with contemporary South Asia and the relations between its pasts, presents, and futures. Instructor: Vivek Narayanan

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Topic of contemporary interest in anthropology, changing from semester to semester, and focusing on topics such as sex roles, anthropology and ethics, and primate social organization. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: ANTH 114, 60 hours, and permission of instructor.
Schedule Type: Lec/Sem #1, Lec/Sem #2, Lec/Sem #3, Lec/Sem #4, Lec/Sem #5, Lec/Sem #6, Lec/Sem #7, Lec/Sem #8, Lec/Sem #9, Lecture, Sem/Lec #10, Sem/Lec #11, Sem/Lec #12, Sem/Lec #13, Sem/Lec #14, Sem/Lec #15, Sem/Lec #16, Sem/Lec #17, Sem/Lec #18
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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