Indian Ocean Studies Minor
The Indian Ocean Studies Minor trains students to think afresh in transregional terms about key social and political questions of identity, belonging, hybridity, and globalization today. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the Indian Ocean as an object of scholarly study, students pursuing a minor are expected to demonstrate both depth and breadth of knowledge in the field.
Required Courses
- An introductory course, CULP 2270: Introduction to the Indian Ocean World (also attributed as IPOL and IHIS electives)
- Five elective courses to build regional expertise in African and Asian Studies on transregional connections in the Indian Ocean
All students will be expected to take an interdisciplinary introductory course to the minor. This course will dwell on the interconnections and circularities that define Indian Ocean worlds. Regional expertise, built via five additional courses, is essential to appreciate transregional connections from particular vantage points. We use “Asia” and “Africa” as broadly heuristic categories that draw on the expertise of our faculty, who nonetheless, seek to transcend the conventional confines of area studies scholarship. Such regional specialization is critical for students to develop depth of knowledge in a chosen region even as they examine the constitution of those regions in a critical decolonial vein.
Affiliated Faculty
The minor is managed by the Indian Ocean Working Group, which hosts a variety of events each year.