From Professor Manring in Religious Studies:
I've still got plenty of room in my exciting class on South Asian (think Bollywood!) cinema, B335, Mandir (temple) and Masjid (mosque) at the movies. Last time I taught the class a number of freshmen enrolled, and they did very well. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. And by the way, not very many of the movies will actually take up the whole 3 hours allotted on Wednesday evenings.
Religious Studies B335: Mandir and Masjid at the Movies
3 credits (CSA or Global Civilization and Culture credit; A&H credit) Tuesday/Thursday, 1:00 - 2:15 p.m., BH245 Wednesday 5:45 - 8:45 p.m., WH 121 Professor Rebecca J. Manring
213 Sycamore, rmanring@indiana.edu, 855-6756
"Mandir and Masjid" is a great introduction to Indian film, and discussions the day after the screenings are always very lively. The course gives students a nice introduction to cinema in the Indian Subcontinent using a theoretical framework for understanding the ways religion plays out in both popular and less commercial films.
Each week we will watch and discuss, in detail, one film. Our broad topics include partition, gender, myth, fundamentalism, and the diaspora. We will come to know a range of views on religion and its role in the lives of South Asians through film produced in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and our reading of critical articles for each film. The films include mythologicals, social commentary, and Bollywood blockbusters, all of which have a great deal to tell us about religion in South Asia. No prerequisites or prior knowledge of South Asia needed.
Rebecca J. Manring
Associate Professor
India Studies and Religious Studies
Indiana University-Bloomington
