Module POC3105 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3105: Negotiating Postcoloniality: History and Politics of Independent India
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
The aim of this module is to enable you to develop a critical perspective of the postcolonial Indian nation-state, understand its multiple realities, complexities and the responses to it from different interest groups, both within and beyond. The module will widen the understanding of contemporary India, its history and post-Independence growth, socio-political and cultural evolution, and foreign policy from locally situated regional knowledges.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate in-depth regional knowledge about the social, political and economic realities of India through oral presentations and writing assignments. 2. Demonstrate analytical skills and critical awareness of the Indian model of democracy, secularism and multiculturalism and distinguish it from more dominant Western models. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Understand the multifaceted and inter-disciplinary nature of Area Studies and critically engage with various interdisciplinary approaches including politics and international relations, sociology, history, culture studies, anthropology, film studies etc. 4. Apply empirical evidence to theoretical approaches in the form of written and oral presentations. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Develop flexibility in thinking and researching about contexts, local knowledge, cultures and societies. 6. Communicate political arguments comprehensively and effectively |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- ‘The Imaginary Institution of India’: Whose history and by whom?
- ‘Tryst with destiny’: Independence and Partition
- ‘The Unnatural Nation’: Constructing postcolonial India
- The Indian Model: Contextualising democracy and secularism
- ‘Gandhiji, I have no homeland’: Understanding caste and inequality
- ‘The Violence of Normal Times’: Gender and Minorities
- ‘Everybody Loves a Good Drought’: Development and endangered livelihoods
- Contesting the State: Terror and counter-terror
- ‘Self-fashioning and worlding’: India and the World
- Diaspora, Cinema and Cricket
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 48 | Seminar preparation through directed reading. |
| Guided Independent Study | 10 | Preparation for essay |
| Guided independent study | 48 | Preparation for term paper |
| Guided independent study | 22 | Seminar presentation preparation. |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Suggested Films
Khamosh Pani. directed by Sabiha Sumar. (2004).
Parzania. directed by Rahul Dholakia. (2007).
Nero’s Guests. directed by Deepa Bhatia (2009).
Kashmir’s Torture Trail. UK Channel 4 Documentary (2012).
Lagaan. directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar. (2001).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar Participation | The instructor will start an India Studies Blog online and students are expected to make blog entries every week on specific topics discussed. These will be discussed in the seminars. | 1-6 | Verbal |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 90 | 0 | 10 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 15 | 1000 words | 1-6 | Written and Verbal |
| Individual Presentations (Students will present the major arguments made in their Essays) | 10 | 10 minutes | 1-6 | Verbal |
| Term Paper | 75 | 3000 words | 1-6 | Written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay (1000 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
| Presentation | Presentation (10 minutes) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
| Term Paper | Term Paper (3000 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
