Global Studies

Global Studies

Menu

India and South Asia Studies

at Global Studies

Degrees and Opportunities

Partners and Activites

Postcards

Staff

What comes to your mind, when you think of India and South Asia? Perhaps you think of Yoga or the religious diversity, of Bollywood as the largest film industry in the world, of Gandhi and his legacy of non-violent struggles or perhaps simply of curry? India and its South Asian neighbours (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives) are also known for stark contrasts in terms of poverty on the one hand and an increasingly wealthy and numerous middle class benefitting from a growing economy on the other hand.

India and South Asia studies at AU focuses on the transformations of dynamic societies on the subcontinent which add up to 25% of the world’s population. Different disciplinary approaches – ranging from anthropology, through history, to linguistics – are employed to study the complex social fabric, political conflicts, and historical background as well as the current rise of India and South Asia in a global context.

Hear what our Danish students think about India and South Asia Studies at AU.

Degrees and Opportunities

India and South Asia Studies offers both a BA as well as a Master that focuses on the India and its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. It combines history, anthropology/sociology and linguistics in an in-depth area studies programme providing a solid theoretical and applied knowledge which reflects the diversity of the region and is reflected in the course programme.

India and South Asia Studies includes the teaching of Hindi as the most prominent modern language of the region. In fact, intensive language learning coupled with a course on a current developments in India and South Asia as well as an introduction to the history of the subcontinent fills the first propaedeutic year. Subsequently, you will be prepared for a semester abroad in India (4th sem), in the holy city in Varanasi – a stay, which is a central feature of the BA program  and an immersive experience that facilitates the language learning.

In the following semesters the focus will be broadened to include e.g. the politics in the region and methodological aspects, while other mobility opportunities on the BA and MA level further enable face-to-face interactions and help to get first-hand knowledge of the region e.g. through a study semester at a partner university or internship in India.

While the BA takes the region as a starting point for the studies, the Master level broadens and deepens the understanding of the region by relating India and South Asia to other regions and countries in Asia and globally especially Japan, China, Russia and Brazil. Bringing in a comparative and global dimension facilitates understanding dynamics in and beyond India and South. Students are equipped with skills and competences to conduct research in the region as well as internationally and to utilize the expertise to work in teams – be it in companies, international organisations and the like.

If you are curious to find out more, have a look at detailed information on the programme structure, admission requirements and career opportunities for the B.A. India and South Asia Studies and the M.A. Global Area Studies.

Partners and Activites

Our program is embedded in a global network of institutions and global leading India and South Asia researchers allowing a seamless flow of ideas and exchanges. Our researchers work actively with ministries, think tanks, and other universities across the globe, creating very dynamic research and study environment.

Partner Universities (exchange)

India and South Asia Studies is well connected and partner universities, research networks, NGOs etc – in Denmark, Europe and globally. We actively engage with Indian and Nordic partner universities through the Nordic Centre in India, but also through bilateral agreements enabling student mobility as well as research collaboration. Our partners include prestigious universities such as IIT Madras, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Hyderabad.

Ongoing Research Projects

In line with the diversity of approaches employed in India and South Asia Studies, current research projects focus on the usage of plastic, the history of international health organisations or infrastructure projects around the Indian Ocean – all engaging specifically with the Indian subcontinent, but also taking a global perspective. 

Student Life

The student of our India and South Asia studies programme participate regularly in events, celebrations and other activities.

news

Postcards

Staff

Image hover effect image

Uwe Skoda Click Me!!!

Associate Professor in India and south asia Studies

Image hover effect image

Vivek Kumar Shukla Click Me!!!

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR in INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA STUDIES

Image hover effect image

Gauri Sanjeev Pathak Click Me!!!

Associate Professor in India and South Asia Studies

Uwe Skoda
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA STUDIES

Academic Background: My studies combined anthropology as major with political science and history as minors – partly at Humboldt-Universität Berlin and Brunel University of West London, but primarily at Freie Universität Berlin, where I also obtained my PhD in 2003 joining the Odisha Research Project funded by the German Research Council/DFG.

