New Class on South Asian Film!

Interested students are encouraged to register for a new class on South Asian film (yes, Bollywood, as well as Pakistani and Bangladeshi movies) and religion. Mandir and Masjid at the Movies (R388) in Religious Studies, has no prerequisites, and prior knowledge of South Asia, while helpful, is not expected. We’ll consider the meaning of religion in South Asia using film as our lens to explore what John Booth calls the “ambiguity of the sacred-secular distinction in Indian culture.” We’ll learn how to “read” film, and use John Lyden’s Film as Religion for our theoretical background as each week we watch and discuss one film in detail. Our broad topics include partition, gender, myth, fundamentalism, and the diaspora. We’ll come to know a range of views on religion and its role in the lives of South Asians through these films and our reading of critical articles for each one.

For more information, please contact:


Rebecca J. Manring
Associate Professor
India Studies and Religious Studies