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US Studies Programme

US Studies Programme

The US Studies Programme of the School of International Studies is one of the oldest Area Studies programmes of the School. Founded by Late Prof. M.S. Venkataramani in early fifties, this programme has consistently attracted large number of students interested in studying various facets of US institutions, political processes and foreign and national security policies. The programme is proud to have produced above two hundred doctoral theses and several hundred M.Phil dissertations.

Faculty of this programme are well known scholars in the field and have considerable international exposure. Their research experience, participation in critical international and national debates on crucial issues involving US policy towards India and its neighbours; and their well rounded knowledge of US Politics and Foreign Policy have enabled them to encourage scholars to study, conduct research and expand their knowledge and understanding of the United States. Alumni of the US Studies programme have found a place in the faculty of various colleges and universities, in the print and audio-visual media and also in different branches of the Indian bureaucracy.

Courses offered by the programme are designed to interpret issues and events in American history, politics, foreign policy from an interdisciplinary perspective. It aims at promoting an Indian perspective and has a wide appeal among the students of social sciences and International Relations streams. Students also explore ideas about citizenship, national identity, emerging Role of Indian Diaspora in US politics, while also focusing on how America engages Rising India.

 

COURSES

Courses are offered at M.A. and Ph.D levels. Courses are inter-disciplinary in nature and aim at educating Indian scholars and equipping them with expertise to analyze politics and governance, public and foreign policies as well as multifaceted social relations in the United States. A balanced approach, comprising of theoretical, empirical and deductive methods, is pursued in the conduct of research programmes and activities.

 

M.A. Courses

Sl No. Course Code Course Title Semester Credits Name of Faculty
1. IS 572N Foreign Policy of the United States since the Second World War Winter 4 Prof. Arvind Kumar
2. IA 513 International Relations during the Cold War Winter 4 Dr. Saumyajit Ray
3. IS 513N Government and Politics in the United States Monsoon 4 Dr. Saumyajit Ray
4. IS 598 N Introduction to American Society Monsoon 4 Dr. Saumyajit Ray
5. IS 474N Religion, State, and Politics in the Modern World Winter 4 Dr. Saumyajit Ray

 

 

 

Ph.D Courses

Sl. No. Course Code Course Title Semester Credits Name of Faculty
1. AW 617N The Executive, Congress and Foreign Policy Winter 2 Dr. Vineet Prakash
2. AW 653N Society and Culture in the United States Monsoon 2 Dr. Saumyajit Ray
3. AW 654N The Dynamics of American Society Winter 2 Dr. Saumyajit Ray
4. AW 656N The United States and the Indo-Pacific Region Winter 2 Prof. Arvind Kumar
5. AW 660 United States' National Security Strategy and Policy Monsoon 2 Prof. Arvind Kumar
6. AW 602N Themes in Contemporary American History Monsoon 2  

 

 

 

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Doctoral candidates who are at an advanced stage of their Thesis formulation compete for university grant to conduct field research in the United States. Research Scholars also apply for various other Research Fellowships to conduct field research.

The US Studies Programme seeks to promote appropriate understanding of the American society, polity and foreign policy. It trains the students to engage in serious research going beyond what is available in the media and the internet and helps them to make use of the enormous amount of source material available in various libraries. Efforts are made to involve and include its students to undertake archival research in their data collection as well.

Workshops, seminars and conferences are organized regularly to address the emerging trends in US Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy and issues related to globalization, Human Rights, Traditional and Non-Traditional security, Transnational Terrorism, Management of international trade system, Gender issues, Elections and Diaspora issues.

Scholars who have obtained degrees on from the programme serve as government officials, specialists in think tanks, teachers in various universities and colleges around India, some are also media consultants and journalists in print and audio-visual media.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.