My research in a nutshell: My research focuses on two somewhat interrelated fields – namely political anthropology including state transformations, kingship and issues around democracy on the one hand and visual culture especially photography on the other hand. While I have focussed on different parts of India, particularly Middle and Eastern India, lately I have developed an interest in the study of visual systems and visible culture as well as circulations of images and objects beyond India which led to a recently launched FKK project “Constructing the Ocean. Indian Ocean Infrastructures and Thick Transregionalism”.

If you would not be a researcher, what do you think would be your profession today and why? If I would be forced to pick another profession, I am quite sure I would turn to photography, which has been a passion for quite a while and the camera has been a constant companion. Photography has the power to capture and freeze moments, otherwise lost, but at the same, in the best case, can add to a scene and reveal more than what is visible at first sight – and perhaps can tell a story. Thinking of photography, it is not only about clicking pictures, but also about the social life of images, what we do with photographs that entertain, bore or haunt us.

 

To learn more about my academic work Click Here

Close Window
VIVEK KUMAR SHUKLA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR HINDI, INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA STUDIES

Academic Background: I have my B.A. from DDU Gorakhpur University in Hindi Literature, English Literature and Sociology. Later I moved to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for my Masters in Hindi and completed MPhil and PhD from there as well. for M.Phil. in Hindi translation I wrote my dissertation on Analysis of the Hindi Translation of Salman Rushdie’s Novel “Midnight’s Children” in a Post-Colonial Perspective”. I wrote my thesis for PhD in Hindi Translation on An Analytical Study of English Translations of “Bijak” with Special Reference to the Translations by Linda Hess-Shukdev Singh and Premprakash . I taught Hindi as a second language on all levels at JNU new Delhi at center of Indian Languages and Global Studies Program which was a joint-venture between J.N.U., Natal University Durban, South Africa, and Albert Ludwig University, Freiburg, Germany. Later I joined American Embassy as a Hindi Teacher in Post language program before coming to Aarhus. I also have been associated with Research Projects of MIT JPAL, Boston as a translator and Interpreter for many years.

My research in a nutshell: My PhD was focused on Translation of Early modern Hindi Bhakti Poetry. In recent years I have been working on different aspects of Hindi Language such as Changing Hindi in Web based content, Hindi of Indian Politics. Currently I am working on Hindi swear words: their linguistic roots and usages in various aspects of Indian society.

What is your favorite place in South Asia and why? My favorite place is my alma mater JNU as its a global villages comprising students from all over the world. It gave a world view of many things when I came to university from a small town. The university have a culture of debate and discussions and as we used to say on campus you learn not only in the class but more outside the class where you debate and discuss on everything from Indian society to global politics over endless cups of warm chai!

 

To learn more about my academic work Click Here

Close Window
Gauri Sanjeev Pathak
Associate Professor in India and South Asia Studies

Academic Background: I have a PhD in sociocultural anthropology, with a minor in medical anthropology, from the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, USA. I came to the PhD by way of a MA in South Asia Studies at the National University of Singapore, and prior to that, I had received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, also from the National University of Singapore. Along the way, I worked in advertising and in educational/academic publishing.

My research in a nutshell: I am a sociocultural and medical anthropologist with a regional focus on South Asia, particularly urban India, and my research interests are centered on interactions between the body and its environment, globalizing processes, and consumption practices. My current research revolves around how the environmental and health costs of rampant plastic use and disposal are experienced and comprehended differently in different local contexts. The project has been supported by a Homi Bhabha Fellowship and a Carlsberg Young Researcher Fellowship. Previous research interests have included lived experiences of polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder and the leading cause of female infertility worldwide, and explorations of how post-liberalization marketing discourses and consumption practices affect understandings of the body in India.

What is your favorite book? It is hard to settle on one, but it might just be Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis. No matter how many times I read it, it never stops being funny, and it is, after all, a campus novel. A very close second: Amitav Ghosh’s In an Antique Land, for being an anthropological novel following a historical connection between the region I specialize in (India) and another part of the globe (Egypt).

 

To learn more about my academic work Click Here   

Close Window
Scroll to Top