M. Fisher (History)
4 SS, CD, WRi, 4 Hours
Fall Semester FYSP 140-01 TR 11:00-12:15
Emerging from the nationalist struggle against British imperialism, Pakistan became a “new nation-state” in 1947. “The Land of the Pure,” as its founders envisioned and named it, was to be a place where the Muslims of India could live in a single community, regardless of their regional, linguistic, or class origins. Yet the identities of the women and men of Pakistan and their state itself have been continually reframed over the subsequent 60 years by a civil war that split the country in 1971, three formal wars with India, and ongoing internal insurrections against the government, which has been a military dictatorship for more than half of Pakistan’s existence. To explore how women and men have conceived of their country from its origins to the present, we will read works of history, literature, politics, and gender and environmental studies written by and about Pakistanis. Each member of the seminar will participate in group discussions based on shared readings and will design, research, and write several cumulative papers. Through consultation with the instructor, students will also write a longer paper on a topic particularly suited to their own interests.