This reading-intensive seminar serves two purposes: 1) to introduce students to a range of contemporary disciplinary perspectives on the region of South Asia, and 2) to critically examine the formation of knowledge around the concepts of globe, area, and region. We will focus in particular on the ways in which colonialism, anti-colonial nationalisms, and postcolonial imperial formations have shaped disciplinary categories and institutions, always mediating interpretations of South Asia's past, present, and future. Although units have been organized roughly around disciplinary nodes, certain themes such as gender, religion, postcolonial modernity, community, nationalism, capitalism, and the politics of translation will cut across our readings and discussions.