What Is/Are Area Studies?
Foundations of South Asian Studies
Book Discussion: The Politics of Knowledge: Area Studies and the Disciplines, edited by David L. Szanton
Thursday, November 29, 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
734 Clemens (http://www.buffalo.edu/buildings/building?id=clemens), North (Amherst) Campus
Lunch will be provided for those who registered before Nov. 27.

We will be discussing David L. Szanton's edited volume The Politics of Knowledge: Area Studies and the Disciplines.  Those that wish to participate are encouraged to read Szanton's introduction and to select at least one additional chapter from the book.  Chapters on the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Japan, the Soviet Union and its successor states, Eastern/Central Europe, China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are included in this 2004 volume.  We will debate the relevance of area studies in light of its Cold War origins in the U.S. and its relationship with academic disciplines.  An open access online edition of The Politics of Knowledge is available online through the University of California Press: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/59n2d2n1

We invite as wide a range of participants as possible, representing different disciplines and regional specializations.  For questions, please contact Walter Hakala (walterha@buffalo.edu).